South Cape Diner sells essential products to customers at curbside pickup

A Southwest Florida restaurant in Lee County is showing community members we are all #GulfshoreStrong.

South Cape Diner in Cape Coral is one of the many restaurants that have remained open for take-out orders during the safer-at-home order in the state. Now, people are visiting the diner for more than take-out meals.

South Cape Diner is stocked full of essential items such as toilet paper and paper towels. While the restaurant has seen a decrease in customers due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s making up for it by selling these products to community members in need.

Inside the diner in downtown Cape Coral, tables and booths are empty, and menus are untouched. Like many restaurants in Southwest Florida, server Michele Farina said it’s not seeing as many customers.

“Since the order to stay home, it’s been significantly less,” Farina said.

So those running the diner are getting creative with a curbside market.

“We’re offering toilet paper, bleach cleaning products, paper towels, napkins,” Farina said. “We’re selling deli meats, chicken breasts, different things that people, when they come in to maybe get a prepared meal, they can get some items that they can cook later at home.”

The diner is catering to customers, such as Susan Spurling-Marcus and her husband Jerry. The couple told us, due to underlying conditions, they’re not leaving the house as much.

“This is the first time we’ve been here since the outbreak because we’ve been trying to stay at home,” Spurling-Marcus said.

Hoping to provide more access to products limited on store shelves, Farina says the diner will continue to stay open during these difficult times.

“It was a way to make money in the interim of not being able to have a restaurant full of people,” Farina said. “But also to help the customers have that one-stop shop, so they can get what they need.”

Other local restaurants such as Mel’s Diner locations throughout the region are also selling products to customers. Those include toilet paper, paper towels, food products such as whole chickens, and full-course meals for Easter. More information is available on the Mel’s Diner website.

For more information about what South Cape Diner has to offer, visit the diner’s Facebook page.

“We’re going to be here,” Farina said. “We’re going to provide the service. We’re gonna take every precaution possible to keep everybody healthy.”