Alli grew up in a small town in South Carolina, so when it came time to put down roots in Houston, she was drawn to the close-knit, small-town feel of the Heights. She knew it was where she was meant to be.

“The Heights gave me that same feeling of home, and 19^th Street is so much like the Main Street of my old home town, but without a courthouse,” she recalls.

An avid golfer, Alli moved to Houston to accept a position with the U.S. Golf Association. It was a job she genuinely loved, managing seven states and Mexico and running national golf championships. But though the work came with great perks, it also came with 100 days of travel every year. Eventually, when the burden of the travel began to outweigh the benefits of the job, she decided it was time to get off the road and settle down to a sense of calm and stability.

The series of events that followed was anything but.

Having grown up in a family-owned business, Alli had an entrepreneurial spirit that inspired her to lease out space in the 19^th street iconic Harold’s building. Her plan? To open a multi-concept space including a restaurant, bar, neighborhood market, fresh deli, pizza oven, gourmet coffee, flowers, and more. With a combination of private equity and loans, Alli renovated the entire century-old space for her venture, backed by demographic studies that assured her that her neighborhood market concept would work, and opened The Heights General Store at Harold’s in November of 2013.

“We knew it wasn’t going to work within the first five months,” Alli said.

But Alli wasn’t going to be discouraged. Instead, she used the original venture’s troubles as a learning opportunity, hiring a consultant to help identify what went wrong. “The consultant said we had a ‘clarity of offer’ issue,” Alli explains. “People didn’t understand what we were.”

But what people did understand – at least those who had visited her the neighborhood establishment – was that they had great food and the pizza was a favorite. Because there weren’t a lot of pizza places in the area, it looked like the perfect new opportunity for Alli and part of her downstairs space. The upstairs restaurant remained a mainstay

Unfortunately, when Alli’s Pizzaria opened, so did a number of other pizza places, and the Heights was suddenly oversaturated by pizza establishments. Eventually, the pizzaria closed. Alli then sublet the 1,000 square foot area to Circa Real Estate for office space and continues to serve pizza in the adjacent bar area.

Not ready to give up, Alli seized on the opportunity to buy the entire Harold’s building when it came on the market in 2016. After seeking the advice of a restaurant consultant, Alli had a new plan: to turn part of their expansive space into Harold’s Tap Room.

At last, it looked like success for Alli. All her hard work was beginning to pay off and her business was starting to turn a corner. That was the summer of 2017… when Harvey hit.

Though the space itself suffered no physical harm from the storm, the communities surrounding the establishment did. In the aftermath, business began drying up as people directed the money they might have used for dining and entertainment toward home repairs – and Harold’s started struggling. Again.

Nevertheless, she persisted. When the main water line broke in Houston in February 2020, the business was forced to boil tap water, plus the added expense of purchasing 2,000 pounds of ice to continue operating and countless bottles of water.

Little did Alli or anyone know what would come next. By the time the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Houston, Alli was used to thinking on her feet and making adjustments to better suit the market circumstances.

And as she devised her new strategy, her resilience shined through.

“We knew we had to innovate again,” Alli says. “The shutdowns happened the week of St. Patrick’s Day, which is a big day for bars like Harold’s Tap Room. We’d already purchased all our inventory and couldn’t return it,” she adds.

In the face of the shutdown, Alli had to change her entire business model. Whereas takeout was a small piece of their business before, it’s now a huge part of what they do. And they do it really well.

Harold’s changed the marketing of its menu to feature specials each day, such as Wine Down Wednesday, which delivers pizza and a bottle of wine for $25. Saturday Steak Nights and Taco Tuesdays are also fan favorites. To make what they do even more delicious, they’re delivering for free within a 5-mile radius. The experience with the new business model has inspired Alli to plan to incorporate the changes they’ve made into their permanent business plan. They have a food truck and have hired two delivery drivers. The themed nights are also here to stay.

Though many restaurants can deliver alcohol during the current business environment, Harold’s had already secured the proper alcohol sales permits some time ago and can continue the delivery service even after the business restrictions and social distancing guidelines are lifted. “We offer beer, wine, and kits for palomas, margaritas, and bloody marys, all to go or delivered with food orders,” Alli says.

What you can do now:

Opt for direct delivery from Harold’s.

Obviously, ordering food is a great way to help local businesses like Harold’s. But Alli also offers another tip. “If a restaurant offers delivery themselves, opt for that over other on-demand services that are widely available. Not that there is anything wrong with those delivery services – use them when it’s your only option. But if it isn’t, using a restaurant’s internal delivery services helps our bottom line and gives us more control over the quality of the food and the delivery. It’s a small way you can help make a big impact for small businesses. It’s a win-win.”

Harold’s is now open for dine-in.

Starting on May 1, Harold’s is now open for limited capacity dining! Alli and her team are taking every precaution to keep you and your family safe if you choose to eat in the dining room or rooftop terrace. To ensure a safe and responsible evening out, Harold’s will be doing the following key things:

• Restricting party sizes to six or less
• Placing tables six feet a part
• Offering the option to order online from your table
• Giving guests the option of eating off of disposables or properly sanitized china
• Positioning hand sanitizing stations in key locations throughout the restaurant
• Requiring wait staff to wear face masks and gloves and change out gloves between each guest service
• Daily health screenings for staff and as always, required regular hand washing

The team at Harold’s has missed seeing and interacting with the community they love, and are excited to get back to what they are passionate about doing. Space is limited, so be sure to call and make a reservation before dining in.

Follow Harold’s on social media.

Alli also encourages the community to engage with and follow Harold’s and other small businesses on social media. A big part of why Alli started her business was her love of the community – and to make up for the interaction she misses each day due to the shutdowns and social distancing, she has turned to social media. There, on Facebook, she does regular raffles and giveaways to help promote and keep her business alive. She also creates engaging posts and comical videos, all in an effort to connect with the community she loves.

“The feedback I get in return means so much to me,” Alli says. “A delivery driver will take food to someone and come back with an encouraging note that says, ‘we’re pulling for you!’ It means the world to me and my team.”

Encouragement like this means the world to all small businesses throughout our communities – and the actions that Houston takes to rally around them can keep them going through whatever comes next.