COLUMBUS, Ohio — Businesses across Ohio are facing decisions on how they will operate in a post-health mandate world, and restaurants and bars are no different. 

What You Need To Know

  • Restaurants will no longer be required to enforce public health mandates in Ohio starting June 2

  • The industry has struggled to enforce social distancing amid staffing shortages

  • Restaurants and bars have not been allowed to operate at full capacity since March 2020
​Corey Schlosser, general manager of Wolf’s Ridge Brewing in Columbus, says he was surprised by Gov. Mike DeWine’s decision to lift all COVID-19 restrictions June 2.

“I think it’s a relief knowing that we are going inthe right direction,” said Schlosser. “I still think it’s a little early.”

Schlosser says it’s been a challenging year for employees, who have not only been tasked with their jobs, but also enforcing the mandates.           

“Our staff has been put through a lot the past year with enforcing those guidelines by the CDC and the state of Ohio, so knowing that not putting that extra weight anymore,” he said.

But ending restrictions and opening at full capacity does bring some complications.    

“There is an industry-wide staffing shortage,” said Schlosser.

Despite trying to hire, he says workers are hard to find.

“We've been trying drastically for 5-6 months,” Schlosser said. “We’ve raised our minimum and our base pay is $15 per hour, we offer insurance, we offer a sign-on bonus.”

So, he’s asking the public to be patient as the state moves into this next phase. 

“The experience might be different when you go to a bar and restaurant now but to have that patience and understanding that each restaurant bar and small business is trying to do what they can do,” Schlosser said.

Wolf's Ridge is in the process of fine tuning their post-mandate operations.​