Schaumburg restaurant staff mowing lawns, raising spirits during shutdown

A new month of social distancing, stay-at-home orders and restaurant shutdowns has brought with it a fresh idea to keep staff at Fat Rosie's Taco & Tequila Bar in Schaumburg occupied and employed.

Assistant General Manager Michael Garcia, who himself is among the restaurant's furloughed workers, spent a sleepless night this week thinking about his financially struggling colleagues and by dawn hit upon the idea of a temporary lawn care service.

The hours of concentration were inspired by a conversation with a laid-off server the evening before.

"You can't help but wonder how everyone's doing, so I reach out," Garcia said.

The closeness of the staff might seem remarkable for a location that's been operating only since Dec. 20, but these employees who usually depend on their big personalities to make their living are often together for 8 to 14 hours a day during normal times, he said.

When Garcia reached out to the staff of about 45 to see who was interested, eight said yes right away. With their different life circumstances, there is a variety of financial stability among the Fat Rosie's crew, he said.

Then he got the ball rolling by pitching the idea on the "Everything Schaumburg" Facebook page. Within hours, he had 20 jobs lined up just through Monday.

"I've had so many people reach out, I don't even know who they are," Garcia said.

One unexpected exception, though, was his long-ago fourth-grade teacher.

The next step of creating a business within 24 hours was to get the equipment - mowers, weed trimmers and rakes - mostly by borrowing.

"I'm going to owe a lot of people margaritas when this is over," he laughed.

And much needed smiles were served up Friday - for both the workers and their new clients.

Server Ansel Carbahal, 22, of Chicago said the new opportunity was just what he needed to restore some financial strength and the sense of having some control over his life.

"It's been very confusing, very dark," Carbahal said. "Probably one of the most hopeless times of my life. When we shut down, we thought it was going to be for two weeks."

The lawn business' very first client offered to feed the crew in addition to paying their $30 per hour fee.

"It literally brought tears to my eyes," Carbahal said. "She made me feel like I want to keep going."

Though he's been waiting tables for seven years, Carbahal said Fat Rosie's is a place where he's been especially encouraged to use his outgoing personality and where he feels pride in his Mexican heritage.

Garcia said that since opening day in December, there's been a countdown to Cinco de Mayo. The fact that Tuesday's celebration is going to be delayed is another aspect of the shutdown that the employees could use a distraction from.

"That was a heartbreaker for us," he said. "That's our Super Bowl. That's our Black Friday."

But Carbahal said he's feeling only gratitude to Garcia for both his ingenuity and selflessness.

"Mike is such a great guy because he's literally not getting a penny from this," he said.

People interested in hiring the restaurant staff for lawn service can call Garcia at (630) 639-0602.