BEREA, Ohio — Heather Doeberling is the boss at Boss Chick N’ Beer and while she is passionate about creating great food, it is her commitment to her staff and her community that sets her apart.
“I believe that Columbus has enough money. We are Clevelanders and I think it’s part of our responsibility to keep the economy in Cleveland going. So we keep Cleveland dollars here in Cleveland,” said Doeberling.
But those dollars dwindled when the pandemic hit, leaving Doeberling with some tough decisions to make.
One of the hardest decisions was for her to close her first brick and mortar restaurant, Boca Loca.
“It was worse than any break up,” said Doeberling.
She put the money from the sale in the bank so she could keep paying her employees.
“Our business can only be as good as our people. They are counting on you to feed their families and support their livelihood—and if you can’t do that what are you doing,” said Doeberling.
Doeberling and her partner, Emily Moes went a whole year without a paycheck and even offered to help their employees.
“If you cannot pay your bills you need to tell me I will you give you the money,” said Doerberling.
They brought back all their workers, despite not needing everyone because they wanted to keep their team intact.
“At the end of the day we make decisions based for people not money,” said Doeberling.
Boss ChickNBeer is part of a 3News special called Save Our Sauce: Celebrating Northeast Ohio’s restaurants. You can help laid off restaurant workers by donating to the Ohio Restaurant Relief Fund.
You can watch our Save Our Sauce documentary below: