By Mike Hazlip—
Hotpot Express near Stone’s Casino on Antelope Road has reopened after closing its doors during the pandemic.
The family owned restaurant at 6456 Antelope Rd. has earned nearly 300 reviews on Yelp, with an average rating of 4.5-out-of-5 stars for it popular customizable hot pot bowls, papaya salads, and other foods.
A family member, who would only provide his first name, San, told The Sentinel on Friday that the business is welcoming back customers. He said it was difficult for the business to survive during the shut-down orders.
“During the pandemic, there was a lot of things that had a lot of modifications, a lot of changes,” San said. “For a small family business, we had to adjust.”
The business model for Hotpot Express won’t work for outdoor dining, San said. Their business model relies on dine-in experience with a cooking top on each table. Their location does not allow for outdoor dining, and they had concerns over tents blowing over, San added.
“It just wouldn’t work,” he said.
Customers at Hotpot Express choose the ingredients from a refrigerated display case and the meal is cooked at the table, San said. The business has various bowls with dividers to cook meals separately.
San said the landlord has been understanding of their situation as the restaurant slowly gains back customers.
“Luckily, the landlord here, we talked to them and they understand. We’ve only been open for a month and a lot of our customers don’t even know we’re back up open yet. It’s going to take some time.”
The restaurant landscape in Citrus Heights has seen a number of changes over the last year as businesses struggle to keep up with changing state regulations and customer habits.
The Sentinel reported almost 20 local restaurants received over $4.8 million in federal relief, and more than 500 businesses in Citrus Heights received millions more in Paycheck Protection Plan funds.
Citrus Heights also had an additional restaurant stimulus program active last year called Great Plates Delivered, which utilized federal and state funding to pay six participating restaurants to deliver up to three meals a day to seniors and at-risk individuals during the pandemic.
The program was discontinued by the City Council in December after city staff said funding delays from FEMA caused the city to have to front nearly $2 million to keep the program going while awaiting reimbursement.
