Takeout 420 — Here’s why local restaurants are essential to our community, and why ordering takeout is important, but not enough. Local restaurateurs also need your voice.

By Mitch Allen

One day last week I walked into one of my favorite Italian restaurants—Vaccaro’s Trattoria—in Bath, Ohio, to pick up a takeout order. The limited staff was practicing social distancing and wearing black masks that matched their black server attire. It was both elegant and surreal.

As I stepped aside to keep my distance and wait my turn, I looked over at the empty bar to my seat—that’s right, my seat—the corner spot where I always sit to enjoy owner Raphael Vaccaro’s authentic Italian entrées and his extensive Italian wine list.

I began to cry.

It was all I could do to hold myself together long enough to pay my bill and get back to my car. I never realized how much I rely on Vaccaro’s chefs, servers and bartenders not only for physical nourishment, but for social nourishment, for community, for companionship. I feel the same way about a half dozen other local establishments near my home. I know the owners and the employees—and they know me.

Right now, at almost all of our favorite restaurants, the dining rooms are dark, and a skeleton crew is prepping, preparing, boxing and bagging takeout orders in an effort to serve their community and survive. “I can’t make money like this,” they say, “but if I can at least cover enough costs to stay open, to hold on to some staff, to live to see another day, that’s all I can ask for.”

**Signs of the times.** Restaurants throughout Northeast Ohio have retooled their operations to offer takeout.

Why are local restaurants so important? Because whether it’s Medina Square or Downtown Willoughby, they literally define our communities. A prime example is New Orleans’ French Quarter. Imagine it without Brennan’s, K-Paul’s or Pat O’Briens, Cafe du Monde, Voodoo Authentica or Preservation Hall. Sans these one-of-kind businesses that reflect the district’s remarkable history and culture, the French Quarter would be just a bunch of old buildings. Replace them with Starbucks and Panera Bread, and you could hear the collective yawn from Houston.

If you are doing everything you can to support local restaurants—including ordering takeout and tipping well—thank you. Thank you so much. Would you like to know how else you can help? In addition to spending our money with local cafés, bistros and diners—and other locally owned businesses—one of the best things we can do to be supportive is to tell people about them.

If you have a local favorite, please tell everyone you know. Shout it from the rooftops. Leave detailed, five-star reviews on Google, Yelp, Facebook or other review sites. And if you don’t have a local favorite, get curious. Look for one. Ask your friends. Break your routine. Sometimes when we’re in need we head straight to Olive Garden, Costco or Amazon out of habit or familiarity. Let’s expand our horizons.

In an effort to keep the doors open and continue to serve us, many local eateries are also offering delivery and/or curbside pickup.

And please be careful about leaving negative reviews. Frankly, I won’t do it. Just because I had a bad experience doesn’t mean someone else will. Maybe the staff had an off night, or maybe I just don’t get it and others will. There are plenty of local businesses I don’t patronize, yet their parking lots are packed (or, rather, were packed). We’re all different. And that’s not just okay, it’s the whole point. Our lives are enriched when we have greater choice.

Please give your favorite local businesses your time, your money, and your voice. Spread the word. I’ve been in the ad biz for my entire career, and I can tell you that the best form of advertising is and always will be word of mouth. And that is you. That is your superpower. No media company can offer it.

Right now, during the Covid-19 pandemic when most of us are under a stay-at-home order, we are unable to dine, shop or get a haircut from our favorite local spots. As much as I miss these fabulous businesses, as much as I hate what the pandemic is doing to our nation right now, I am hopeful that we will remember in the future that this—this right here—is how it will feel forever if they disappear.

Below, please find a list of some of Mimi’s favorite restaurants, which at press time were open and offering takeout dining services. We know the list is incomplete; there are hundreds more. So please, place a takeout order at your favorite eatery tonight, and please share your experience with others in the loudest voice you can.

People are listening.

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Categories: Downtown Eastside Westside Lake County Medina County Greater Akron Food & Dining

It’s time to takeout and speak up for local restaurants

Cleveland & Northeast Suburbs

Southeast & Akron

Southwest & Medina

Northwest Suburbs