This pop-up charity is helping restaurants stay in business amid COVID

MAMA's Drive-by kitchen is helping struggling restaurant owners stay afloat during the pandemic.

Sophie Flay Image
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
This pop-up charity is helping restaurants amid COVID
MAMA's Drive-by kitchen is helping struggling restaurant owners stay afloat during the pandemic.

KOREATOWN (KABC) -- Jared Jue and Alice Han launched MAMA's Drive-by Kitchen in May.

"Mama is actually a platform to preserve immigrant culture through restaurants, food and different cuisines," said Jue.

"We just started seeing the community hurt so much, you know, during the pandemic and then when we were on lockdown you see all these restaurants start slowly closing down," said Han.

They choose one or two restaurants to highlight for one week and create a limited menu from the restaurant to help customers pre-order.

"Then people can pick it up across L.A. at our different locations on Sunday," said Jue.

They recently featured the restaurant Hwang Hae Doe in Koreatown.

The 20-year-old spot, owned by Sunyi Chae, is known for Korean barbeque and their take on a Vietnamese spring roll.

"This last year was so hard for her. She just wants to work harder and just make sure that people are fed. Even though it's a really hard business, this is what she loves," said Han.

So far, MAMA has featured 11 hard-hit restaurants with their drive-by kitchen.

They also use social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok to help promote these restaurants with fun content.

"Some of these older generations they're not very tech savvy. They don't have social media, it's all word of mouth for them," said Han.

If you're interested in ordering a meal from MAMA's Drive-by Kitchen, check out their account for updates and directions.