CORONAVIRUS: Springfield restaurant adds seating, additional hours

Speakeasy Ramen received approval for customers to consume alcoholic beverages in that area from the city of Springfield, Clark County Combined Health District and State of Ohio.

Frazier said that they are planning to eventually build a closed-in patio with an ADA accessible entrance in that area.

“This front temporary area is a way for us to get that enhanced seating capability without putting the full price into it," Frazier said.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing guidelines, Frazier said she has had to cut inside seating in half.

“This (the new seating area) gives us almost double the capacity that we have inside right now which is great," Frazier said.

Speakeasy Ramen has also expanded their hours to include opening on Mondays. The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Mondays.

“We’re trying to stay alive. We will see what happens. If we have strong enough sales on Mondays we will stay open," she said.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, sales are “getting better slowly,” Frazier added.

“Initially, we were 100 percent carryout and that was rough,” she said.

When Speakeasy Ramen started allowing customers to dine-in, they were still relying heavily on carryout sales, but Frazier said their sales are now about half carryout and half dine-in.

She said that she hopes the new seating area will help sales increase as the fall weather rolls in.

Speakeasy Ramen is “grateful” for the support they have received from the local community in the last several months to help keep them afloat.

“We could not have done this without our community supporting us - there is no way," Frazier said. "We had so many people come through the doors and order carryout just to keep us alive.”

She added that the restaurant is continuing to add new specials and drinks to engage with their customers.

Speakeasy Ramen is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, according to their Facebook page. For more information, search for Speakeasy Ramen on Facebook.