Give Me Sum delivers dim sum to you

A new delivery concept recently started delivering dim sum to your door if you live in the Superstition area of Mesa. With a location in California and Washington, Give Me Sum lets you order traditional dim sum along with other craveable dishes.

Order online chicken or pork dumplings, steamed bao buns, chicken wings, salmon bowl with fried rice and more. A variety of sauces including teriyaki, garlic chili & sriracha aioli for dipping and sides include Togarashi fries. Combos are available and two desserts are offered, Mochi and Chocolate Lava Cake.

To order from Give Me Sum visit their website.

Check out my podcast Pulling Corks & Forks: The Podcast with Sandy Wasserman to hear from those in our community. Please subscribe, like & comment.

Crowd funding is getting popular for local concepts

Have you ever wanted to own a business without all the headaches of owning a business? Now you can as several local food and beverage businesses are using crowd funding to raise money for expansion or relocation. In some cases is an investment where you should get a return on your investment and some your just giving you’re money to support the local business.

A business sets a goal of how much they want to raise and a deadline to raise the money. If the goal isn’t raised in the time frame your money is refunded. Several companies handle crowd funding campaigns such as Indiegogo and SeedInvest & Mainvest help raise money as an investment. All hold money until the goal is met and then release the money to the business. Some choose to self-raise the money themselves and as with any transfer of funds one should do their due diligence before contributing or investing.

Who’s crowd funding around Phoenix

Tater Traderz

The gourmet loaded fries company working out of a cloud kitchen is looking to raise $65,000 for a concession stand, trailer and equipment to expand and become a mobile concept.

“Everything worthwhile starts as a dream and dreamers are the hardest working people we know,” says Marrero, co-founder with Patrick Wills of Tap That Concepts, which owns and operates Kitchen 602 and Tater Traderz.

“We’re ready and eager to get to work! Even so, it takes more than that. It also takes community, support, and capital; that’s why we’re coming to you. Dreams can be expensive. Our team is truly passionate about what we’re doing and believe that Tater Traderz can change the way everyone enjoys food.”

For more information and to help them reach their goal head to their Indiegogo page.
 

Santé

The north Scottsdale health conscious restaurant and market is looking to expand by raising $75,000 with the investors set to receive 1.7x their investment in return.

“We love our little farmers in AZ and our great partners in middle America that create the best environment for the animals and for climate change. We are looking at growing our grab and gourmet market with keeping our purpose and mission in mind. We are expanding and adding new items as well as in plans to create a stand-alone marketplace near you!” Co-owners Nico and Nick.

Their Mainvest page has all the details.

Cider Corps

The Mesa based cidery is looking to raise $300,000 due to some unfortunate circumstances with their Gilbert location they opened 2 years ago. The story of why and how you can help is found on their Goodbye 685 page of their website.

Check out my podcast Pulling Corks & Forks: The Podcast with Sandy Wasserman to hear from those in our community. Please subscribe, like & comment.

Cloud kitchen helps Chesapeake Bay Bistro to expand

Nowadays if you can figure out a successful recipe for running a restaurant the best way to maximize your potential is through expansion. That’s exactly what’s going on at Chesapeake Bay Bistro a year and half after opening in Ahwatukee. Unlike their brick and mortar location the owners opted to open their new location in a cloud kitchen inside the Tempe Food Court earlier this month. They’re not stopping there as third location will also be in a cloud kitchen in their former hometown of San Diego in January 2023.

“For restaurant owners, the past year has been challenging with staffing, higher prices for food supplies and rising costs for rent and utilities,” says James Brown, who co-owns the Ahwatukee-based bistro with his wife, Yolanda. “Adding locations through a food-court style expansion makes sense on many levels.”

Expansion into a cloud kitchen

Working in a cloud kitchen also gives them the opportunity to open new concepts without all the expenses of a brick and mortar location. That’s why the couple is planning to open a Creole/Cajun concept out of Tempe in 2023. Another reason for the expansion into cloud kitchens is CBB is seeing a lot of take-out from their Ahwatukee location.

