Indiana University’s spring commencement weekend is just a few days away, and so is one of the busiest weekends of the year for local restaurants.
Despite graduation ceremonies being closed to the public, parents are still coming, based on booked up restaurants around town.
Zach Rody, event and front-of-house manager at FARM Bloomington, said FARM’s reservations for graduation weekend skyrocketed after the president said all adults would be eligible for vaccination by May 1.
”We have brunch and dinner,” Rody said. “We’re basically booked Friday day, Friday night, Saturday day and Saturday night and then Sunday day.”
Rody said FARM is no longer taking reservations for the weekend but said there may be room for walk-ins depending on the weather.
Graduation weekend in Bloomington is one of the most profitable weekends of the year for restaurants.
“I always compare it to like squirrels put away nuts for the winter,” Rody said. “Basically, our summer is a more leaner time.”
Siam House host and waitress Mink Latthapinan said the popular Thai restaurant is also booked for the weekend although they will take some walk-ins.
She said business has slowly been coming back this spring, but takeout and delivery orders remain high. This weekend, however, in-house guests will be the top priority.
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“So we might stop doing delivery because we’re going to take care of the customers inside first,” Latthapinan said.
All restaurants must remain at 50% capacity according to county health department guidelines. Rody says until those guidelines are lifted, business won’t be fully back to normal.
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