Missy Witt struggles to keep the doors open at the shuk’s beloved Mexican eatery.
By ARIEL DOMINIQUE HENDELMANUpdated: JANUARY 5, 2017 18:04Missy Witt, owner of Burrito Chai in Jerusalem(photo credit: FACEBOOK)
Kosher Mexican food is hard to come by in Jerusalem.When 29-year-old Missy Witt opened Burrito Chai in Mahaneh Yehuda almost a year ago with her husband, Michael, she knew that they had a good product that was sorely in demand.“I’ve always been a serious lover of Mexican food,” Witt says. “Living in Chicago, there’s a lot of Mexican food. I didn’t grow up kosher, so I know a good taqueria.Once I did decide to become kosher, I started making it for myself at home because I missed it.”When Witt made aliya in 2011, she took every chance available to cook her beloved Mexican food. When she attended Midreshet Neve Yerushalayim, Witt had a small stand outside of a bar in the shuk. They allowed her to sell her burritos, which was a good introduction to what would come. After Witt met her husband, they started cooking together on their roof in Nahlaot and giving it to friends. The word quickly spread that there was delicious kosher Mexican food and many people congregated. They regularly had as many as a hundred hungry burrito enthusiasts. It became clear that the Witts could take their burrito dreams to the next level.“It was a very organic process,” Witt recalls. “I didn’t wake up one day and say ‘I am going to open a Mexican restaurant.’ I’ve worked in many restaurants over the years as a waitress. I’ve never had a business before, so it was a little far-fetched. But the idea grew because we had so much support. We always wanted to be in the shuk, but we didn’t think we could afford it. We were looking to do catering out of a kitchen and we found this spot.”The location that became Burrito Chai is not inside the shuk, but rather on a side street. Witt points out that you can’t compete with the foot traffic of being inside the shuk proper, but on the other hand, the rent is much more reasonable.Burrito Chai was popular immediately upon opening. With an emphasis on fresh ingredients, the homemade hot sauces became a huge draw.Using the hottest peppers from around the world, grown specially for the establishment, hot sauce varieties include Carolina reaper, ghost peppers and chocolate habanero.“We started out with such a bang,” Witt says.“Things were so great with our little space that it seemed like we were outgrowing it. The space next to us was available from the same landlord, but I was very hesitant to extend beyond our means. We got a push from family members, who gave us a little bit of money and encouraged us to take it before someone else did. But it messed us up badly in the end.”The Witts rented the adjacent space after two months of being open, and the ripple effect was immediately palpable. Having set up Burrito Chai’s prices and structure as a takeaway place, where customers could expect fun, fast and good food, the quick expansion turned it into a full-fledged restaurant.“Once we took the room, people expected a certain level of service that we couldn’t provide,” Witt explains.“We had to increase our staff and we didn’t raise our prices significantly. While we are and have been busy, it wasn’t enough. We were kind of giving food away. I know what it’s like not to be able to go out and enjoy living in Jerusalem. We wanted to stay affordable. But I think we could have still been affordable and raised our prices. ” Witt realized the mistake they had made in taking on the extra space, but there was nothing to do except hire more staff. Hiring turned into over-hiring and the small restaurant had 15 staff members at one time. The current staff consists of five people, including Witt and her husband.Burrito Chai is Witt’s first business and first restaurant, which she runs primarily on her own, as her husband is in the army. He has been given more time off recently to help run the struggling business, but Witt is still owner, manager, waitress and mother to two young children.“I’ve been running this place single-handedly and I’ve been so focused on building the name and on pleasing the customers, that some of the financials slipped through my fingers,” she sighs.“I was spread too thin. We never had proper advertising. It’s such a shame because we built this place from blood, sweat and tears. We have a great product and a great following. We love our customers and they love us.”Money problems and over-eager expansion would be enough to cripple any new business. But another incident this past fall proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. An employee working in Burrito Chai’s kitchen was found dealing drugs out of the restaurant. He was promptly fired, and after a short stint in jail, was frequenting Burrito Chai as a customer.“By this time, we had gotten a new chef,” Witt says. “He was still hanging around with other customers. I’m not stupid, but I’m not nosing around in people’s business. People do what they do. If they are hanging out and buying food, then I’m happy. I have a restaurant to run.”Not long after, their new chef was arrested, along with other customers and community members.Perhaps the most shocking news was that the former employee had been working as an informant for the police.“It was all over the media,” Witt says. “I had people coming up to me and saying that they heard about a drug bust at Burrito Chai. It really gave us a bad name. I even had a potential investor who decided to back out because of it. But that’s not us. We’re a family. We’re really a little mom-and-pop shop and we want it to be good vibes. That brought our name down into the dirt. We weren’t involved in any way, aside from employing these people, but how could we know what they were doing? There was a definite drop in customers after that.”Burrito Chai is currently struggling to keep its doors open. The Witts are hoping to stay open through January, but beyond that, only time will tell. Since putting the word out last week about the possibility of closing, Burrito Chai has received an immense amount of encouragement to keep going. With potential investments, the possibility of taking on a business partner, and their push to rent the adjacent space, Witt is cautiously optimistic about the future.“Our landlord is amazing and being flexible with us,” Witt says. “Really my best option is to keep going and try to get out of this. I feel like I went to the most expensive, exhausting business school you could ever go to. But that’s how I learn; I learn under pressure. I really feel that we could be successful now, so it would be the biggest shame to walk away. We just want to get back to our roots: simple, small, homey, delicious Mexican food. I’ve been so beyond touched by the support and those who followed us through this journey. We could never have handled any of this without the community.”