CLEVELAND — He can’t wait to welcome his staff again.
"I’m responsible for approximately 250 people so I’ve got to get them back to work,” said Zack Bruell, the executive chef and owner of Parallax in Tremont and other restaurants in our area.
Bruell says he’s very aware of what he’s getting into.
"If we can break even once we open, we’ve succeeded so that’s the goal,” said Bruell.
He says it may not be worth it for him to reopen, but he’s willing to take the chance.
"I’m responsible for these people, money wise maybe not, but we provide a service, we’re part of the community,” he said.
Bruell’s staff will be doing more frequent deep cleaning, patrons will be sitting further apart and they will follow Governor Mike DeWine’s mandatory guidelines by having all employees wear masks.
Even though the state is allowing it, not all restaurants will open again.
"I would say we wouldn’t open until we know that we can really survive in this economy,” said Douglas Katz.
Douglas Katz is the executive Chef and owner of Zhug in Cleveland Heights and Fire at Shaker Square among other places. Right now he’s doing takeout and delivery at Zhug, and he says he will not be reopening his dining rooms anytime soon.
"My feeling is that we need to have really great information out there and and we need to be prepared for the guests when they really want to come back,” said Katz.
He says opening too early could put his entire business at risk.
"It would put us at risk as a business to sort of decide because the weather’s nice and because the state of Ohio said it was OK to open and then a month later we realize we lost $50,000 and then we’re in big trouble,” said Katz.
Restaurants can open their outdoor spaces Friday and indoor dining rooms late next week.
If you choose to dine in, be prepared for some serious changes.
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