CLEVELAND — A new survey from the Ohio Restaurant Association shows 61% of restaurants saw their sales drop in the month of August compared to July.
John Barker serves as President and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant Association and points to the rise of the Delta variant and staffing shortages across all industries as factors in this slide.
“Really in the last month and a half, after sales had been up so nicely, they’re down,” he explained. “They’re starting to trend back down month over month. That's nationally as well as here in Ohio.”
That report goes on to suggest that 34% of restaurants believe they will not break even at the end of the year.
“We were hoping we would be out of this by now,” Barker added. “Almost 19 months in and we’re still managing this and it’s a lot of pressure on the restaurants.”
Northeast Ohio's Latino Restaurant Week could not come soon enough for chef and owner Luis Roman at Campus Grille Latin in Berea.
It’s one of about 10 restaurants taking part, hoping to take advantage of a rise in business.
“Business has been okay,” Roman said. “There’s still that survival mode.”
“It’s up and down,” Jennifer Quinones at Empanadas Latin Street Food. “One week is great, one week is a little slow.”
