CLEVELAND — A Cleveland restaurant owner said it’s time to go cashless, because lives depend on it.
Akin Affica owns Angie’s Soul Café and Zanzibar Soul Fusion.
Right now, Affrica said about half of Angie’s sales are cashless. Affica said in 2017, a gunman attacked him and left him thinking his life was over.
“At one of my other restaurants in Shaker Square two years ago, it was an attempted robbery at the restaurant and I was shot twice, but he shot at me three times and left me for dead,” Affrica said. “He came back for money, it was an ex-employee. Worked with us for about two weeks. He was a convicted felon that we had hired to give a second shot at life.”
The gunman shot Affrica in his right leg. The shooting bound him to a wheelchair for more than a year. Affrica can walk again, but a reminder of the 2017 shooting follows him.
“I’ve always been able to bend my knee, but from the knee down, everything else is partially paralyzed,” Affrica said. “As recently as last year some juveniles came in, in the middle of the day, customers were in the restaurant, put a gun to one of the employees' head.”
After ditching cash for safety reasons, Google Pay, Android Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, credit, debit cards, and Cash App will be accepted at the restaurant.
Africca said Angie’s new location at 78th Street and Carnegie Avenue will likely open by next Friday.
