Jul. 27—Craig Pulling recalls the first couple months of the pandemic. No one knew what to expect, and people thought the world was going to come to an end, he said.

Now, as owner of TJ's on the Avenue in Mentor, Pulling has watched the 32-year-old business become busier than it has ever been.

"I would say we recovered well," Pulling said. "Some people thought it was just the flu and some thought it was the end. It was more alarming than I thought it was going to be — this pandemic. We have other challenges that the rest of the world has with labor and inflation. Sales and business is not nearly as much of a challenge. It's staffing and inflation."

After a month of adjusting to no dining room and carryout only, many other restaurants shut down completely.

"They were like, 'How are we going to stay in business doing this?' " Pulling recalled. "I think the people who stuck with it and had maybe a bad month or two survived pretty good. Within a couple months, our sales were comparable even though we were just carryout. We maintained sales, but what became challenging was the amount of carryout we did, not having a plan and not knowing how much carryout containers to order and staff people. That was the biggest challenge back then. We were overwhelmed."

Since entering a new normal, many things that have gone back to the way they were at TJ's, but the dining room tables aren't nearly as close together anymore.

"I got rid of some tables, so people are more comfortable not being as close and I totally understand and respect that," Pulling said. "We've also added a patio onto our restaurant, which is something the public pretty much wanted."

TJ's carryout business is still a big part of the restaurant's business. Pre-pandemic, carryout used to be between 20% to 25% of sales. Now, it's 50%, he said.

"When we were allowed to open back up for dining room, it definitely took a while for people to come out," Pulling said. "We did not open the doors and people came piling in. The carryout business was still really big, but once it got back and people were more comfortable, it's as strong as it's ever been and actually probably stronger. Our dining room is busier, our carryout is busier and even our catering."

The opportunity to own TJ's came along for Pulling when he was in his mid 20s. He was a manager a corporate restaurant at the time.

"It was a family business," Pulling said. "My dad and my sister were involved, and we all invested and I think it worked out pretty good for everybody. That's how it got started. We've been here many years and we do have a very good staff."

Going forward, Pulling is not sure what the staff at TJ's can do differently, but feels more prepared for anything after having been through the pandemic. Pulling has more employees trained in multiple jobs to keep everything going.

"We're doing the absolute best we can with the staff and restrictions, and we definitely respected all the rules," Pulling said. "We can't operate in a hazmat suit. Some things are just unavoidable in operating a restaurant. Somehow, that food has to get into a container, get bagged up and get to the customer, and then on to the next one. In some ways, you just have to get lucky by how it happens and hopefully your customers understand."

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