Atascadero Bistro has been in the community for eleven years and is beloved by many, but is now navigating uncharted waters and barely staying afloat.
Those who say, "You can’t try to do it all," clearly haven’t met Viviana Lopez.
After her husband, the owner of Atascadero Bistro and the patriarch of their family, suffered a debilitating ankle injury last month, Lopez refused to let their restaurant close.
“I decided not to close,” Lopez said. “I talked to my boys, and we had a family meeting, and we decided to do it.”
Instead of closing, Lopez and her three boys stepped up. All of their lives now on hold for at least four months, the crew is determined to keep their little slice of heaven alive.
The sons have taken over for dad and handle the cooking and baking, while Lopez does all the rest, including everything from waitressing and bussing to greeting and sending guests off, always with a smile.
“Everything changed! Now I have to pre-cook, my son has to cook, and my little one has to bake, and then we have to clean and do everything from 4 in the morning to 8/9 o’clock p.m.!” Lopez said.
For more than a decade, Lopez and her family have made the Atascadero staple a place for good food and friendly faces.
“To me, they’re a landmark in Atascadero,” said one of the bistro’s regulars, Robert Fragioni. “They’ve been here for about 11 years. We’ve been visiting for about eight.”
When the business had to close for a few days after Lopez’s husband’s accident, the community took notice.
“They were closed on a day that they’re open, and we were nervous, like, what’s going on? They never close!” said Regina Moraga.
Another regular, Terry Comer, eats at the bistro about three times a day and doesn’t want to see the restaurant close.
“I’d hate to have that happen for them but, on a selfish level, I’d hate to have that happen to me!” he said. “I have like half my meals here!”
The family did close the bistro for about 11 days last month and closes two hours early to try to catch up, but just doing that put them in a bind.
“This is not an easy business, and when you get a little behind, it’s hard to catch up,” Lopez said.
The community saw their favorite restaurant struggling and rallied.
Comer created a GoFundMe page that’s already raised more than $5,000, and those regulars started visiting more regularly to help keep the business open.
“If they used to come once a week, they come twice a week, so that really is a lot for me and I just want to thank everybody for it,” Lopez said.