“We believe that the food delivery model is the future and allows us to fulfill our customer base request,” said Brown said. “Sixty percent of our sales are call in or pickup now.” CBB works with several food delivery services to deliver the hot and fresh seafood dishes for delivery within 15 minutes.

To help alleviate some of the staffing issues of the past few years, the couple’s three grown sons have joined them in restaurants. One son will be running the new San Diego location in the Aztec Food Hub near the San Diego State University campus. The other two sons help out when mom and dad can’t be at the Ahwatukee location.

“Using cloud kitchen locations benefits small mom-and-pop restaurants like ours in several ways, allowing us to keep our labor and maintenance costs down,” Brown said.

The Tempe Food Court location is at 1900 E. 5th St. 85281, not far from the ASU campus and Tempe Marketplace. The Ahwatukee location is at 5033 E. Elliot Rd. Phoenix 85044. For more information visit their website or to order for delivery or takeout check out the delivery services.

 

Kitchen 602 debuts new cloud kitchen concepts

Two new food concepts have launched for delivery or pick-up from the new Kitchen 602 cloud kitchen. Tater Traderz and Rice D’light come from Highland Food Hub at 720 W. Highland in Phoenix which also doubles a test kitchen for new concepts.

Founder Sam Marrero has been in the global hospitality industry for over 30 years and played an important role during the Covid-19 pandemic consulting with restaurants on how to adapt take-out and to-go offerings. “We aim to offer our guests a high-quality dining experience with approachable food that appeals to the masses and can be completely customized,” says Marrero. “I’ve always felt it was important to do whatever it takes to ensure my guests have the best dining experience possible, and now I’m combining that goal with the to-go dining concept.”

Tater Traderz is the newest concept at Kitchen 602 and uses locally made Frites Street fries in a variety of delicious ways. You can get fries topped with chicken, the Cluck Off!, OG Chili Cheese Fries, Sweet Baby BBQ and more delivered from a third party delivery service or picked up at the Hub. Rice D’light Sweet Rice Creations features rice pudding bowls, Horchata and the Chai Chatta. Rice D’light was inspired by Marrero’s growing up in New York and working with Tokyo Disney.

A new Big Box is offered for tailgating and football parties exclusively during football season. The French fry fiesta serves 6-8 people and $40 gets 3 mix and match loaded fries options. For more information or to place orders visit their website.

 

Jerry’s Restaurant re-opens serving comfort food in Mesa, kind of.

Jerry’s Restaurant was a comfort food staple in Phoenix dating back to the 1960’s when it closed a few years back. With the popularity of comfort food in 2020 Jerry’s is re-opening this month in Mesa but with a catch. It will be a delivery only restaurant with food prepared in another restaurant. Last month I reported on Carnitas Way, the cloud kitchen from the owners of Los Sombreros and now Jerry’s Restaurant, where they will be preparing food out of the new Mesa location.

“We like to refer to it as Jerry’s 2.0,” says Kurt Riske, head of Rooted Concepts. “I’ve been around Jerry’s Restaurant for years. My dad worked at the Phoenix Jerry’s since 1991, so I have gotten to know many of Jerry’s loyal customers and it’s incredible to see the following Jerry’s has here in the Valley. For the moment, we are opening Jerry’s as a delivery only concept, which suits today’s times, since a large percentage of restaurant customers are ordering out and dining at home.”

Jerry's Restaurant
Chicken Fried Steak

Much of the menu will stay the same as the original restaurant that was located on E. Thomas Rd. in Phoenix. Burgers, meatloaf, pot roast, chicken fried steak and breakfast menu along with the popular burritos will be available for delivery.

“This is an unusual year, and we’ve gotten comfortable thinking outside the box,” says Riske. “We’ve been intrigued with the rising trend of cloud kitchens, and this year seemed right for testing it out. We’re using our Mesa Los Sombreros as the home base for delivery of Los Sombreros, our new burrito concept Carnitas Way that launched last month, and now Jerry’s as well.”

Delivery will be available from Grubhub and DoorDash. There is also a Jerry’s Restaurant in Safford AZ and Fallon NV. To view the menu and order visit their website.