Since the stay-at-home order was put into place due to COVID-19, Tiffany Sports Lounge was forced to transition to a takeout only restaurant, leaving several employees without jobs. During this time, Twin Cities-based restaurants, like Tiff’s, are getting involved in creative ways to bring communities and businesses together.

Megan Gaffney and Angie Avestruz, the creators and hosts of “Biz-ingo,” said they designed the game to give businesses in the Twin Cities area a way for customers to come together over food and prizes. “Biz-ingo” has grown since it was established three weeks ago.

“We started with about 15 businesses and then the next week we went up to 30, and we’re right at about 50 right now,” Gaffney said.

People can participate in by picking up drinks or meals at one of the participating restaurants. According to the Biz-ingo website, those businesses will have virtual cards available for those interested upon pickup.

Tiffany Sports Lounge, located on Ford Parkway, is one of those businesses hoping to bring more revenue with its own virtual bingo. The next “Biz-ingo” game will be held Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“We only have myself and my son and two to three other people working in the restaurant, so we went from a staff of 50 down to five people,” Tiff’s owner Blake Montpetit said.

Cait Hurley, a marketing team member at Tiff’s, is excited to see familiar faces on virtual bingo and the business that will come about as well.

“We want our customers to be able to have something fun to do and obviously it would be great if we got a surge in some of our to-go business because of it but it’s really about banding together as restaurants and small businesses,” Hurley said.

Employees of Tiff’s plan to participate in the bingo session as well. Riley McGough, a server, said that she will be tuning into the game night to support her local business.

“It really shows how connected we are. We’re not the biggest neighborhood, Highland Park isn’t always super well known, but, I think it’s really cool how all of these businesses are getting super creative to try to support each other,” McGough said.

Customers who participate have the chance to win a gift card from the restaurant.

Leila Weah can be reached at weah7721@stthomas.edu.