RESTAURANT NEWS: 2 local eateries decide to pause through the end of January

The Winds Cafe restaurant in Yellow Springs has paused operations for the rest of January 2021, and is scheduled to reopen Feb. 2. 2013 file photo by Connie Post

Credit: FILE/CONNIE POST

Credit: FILE/CONNIE POST

The Winds Cafe restaurant in Yellow Springs has paused operations for the rest of January 2021, and is scheduled to reopen Feb. 2. 2013 file photo by Connie Post

January is a brutal month for restaurants even in the best of times — and these, of course, are not the best of times.

As a result, two more Dayton-area restaurants have decided to pause operations temporarily through the end of January due to the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on sales during on top of what is traditionally the slowest month for the restaurant industry.

“We want to thank everyone for their love and support this last year. We have decided to close for the month of January to rethink, reinvent, and refuel,” the owner of The Winds Cafe in Yellow Springs wrote on the restaurant’s Facebook page Jan. 2.

Plans call for The Winds Cafe to reopen on Feb. 2. The adjacent Winds Wine Cellar is scheduled to reopen two weeks earlier than the restaurant, on Jan. 19.

“2020 has been quite a ride,” the post said.

In Dayton, Texas Beef & Cattle Company, a Texas-style barbecue restaurant at 1101 W. Third St., also will suspend operations for the rest of the month.

Texas Beef & Cattle Company in Dayton has paused operations at least through January, its owners said. FILE

icon to expand image

“It is notoriously an extremely slow month; add in COVID, and we’re looking forward to a little mental rest,” owners James Nuñez and Erin Belangia-Sanchez said in a Facebook post. “We hope to see you all in 2021!”

No reopening date has been set. Nuñez and Belangia-Sanchez said in a phone interview Monday that they are uncertain what the end of January will bring. The restaurant’s business has been hurt by the extended closure of the West Third Street bridge over the Great Miami River, a reconstruction project that is expected to last another year.

“During the month of January, we will take stock and decide what we’re going to do,” Nuñez said.

About the Author