VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A family run Virginia Beach café was faced with the frightening reality that they might have to shut their doors like so many other small businesses, but thanks to an overwhelming surge of support in recent days, they are staying open.
The quaint European style café is run by the energetic Esma Terzic.
“The Bread Box Café means to me like my baby, I put my life here, I raised my daughter here,” says Terzic.
After 17 years serving up sandwiches, pizzas and pasta, The Bread Box Café is staying open and business is booming.
During lunchtime, Terzic is running out of room for tickets on the counter, an unlikely problem during this pandemic. The lunchtime wait is 45-minutes to an hour.
Customers keep calling and the stack of tickets keeps piling up, but this is a rebound Terzic never expected. She’s probably the only one that I’ve ever worked for that I know actually loves her cooking putting everything into her cooking for her customers,” says waiter Jimmy Glantz.
On Tuesday, Glantz posted a picture of Terzic on Facebook— he caught her sitting distraught in her empty café.
“We were really slow, and I was thinking like ‘oh God, I really don’t want to shut down,” says Terzic.
Glantz told his Facebook followers that his boss was worried about keeping her doors open, “please swing through… show some love and support” the post read.
Glantz hoped his post would resonate with a few Facebook friends; never did he imagine it would be shared over 640 times in the 3 days.
Jade Piechowski says her mom shared the post and she felt like she needed to support and grab one of the breakfast pizzas she enjoys. “You’re supporting families in the area, your neighbors, the people that your kids go to school with,” says Piechowski.
Families were seen tailgating in the parking lot Friday afternoon. The show of support has been overwhelming for the business.
“I feel grateful and I know we really do have a good community,” says Terzic.
From the bottom of her heart and her breadbasket, Terzic hopes the community can pull through the pandemic together.
“I hope they keep coming back and also they support other small businesses.”
The Bread Box Café can be found at 2372 Virginia Beach Blvd # 101, Virginia Beach, VA 23454.
