‘The customers got us through’: Wheeling eatery’s owners recall tactics used to survive pandemic

Until March 2020, the father-and-son owners of The Original Granny’s in Wheeling thought the biggest worries about their then-39-year-old restaurant would always be finding and retaining the right staff as well as keeping favored food items in stock.

Losing their dine-in customers for months at a time wasn’t even imaginable as a worst-case scenario.

But they cite a combination of resilience, costly adaptations and community loyalty amid the abrupt and ever-changing regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic for the reason they’re now operating a 44-year-old restaurant.

“It was a tough one, but the customers got us through,” said George Kastanis, who established the restaurant at the southwest corner of Dundee and Elmhurst roads in 1981.

His son Peter agreed, reflecting on the transition five years ago from an initial quiet uncertainty to more tumultuous activity to survive.

“It became a huge roller-coaster ride,” Peter said. “You worry about your staff. You think about the business itself. It’s a feeling that’s indescribable. I hope no one has to feel that way again!”

There was a succession of challenging phases to the pandemic that began with the total shutdown of restaurant dining rooms and went on to include mask-wearing, social distancing, the allowance of outdoor dining and the requirement of proof of vaccination for entry.

Together they lasted about 18 to 24 months before the restaurant was truly operating the way it had before, Peter said. The installation of costly plexiglass between booths had been what allowed occupancy to return to even 80% of physical capacity.

Then there was the purchase of 15 outdoor tables that the restaurant now intends to reuse between April and September each year. And placating in-person customers, as well as people on the phone, that compliance with the vaccine regulations was the price of being open at all.

“You never like to say no in business,” Peter said.

But the initial phase and the uncertainty of its longevity were probably the hardest for the restaurant’s crew. Twelve members of the wait staff were stuck at home and allocated the daily tips left by carryout customers as the kitchen staff continued to operate.

“It was hard to watch people going to grocery stores and shopping with no issues,” Peter said.

Though government financial assistance became available, competition for funding was immense in the beginning.

Memories of those intermediate stages are probably already beginning to fade for many, when masks had to be worn to enter, leave, order and walk to the restroom but could be removed while eating.

George gives Peter a lot of credit for the innovations, ordering of supplies and social media use that kept the restaurant open and let the public know it.

But Peter insists it was a collaborative effort strongly based on his father’s deep roots in the community.

Both agree luck had nothing to do with it.

“The customers are why we’re here,” Peter said. “At the end of the day, hard work always prevails. It does get noticed.”