The Lorain Pastelillo House, 1700 E. 31st St. in Lorain, was closed for the last two months, according to owner Julio Quinonez.
As of Aug. 29, the south Lorain staple is back up and running.
The restaurant partially closed its doors due to staffing issues, Quinonez said.
However, Quinonez also said he was dealing with some serious health issues, which made running the restaurant nearly impossible.
“We were closed for a couple months, due to some health issues,” Quinonez said. “I had to get some surgery.
“(But), we were closed because we were really short on staff, basically. It was hard to keep up. So, I had to take care of my health.”
The Lorain Pastelillo House has become a pillar since opening in 2019.
The restaurant remained closed during the Aug. 6 storm, Quinonez said.
The inability to help the community during trying times, especially weather disasters, may have been the most upsetting part of the closure, he said.
“Sometimes, it’s below zero outside; sometimes it’s snowing like crazy,” Quinonez said. “Last (year), we had the storms.
“Everybody who didn’t have means to cook, somehow because of the floods, we opened, and we tried to service everybody we could.”
Quinonez said he is excited and ready to get back in the saddle.
While he still is not fully healed from surgery, Quinonez said he is excited more than ever to get back to serving the community.
“We’re happy to see everybody,” he said. “We missed all our customers. We have a whole bunch of regulars.
“We really appreciate everybody reaching out on Facebook to see how we’re doing, so we’re very excited to be back.”
The restaurant also will expand back to its full menu now that the staff have come back, Quinonez said.
Old favorites still will be available, but Quinonez said he and the crew want to try out a few newer dishes.
Quinonez thanked the community for helping the restaurant stay afloat for the past five years, even through the coronavirus pandemic.
Without the support of the community, the restaurant would not have stayed open, he said.
“We love what we do, and we’re here to serve the community,” Quinonez said. “It’s very important to us.
“This food is part of our culture, us as Puerto Ricans. Everyone’s going through hard times right now, everyone can relate. But people always want a good plate of food.
“And we’re here to give it to them.”
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