BALTIMORE — For small restaurant owners, their restaurant is their second home.
Some even spend more time there than at home.
“About 100 hours a week is what I put in," said Joseph Gardella, owner of Joe Benny's.
"You probably spend more time here than you do your own home," WMAR-2 News' Jeff Morgan said.
"By far, by far more time here," said Gardella.
When we spoke with Gardella he was finishing up his first shift of the day, six hours of prep.
Then another shift tonight during the dinner rush.
It's the only way he knows how to manage his place, hands on face-to-face with customers.
“It’s the best 10 years of my life and right now is the saddest couple years of my life seeing it all come to an end," said Gardella.
He’s owned a small piece of Little Italy for a decade.
Now, the stress of owning a restaurant after the pandemic is too much.
“So, I wanna be back here, I belong here so I will be back, I just need to get to a good place so one day, one day we’re going to open the doors back up cause it’s home," said Gardella.
Baba’s has been around a little longer, nearly 15 years.
Farid Salloum calls himself the chief falafel officer.
“It’s been awesome, it’s really been awesome it’s been a great ride. We have been fortunate enough to have a great customer base that embraces our food, embraces my staff and really I can’t ask for anything more," said Salloum.
He says his loyal customer base got him through the pandemic but the rising costs of operating are too much for him to deal with.
“It was sad I mean it’s heartbreaking for me. I love my staff I love my customers I love my food and it’s ironic that I’m going to miss eating my own food," said Salloum.
Several other places have decided to close their doors too, though for these restaurant owners who put so much into it, it wasn’t an easy choice to make.
