Restaurants and barbershops welcome back customers as state reopens

André White, Skyler Kraft
Sat, 16 May 2020 06:45:04 +0000
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Hair fell to the floor in barbershops and customers filed into restaurants, eating at tables Friday as Ohio took the first steps in returning to normalcy after state-ordered closures.

Business as usual came to an abrupt halt when Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton began to issue orders in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, which included the closure of businesses deemed nonessential in mid-March. For many within the restaurant and barbershop industry, this meant months of uncertainty.

“Definitely it was a big hit, especially to us servers because we pretty much work off tips here every day,” Maria Sandoval, a server at Cazuelas Mexican Cantina, said. “Most of the servers are excited and ready to get back to get money.”