CLEVELAND, Ohio — An all out effort to boost the hospitality industry while spreading kindness is officially underway.
Restaurants across Northeast Ohio are joining forces with a non-profit to make it happen.
The initiative comes at a critical time as many downtown businesses are processing the fallout over the impending Cleveland Browns move to Brook Park.
It's called "The Kindness Food Network."
Restaurants across town will display an orange sticker or placard where customers can scan the QR code, leave a kind message about the restaurant and overall service, and then encourage others to do the same.
The folks behind the Kindness Food Network say it's about creating an ecosystem that supports one another—regardless of what's happening around us.
Laurie Torres has been in the restaurant industry for decades.
She's made Mallorca her home away from home, serving up authentic Spanish and Portuguese cuisine and drinks in Cleveland's Warehouse District to customers from near and far.
"There is nothing restaurants do better than kindness. When you go to a restaurant—that's where you share your woes, you celebrate your life," Torres said.
While it's Cleveland's most awarded restaurant, with two walls of accolades to back it up, she and countless others can't help but think about a future without the Cleveland Browns nearby.
"I was disappointed, to be frank, just because, I feel like, not just the income loss, but the idea that at a time after COVID—we're trying to rebuild our urban centers—that a major team would leave the urban center," Torres said.
Torres is now working to shift the momentum and highlight the true heart and soul of Northeast Ohio's hospitality industry.
She says the food and the incredible people who pour their hearts and souls into it each day are at the core.
Torres is getting a little help from her close friends to jump-start the conversation.
"Lets' show a little appreciation to the servers that make the event so special for us," Stuart Muszynski, President and CEO of Values and Action Foundation, said.
Muszynski's non-profit is behind the longtime and successful "Kindland Movement."
"We need to show kindness to our community," Muszynski said.
Torres and Muszynski collectively created the Kindness Food Network.
It's made up of more than 60 restaurants across the area.
Each spot promises to show it the moment you step foot inside.
"It represents brightness and the sunshine. They will give them either a pen or a bracelet which will have a little QR code on it. They can scan it, and they can leave messages of kindness," Torres said.
The overall goal is to show kindness, spread kindness and encourage others to support the often challenged and struggling restaurant industry.
Those providing top-notch service will be rewarded for their efforts on the job, and patrons will be rewarded as well.
"Servers who participate will qualify for gift cards that they get from all of the area restaurants that are participating," Muszynski said.
While the future of the Browns' big move continues to be a hot topic across town, Torres and Muszynski hope to bring light to a stressful situation.
"Food is love," Muszynski said.
"It's a two way thing, and it's just ways of sharing kindness and sharing messages of kindness," Torres said.
Torres stresses this is not a restaurant review app or site.
It's based upon spreading love and positivity and rewarding those who work so hard.
For more information, click here.
