PARMA, Ohio — Twisted Taino Owner Jose Melendez has had to shrink and move his business over the last two years.
“Ever since COVID, people got the hang of takeout. Here at Twisted Taino, we’re still building our dining area, so we’re still considered to be a takeout location,” Melendez said.
He was at a larger location in downtown Cleveland where he could serve more customers, but he opened it in the middle of the pandemic. So just a year later, he moved to Parma since he wasn’t getting enough business to stay at a larger spot.
“You have a clientele that follows you at a specific demographic. Unfortunately, by moving we gained some customers but we lost customers in that area as well,” Melendez said.
There are tables in the restaurant, but you won’t be served from there. Customers have to order from the front and then they can sit down and eat. That’s because Melendez doesn’t have the staff to serve a dine-in crowd of people.
“When you have 30 people showing up at the same time and each dish takes 15-20 minutes. Now, we’re backed up to an hour, hour and a half, so we’re still limited to what we can sell,” Melendez said.
He said he is hoping to expand his location by adding a dine-in area next door, but first he will have to save enough money and will have to find staff available to work there.
