CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Several restaurants on Padre Island have said the same thing. After the first weekend of spring break, business is picking up.
Over the weekend, business for restaurants on Padre Island gave owners and managers a sense of how things were pre-pandemic. Spring breakers returned to the island after missing out last year.
"They ended up closing down, permanently for awhile," Donald Hoy said, who is the manager at Scuttlebutt's Bar and Grill. "And then, obviously, opened up as per the restrictions for the governor. So then, now we’re pretty much back to 100 percent. We’re kind of starting out—looking at this year as starting out fresh again. We’re trying to gear up and have a positive spring break. Carry that wave right into summer time."
It’s no mystery, how bad restaurants were hurt with no spring break followed by COVID-19 restrictions. Now, Scuttlebutt’s is looking to rebound in a record setting way.
"We saw huge uptick in our numbers," said Hoy. "We had a great weekend and it’s starting out this week. We are also having a great run towards some big numbers. Hopefully we’re going to set some records."
The influx of people hasn’t just been your college student spring breakers. Managers have said many are families taking that long-awaited vacation. They expect sales to continue to rise, as more college students go on spring break in the coming weeks.
One manager added business is better, but it still doesn’t look like a full fledged spring break on the island. That's to be expected as a number of colleges have canceled spring break. Families may also be hesitant to travel during the pandemic.
