Cleveland restaurant operators weigh in on ways to combat the industry’s challenges in light of a forecast by recent surveys that paint a bleak picture.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Caring for restaurant employees is a critical salve for an industry that is under siege in a variety of ways, local operators said in the wake of surveys that show declining sales.
More than half of Ohio’s restaurant operators showed a drop in sales this year, according to a recent survey from the Ohio Restaurant Association.
Results of the survey done in mid-August paint a bleak picture of the industry, thanks to the fricassee composed of customer demands, continued staffing challenges and food-price hikes.
The latest ORA business-impact poll says 56% of the state’s restaurant operators report a decline in sales compared to previous months this year. The findings parallel that in a recent National Restaurant Association business conditions survey, which found 46% of Ohio operators say business conditions are worse than they were three months ago.
Restaurant owners almost universally attributed soaring costs as a culprit in the somber survey results, with price hikes seen since June.
Those increases have a direct effect on customers: The national survey showed 91% of Ohio operators increased menu prices, and 65% changed food and beverage items it offered. Throw in staffing shortages, and the residual effect means restaurants are staying closed on certain days and operating with limited hours.
A critical snowball effect of labor shortage is the human element, and combating the challenges starts with genuine consideration for employees, local operators told cleveland.com.
“I value my team more than almost anything else,” said Ninja City’s Dylan Fallon, who said one issue rises as the single, biggest challenge.
Dylan Fallon is one of the partners in Ninja City in Cleveland's Gordon Square neighborhood.Laura DeMarco
“Burnout,” he said, “is surreal.”
“You have a strong team of very dedicated, loyal followers who appreciate you, who believe in you, but there’s only 80 percent of what we need,” Fallon said. “That’s more than most which is why I’m grateful to have these guys. It’s almost weekly I have to sit down with somebody and say, ‘Hey, take your time, don’t worry, we’re going to be OK, take a day off, take a break. Do what you need to take care of your mental health and your physical well-being, don’t push yourself to the limit for so long. Or when you’re getting to that point you have to let me know.’ Because burnout is so real. I have to protect my staff as best I can. Sometimes I fail at that.”
Ninja City is based in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood and has satellite operations opening soon in Tower City and Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. The restaurant, which features urban-Asian cuisine, also landed a deal as resident catering company at Jacobs Pavilion. Those ventures will help create “brand density,” he said.
“I hate using the word ‘bleak’,” Fallon said. “I am grateful to be here in business. The community has really rallied around us and kept us alive for the past couple of years. We’re doing as best as we can do now. There are so many challenges; restaurants have always been challenged.”
Two key factors, Fallon said, are inflation and staffing, which “snowball so much into other issues.”
“Inflation is inflation. The cost of labor has been flat for far too long. … It’s unfortunate that it took a global pandemic to get people to realize that this is what people should be earning. It’s unfortunate that it all happened all at once. You take inflation that is supposed to be happening slowly over 30 years” and then all of a sudden it hits the way it has, he said.
Also, consumers don’t always understand why menu prices are ticking up.
“Things are expensive because of a lot of reasons,” Fallon said. “But consumers don’t understand certain cuisines are more expensive than what they expect. Pizza has always been $10 from a regular pizza shop. Chicken fried rice is always supposed to be $7.95, right? A bowl of ramen – ‘I don’t get paying 10 or 12 bucks for a bowl of soup.’ It’s really hard to be consistent with the rate of inflation because consumers’ expectation is not there.”
Chef Andy Dombrowski splits time between Alley Cat Oyster Bar and Collision Bend Brewing Co. in Cleveland's Flats East Bank.The Plain Dealer
Added Fallon: “We’ve been banging our head against the wall for a couple of years.”
His way of surviving the continual wave of economic punches includes maintaining multiple business lines.
That’s key, Fallon said, “because we are a scratch kitchen. To have one location that does hand-made spring rolls or buying fresh-made pasta from Ohio City Pasta with a recipe that we helped design.”
Satellite, smaller operations and large catering businesses are solutions, he added. But “launching those initiatives is expensive as well. We’re getting there, but it’s a very, very thin razor’s edge we’re walking right now.”
After 30 years in the business, chef Andy Dombrowski has seen and endured a lot. From his perspective, caring for employees means rolling up his sleeves to do whatever it takes alongside his staffers.
Dombrowski alternates his time between Collision Bend Brewing Co. and Alley Cat Oyster Bar, two consistently busy places in Cleveland’s Flats East Bank.
“I’m very lucky that I have people who have worked for me since when I worked at the Watermark in the ‘90s,” he said. “I’ve always thought that you treat people right. I’m a working chef. The fact that I sit and work next to my guys, they have all the respect in the world for me. I tell them to do something, they do it because they know I’m working as well. … This industry has always been an industry where you get your hands dirty and you do whatever.”
He added: “You get what you pay for, and you keep people by the way you treat them. It could be like the stupidest thing, like you make sure they get something to eat every shift. ‘Have a cheeseburger, make sure you clean up good, and we’ll see you tomorrow.’
One of the places Andy Dombrowski works is Collision Bend Brewing Co., in the old Watermark restaurant in the Flats East Bank. Years ago, Dombrowski also worked at Watermark.
“Times get rough. You get rough and you work. I work the line occasionally, I work a station, I do all our parties, I help bus the dining room, I wash dishes, I’ll mop the floor. A lot of those things are things I prefer not to do, but that’s what we do. Ten o’clock at night, the dining room is full and maybe we’re short-staffed. Well, I’m going to go bus dishes because I don’t want my dish guys missing their bus.”
Dombrowski said higher pay and training staffers is imperative.
“The days of paying a cook 12 bucks an hour are long gone,” he said.
“You can raise your prices only so much. There’s only so much I can charge for a cheeseburger or pizza, right? We’ve had people complain about prices, but also at the end of the day, you want to come down here and sit on the water. Well, the rent’s not free here and the product’s not free. You’re going to tell me the dive bar you go to the burgers are only 12 bucks? Well, if you want to go sit in a dimly lit place that’s in a strip mall, knock yourself out. You want to sit on a patio and look at the boats and everything else that’s coming by, you’re going to pay for it, you know?”
John Barker, president and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant Association, said in a news release, “The restaurant industry is built on hospitality, and to ensure we can provide the highest levels of service, we hire talented people. We know people have been reconsidering their careers recently, and we hope they will look closer at the opportunities in our industry.”
The statewide group, founded in 1920, advocates for the industry while promoting education and events. It lobbied for financial solutions for restaurant workers during the throes of the coronavirus pandemic’s shutdown.
Numbers aside, the industry’s emphasis on the welfare of its workers remains a priority to operators like Fallon and Dombrowski.
“You know prices on food stink, and we can’t find anybody,” Dombrowski said. “But what’s my options? What am I going to do? Am I going to close the restaurant I work in and what do I do for my living? We can cry about whatever, and it sucks. But you’ve got to figure out how to do it somehow.
“It is how you treat people,” he said.
Ohio Restaurant Association’s report can be found online. National Restaurant Association Research Group’s findings are online.
I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Twitter: @mbona30.
Get a jumpstart on the weekend and sign up for Cleveland.com’s weekly “In the CLE” email newsletter, your essential guide to the top things to do in Greater Cleveland. It will arrive in your inbox on Friday mornings - an exclusive to-do list, focusing on the best of the weekend fun. Restaurants, music, movies, performing arts, family fun and more. Just click here to subscribe. All cleveland.com newsletters are free.
Like cool local food + drinks photos and videos? Follow @DineDrinkCLE on Instagram.
Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.
Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022).
© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.
Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.