"After much thought and consideration, we have decided to close the restaurant…" Table 33 teased in a letter on its website. "…on Sundays, beginning this upcoming Sunday," the letter continued."
*sigh of relief*
In exchange, Table 33 will go from being open Thursday and Friday evenings for dinner to opening Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings for dinner. Owners believe the community will ultimately “see the heart behind the decision.”
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Letter from Table 33:
Family,
We hope this email finds you well, rested, and ready for the new year. As a leadership team, we are super excited to get 2019 started. Good things are in store for Table 33 as we continue pursuing new and innovate ways to serve the needs of our community.
When thinking about meeting those needs, it’s important to remember that real organizational health has to be authentic and driven by integrity in order for it to be consistent and sustainable. For this to happen, our efforts have to work from the inside out, not from the outside in —something that, unfortunately, is normal in the restaurant industry as profit trumps people and guests get more attention than employees.
So, as we step out of 2018 and into 2019, we want to inform you of a big decision we made today before we communicate it to the public as soon as tomorrow.
After much thought and consideration, we have decided to close the restaurant…
…on Sundays, beginning this upcoming Sunday. In its place, we will go from being open Thursday and Friday evenings for dinner to opening Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings for dinner.
There are multiple reasons for this decision:
First, as most of you know, Table 33 originated from an internal whisper that both Charlie and Chris heard independently of one another while establishing City Church just a few blocks south of Table 33. This is to say that it was out of City Church that Table 33 was birthed in the first place. This is significant because still, to this day, a lot of our most tenured employees/leaders work and serve at both places and often have to push their desire to be at City Church, where it all began, to the side for the sake of what we’re trying to accomplish at Table 33. After much thought, we believe it to be in the best interest of both organizations, and the individuals and families within them, to set aside Sunday as a potential day of worship as well as an opportunity for our employees to spend the day with their families. It would be a hard decision, in light of Sunday being our highest day of revenue for the week, if money is everything. At Table 33, money isn’t everything— our faith and families are.
Why so soon?
We believe the New Year to be a time when most people expect change. Originally, we thought we would wait until later in the year but after much thought and discussion with a number of you on an individual level, we quickly grew stronger in our belief that now might be the best, though not perfect, time to make our move.
We believe this to be the best all-around decision for Table 33 because we believe it to be the best decision for the individual lives that make Table 33, Table 33. Essentially, we’re doubling down on our belief in (our) people over profit — believing that pursuing people (authentically with integrity) ultimately leads to profitability.
More details will be coming your way as soon as tomorrow. We will be making announcements ASAP to the public as to the “what” and “why” of this transition, and we believe that our community will ultimately see the heart behind our decision. We are also looking forward to the challenge to build momentum as we establish ourselves as a legit dinner option, transitioning from our initial vision of being a brunch restaurant to that of a local, full-service restaurant.
Thank you for your support and understanding. We will do our best to make this transition as efficient as possible.
P.S. — As of right now there is no foreseeable plan to open the restaurant on Mondays. We are looking forward to the creativity that will come from an additional day of rest.
The best is yet to come!”
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