PERRYSBURG, Ohio — While some restaurants reopened indoor dining at restricted capacity earlier in the pandemic, some embraced the new business model and didn't even bother.
As soon as the COVID-19 pandemic began, the owners of Balance Pan Asian Grille immediately took action and closed their doors for indoor dining.
Fast forward more than a year and its still curbside pick-up only.
However, co-owner HoChan "CJ" Jang said they're just waiting on Gov. DeWine's official word to re-open without restrictions.
"We're just kind of patiently waiting to make sure that on June 2, make sure that the whole six-foot distancing and mask mandate does change, in fact," said Jang.
Jang said just because Balance is reopening indoor dining does not mean it's getting rid of its curbside to-go service. Jang says customers want convenience and the option to do both.
"I think we've learned a lot during COVID-19 and all these changes that we've made for customers and employees it's only for the better," said Jang.
Jimmy "Yimmy" Planas, an employee at Balance in Perrysburg, said curbside-only dining was a new experience, but he knows he and his team are prepared to welcome customers back inside now.
"I think customers coming back is going to be a new experience again just because of how everything has been. But we've been doing this for what, 11 years now? So we're going to keep doing it," said Planas.
Jang also said he was able to take advantage of the time and give a couple of the stores a facelift. He added kiosks to order food, new tables and chairs, among many other improvements.
"We wanted to kind of put back the money we've made into our business and renovate, so we made a lot of interior changes. Call it a 'Balance 2.0,'" said Jang.
Jang says downtown location will remain closed until the construction on Summit Street clears up, just in time for the Solheim Cup in September.