The continuing water shortage in Toledo and northern Wood County released a flood of hungry consumers
into Bowling Green over the weekend, with some businesses seeing a major boom in patronage – and even
running out of supplies.
"We ourselves at the shop experienced at least a 30-percent increase on Saturday and Sunday,"
said Kelly Wicks, of the Grounds for Thought coffeehouse in the downtown.
He said the shop saw a major influx of out-of-town customers from Toledo who couldn’t get their favored
beverage back home.
"Just coffee," he said of the major seller over the weekend. "They couldn’t get their
coffee in Toledo, just really just a lot of coffee sales."
Naslada Bistro released a statement on Facebook asking for their customers’ patience because of "an
unusual heavy traffic flow due to the state of emergency declared in Toledo and the area."
"Even if we are trying to do our best to accommodate everyone who comes to our doors, we are facing
challenges," the statement read, noting that "we will be serving a limited menu … with the
hopes that we accommodate more people without sacrificing quality service."
Shay Nealis, a manager at Panera Bread downtown, said the store was "really busy" and
experienced "spurts of long lines. It went pretty smoothly."
"Everyone was very understanding," she said. "The regulars understood the people coming in
from Toledo."
"Everyone has to have their coffee."
Some restaurants even ended up having to make special trips for supplies to keep up with demand.
Bryan Farnsworth, a chef at Sam B’s, said they had to run to Maumee to purchase "more hamburger
buns, hamburger meat, chicken" and that local restaurants were "scrambling, trying to borrow
from each other, going wherever they could to get more supplies."
"It was probably as busy, if not busier, than a Black Swamp (Arts Festival) weekend," he said.
"It was just insane."
Farnsworth said that Saturday business doubled, and business on Sunday tripled from the influx of
customers.
Qdoba on South Main Street confirmed a report that they received a more than $2,000 catering order to
feed 250 people at the University of Toledo, to be delivered today. While they’ve gotten orders from
Toledo before, they are usually much smaller. The store said they saw an overall 30-percent increase in
sales.
