ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Restaurants in Orangeburg are hoping when people say "Shop Local" they also mean eat local.
“People have families to feed so I feel like supporting the smaller businesses will help support the community," said the manager of the restaurant "Philly Special, " Taylor Benjamin.
He says the restaurant is known for its Philly cheesesteaks and chicken wings.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, says Benjamin, the restaurant has been facing food shortages related to supply chain disruptions-making it a little difficult at times to get steak, sourdough and chicken wings.
Buy they say they have been making things work.
“Everything’s going pretty fine, everything’s going pretty well. Money’s getting straight. We’re getting the orders out. Getting our client sales and customer base going back up," said Benjamin.
The "Taste of Caribbean" restaurant opened at the peak of the pandemic and manager Kishon Ryan said the community has embraced them with open arms.
“Even though we opened during the pandemic, at the height. Because it was new to Orangeburg, the Caribbean restaurant, it took off. Since we have authentic food and authentic cooks, people continuously came to support us," said Ryan.
The restaurant's number one seller, says Ryan, is its oxtails.
“We’re expecting a good crowd. We’re expecting people to still, people from out of town come and get to try us and get something different," said Ryan.
The "Taste of Caribbean" says it plans to open for half a day on Christmas Eve and the "Philly Special" will be open all day.