The SF Chronicle let a writer drift south to our little town for a feel good restaurant story–and who doesn't want one of those right now.

Noriaki Kojima and Masayuki Tadokoro weren’t exactly ready to open their Burlingame restaurant, Curry Hyuga. They hadn’t put up a sign. They hadn’t remodeled the dining room. They hadn’t done any outreach. But it was March 16, the day of the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place announcement, and they realized they needed to make a decision fast.

They sped off to Burlingame City Hall and walked out with a business license 30 minutes before it closed, making their Japanese curry concept probably the last restaurant in the city to obtain one before the stay-home order took effect at midnight.  In less than two weeks, the restaurant has made enough money to hire three employees.

While the situation isn’t ideal, opening has proved worth the effort. Being closed and paying rent for an unknown length of time would be worse, Kojima said.

I had a business school professor in entrepreneurial management who made the case that starting a business in a down cycle wasn't insane since it forces the team to be very careful with cash burn from the start and it positions them to ride the recovery wave back up.  Let's hope that is the case here since it definitely takes guts.  Click through for more details on the menu and the background of the founders.  It's at the Laguna intersection.