SBA Assistance Keeps Heaven’s Table BBQ Serving Milwaukee During COVID

Jason Alston began cooking at age 13 to feed himself and his hardworking single mother, but his passion for barbeque started earlier as he watched his uncle and grandfather grill. “I asked if the food was ready and they said no—I snatched a rib right off the grill and hid in a closet to eat it!  When they found me I was covered with sauce.” He kept cooking at a variety of jobs, getting degrees in culinary arts and business management, all while entering—and winning—major barbeque competitions and catering it for friends and family.  He was invited to make his passion a business, so he opened Heaven’s Table BBQ in early 2018 in the new Crossroads Collective food hall on Milwaukee’s east side.  Positive reviews and neighborhood buzz brought in the customers. 

When the pandemic forced the Crossroads Collective to close in March 2020,  Jason faced a cash flow crisis.  He stopped taking a salary so that he could pay his employees, but the high rent for his now-idle small booth and food prep area was a problem.  He applied for and received an SBA COVID EIDL loan and a small PPP loan in April 2020, enabling him to buy a delivery truck, pay staff and rent, and purchase PPE.  When the food hall re-opened with outdoor seating and reduced capacity in June, so did Heaven’s Table, but business was far from pre-pandemic levels.  Jason began looking for another location with lower costs.

By the fall of 2020, he was renovating a new carryout space a few miles west, strategically located next to a residential neighborhood and near a few other restaurants.  He continued to sell through the food hall along with delivery and private events into 2021.  A Second Draw PPP loan helped to pay staff salaries and other expenses, keeping six people employed.  In mid-2021, as business was slowly returning, he received a substantial Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant. With food costs increasing and staff shortages an obstacle to opening the new location, he welcomed the new funds.  “SBA’s assistance has kept my staff and me employed and the business going. My goal is to be wise with how I use the RRF grant so that we can continue to bring Milwaukee great barbeque in this new environment, and be flexible if we need to be again.”