Holmes restaurants stay positive amid state shutdown
Boyd and Wurthmann manager Benson Beachy, left, hands a takeout meal to a customer at the Berlin restaurant.
One of the hardest industries to be hit during the coronavirus pandemic has been the restaurant industry. By mid-March most state governors ordered eateries closed after thousands of people began testing positive for COVID-19. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was one of the first state leaders to order restaurants to close their doors when on March 15 he mandated all bars and restaurants cease operation to in-house patrons, only allowing them to offer carryout orders to customers.
Restaurants and taverns in each of the state’s 88 counties felt the immediate effects of ending service to diners, and Holmes County eateries were no different. The once-busy places to grab a bite to eat or share a cup of java with friends became empty with employees and their managers left wondering what they could do to satisfy their own business needs, as well as the desires and requests of their customers.
Thanks to a drive-up window installed just one year ago, Jitters Coffee House in Millersburg was ready to immediately serve patrons with their to-go orders. Customers can call in their choices ahead of time and pick them up just a short time later through the window, having little to no contact with any of the coffee shop’s employees.
“We always feel so blessed because God has done a lot for us,” Jitters manager Kayla Eicher said. “We love our customer base, and we have great concern toward our employees. Right away we wanted to figure out how we could help prevent the spread of the virus and also serve our customers well. There is a lot of fear of the unknown because of what you see in the news. But as Christians we don’t have to have that fear.”
Eicher said Jitters employees are taking every precaution possible to ensure their customers’ safety. Because of the extra effort employees are putting forth, Eicher said the response from patrons has been nothing but thankful and appreciative.
“It’s so neat to see how this community has been so giving,” Eicher said. “So many customers have given us more tips, and they just say the sweetest things. It all just makes our day and has brought us all together even more. We are just overwhelmed with how much our customers have given back to us.”
Although customers are still permitted to come into restaurants to order, Jitters decided early on the best decision would be to lock its doors and only permit food to be passed through the drive-up window. According to owner Martin Mann, the decision came after he and his staff discussed how to best protect both themselves and their customers.
“Even at a time when we could keep our doors open, we closed them,” Mann said. “The thought was if our customers are walking in the door and possibly giving corona to our staff and then in turn the staff is giving the customers the virus through our drive-thru window, it just wasn’t going to do any good. We have workstations set up to sanitize our hands. Even though we are wearing gloves, we then will sanitize the gloves. If we handle money, we will change the gloves. We established a protocol early on to keep our staff and our customers safe.”
Readjusting and trying out new things was the name of the game for Berlin restaurant Boyd and Wurthmann. For the first time in the eatery's nearly century-old history, it has started offering delivery to customers as an option when they order takeout from the menu.
“Sometimes things like this don’t affect this area as much or affect a lot of people where we live, but this time this thing is affecting everyone,” Boyd and Wurthmann manager Benson Beachy said. “This has simply been a matter of readjusting our whole game plan. We have scrambled and come up with new ways of doing things while keeping our employees and customers safe too. We have extended our hours and are offering delivery. We have slowed down enough that delivery was something we could finally offer. The labor market has been so tight, so we thought we would roll this out and see how it does.”
Delivery at Boyd and Wurthmann is done in-house, instead of being outsourced to a third party. While the restaurant has seen a drop in service during weekday hours, Beachy said business on Fridays and Saturdays (Boyd and Wurthmann is closed on Sundays) “really ramps up.”
Most of the staples of the menu are still available for takeout and delivery with only a few things being cut for the time being, Beachy said.
A seasonal favorite, dandelion gravy, is back on the menu and will continue being served each Wednesday through the end of May, beginning at 11 a.m. until sold out.
While business is a bit slower during the pandemic, Beachy said it is a perfect time to get caught up on small projects. Boyd and Wurthmann is remodeling its basement in hopes of serving its customers better by adding a bakery downstairs.
“Right now we just have to use a little bit of extra common sense and obey the safety regulations that have been put in to place,” Beachy said. “This is not the end. We will get through this together as a community. When we see someone in need, we help them out. Our community will get over this really well. We really miss our customers we are used to seeing every day and can’t wait to see them again soon. In some way or another, we will figure out normalcy again.”
One of downtown Millersburg’s most beloved and classic places to not only have lunch or dinner, but also a weekend getaway, has been negatively affected by the coronavirus.
Hotel Millersburg was forced to cease operation when DeWine ordered lodging closed, and management at its adjoining Tavern restaurant made the decision to shut down completely, even though takeout could have still been an option. But just because the business isn’t serving customers doesn’t mean work inside the historic building isn’t being completed.
“We are doing a bunch of renovations that include new flooring and adding a bunch of additional antiques,” hotel and tavern manager Teresa Boggs said. “We will have new features that include new-to-us furniture and features to the tavern. We are remodeling one of the bathrooms and refinishing the brickyard floor. This shutdown gives us the opportunity to do updates to the hotel and bring new (antique) pieces in."
What is unique about the process, Boggs said, is that instead of purchasing antiques from retailers, she and her husband, Ken, who also manages the property, are looking on various trading websites for pieces to add to the hotel’s collection. When they find the perfect addition, instead of offering to purchase the pieces from the sellers, they are instead offering to trade a stay at the hotel for the collectibles.
“We are trading for a little vacation,” Boggs said. “People who have never been to this area are getting the chance to come in that way. We are doing a lot of hard work right now with ripping out carpeting and things such as that, but it will all be beneficial to the hotel and its patrons. We are just trying to make it a little bit more of an interesting experience when we do open back up and our guests come back into the hotel and the tavern.”
Restaurants have been ordered to stay closed to dine-in customers through May 1, at which time DeWine will re-evaluate.