In the News ... "Curb Side Bistro gives out free soup"

OA Photo by Michael Bauer

• For Barrientos, the main reason he enjoys doing this is his love for the community

By Michael Bauer, Reporter
• Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - Anyone who knows Curb Side Bistro owner Alejandro Barrientos will know that he likes to give back to the community.

On Wednesday, with most of Odessa shut down due to the winter storm, Curb Side Bistro was closed but the restaurant was able to hand out free soup to people through the drive-thru.

It was the second day that Curb Side Bistro was handing out free soup.

It’s one of the many times that the restaurant has given out free food. Curb Side Bistro is also well-known for having free Thanksgiving meals each November.

For Barrientos, the main reason he enjoys doing this is his love for the community.

“My wife and I were both born and raised here,” Barrientos said. “Our business is all face-to-face. Our community has supported us no matter what. We see that ECISD is closed. We see that the West Texas Food Bank, different churches and nonprofits are closed, that people rely on every day for food, so I was thinking ‘we have a warm kitchen and a gas stove. I’m not doing anything so I might as well feed our community.’ what better way to do with some warm soup.”

On Tuesday, the restaurant was open with soup being served for free to customers who asked. About 800 cups of soup were served on Tuesday.

“(Tuesday), we had more because we were opened as a restaurant and we had more people coming in,” Barrientos said. “I think today, everyone was afraid it would be so cold. We’ll see what happens with the roads later today.”

On Wednesday, there was enough bacon and potato soup prepared for a little over 300 cups with each cup being 12 ounces.

Curb Side Bistro began giving out the free soup at around 11 a.m. Wednesday and went until they ran out.

A couple of employees helped hand out the free soup.

“(Wednesday) it was the four of us who helped volunteer,” Barrientos said. “Tuesday, it was the whole crew. We had people running all over the place. It didn’t matter if you were washing dishes or a manager. Everybody was pitching in.”

Barrientos is hopeful that this can inspire other people to do likewise and give back to the community...

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