CLEVELAND — Store shelves across the country were left empty of toilet paper and sanitizing supplies in 2020. This March marks five years since the president declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency.

Thousands of U.S. restaurants struggled to keep their business booming, and many continue to feel that impact today.

What You Need To Know

  • The impact of the pandemic is still with Americans today, from how people interact day-to-day, to the way customers order food and alcohol

  • More than 100,000 restaurants closed nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, and nearly 3,000 shut down across Ohio, according to the Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance

  • Many restaurants turned to take-out and third-party delivery to compensate for a dramatic drop in sales

Kayla Barnes is the general manager of Barrio Tacos in the heart of downtown Cleveland, welcoming hundreds of customers from all over Ohio and the country. She’s been with the restaurant since 2021, a year after the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“Barrio means neighborhood,” Barnes said. “So after the pandemic, we really tried to engage with our customers and our clientele to make sure that we were still letting them know that we were still here.”

The Mexican restaurant turned to takeout, temporarily closing its doors to the public.

Now, Barnes said they often have a full house and a steady stream of online orders.

“From last year, our sales jumped from takeout tremendously,” she said.

Barrio is offering a tarty twist to their takeout menu.

“So for Barrio, for tacos, we only do our house margaritas, our classic,” Barnes said.

John Barker is the president and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant & Hospitality Alliance. He said pushing the ‘place order’ button has become a weekly ritual for most Americans, but initially, many restaurants struggled to adapt.

“You're watching so many businesses who never really were in the takeout business before the pandemic, and now they are. They sort of have to because one of the evolutions we've seen is the third party delivery,” Barker said.

After being legalized in Ohio in 2020, to-go cocktails have transformed the industry. According to the National Association of Restaurants, alcoholic sales represent around 21% of total sales.

“That was a lifesaver for many restaurants, it really was,” Barker said. “And people had some fun with that and invite their friends over and be on the back porch and just, you know, just we all needed a bit of a release and some of that has stuck.”

Even as social distancing guidelines are long gone, Barnes said they’re still working to meet customers wherever they’re at.

“Not a lot of people can come out to Barrio and dining with us and have that experience,” she said. “So we like to make sure that, you know, we can bring that experience of Barrio to them in their home place.”