OHIO, USA — Now that the restaurant and bar ban has hit Ohio, local establishments are leaning on food delivery services more than usual to try and keep their businesses afloat.
“It’s surreal. It’s kind of like I’m watching a movie that I’m in,” says Matt Harper, co-owner of Creekside Restaurant.
Since the ban went into effect, Matt has closed off Creekside’s 275 seats in the dining rooms and bar and cut the typical workday staff from 25, down to 6 employees.
“We have many, many employees that have been here over 20 years. It was family and we had to tell them to go on unemployment. That has been the most difficult thing to do,” says Harper.
They and many others are relying on the public to order food for carryout and through apps like DoorDash and Grubhub. Those same apps, that have also had to make some changes
DoorDash has introduced a no-contact delivery option, where customers can request the food be left at the front door. All you have to do is add where you want the food left in the delivery instructions. You can also send a photo of where you want the food dropped off to make things easier. The dasher then picks up the food like normal, leaves it and lets you know it’s ready.
“There’s no physical contact whatsoever, so it’s on the customer if that’s what they want,” says Chris Russin, a DoorDash delivery driver. “It’s the way to stay safe. You don’t know how long this is going to be and better be safe than sorry.”
To really minimize risk, once the food is inside your home you should open the container somewhere other than where you’ll be eating. Then, wash your hands before moving your food to a plate. After throwing the container away, you guessed it, wash your hands again before eating.
It’s a different way of ordering and eating food. It’s also a much different way of operating a restaurant, but Matt knows he’ll get through this and come back, stronger than ever.
Harper says, “We maybe down, but we’re not out. I guarantee Creekside will reopen whenever this is done and we’re looking forward to whenever that might be.”