Las Vegas restaurant credits customers, kindness for new life amid pandemic

When Joe Pierro woke up March 22, he told his family he was going to close Market Grille Cafe, at least until the pandemic had passed.

The decision wasn’t made lightly or quickly. Pierro had seen a slowdown in his Greek/Italian restaurants at the beginning of March as people started learning more about COVID-19. After the governor’s order came in, he closed the location at 7175 W. Lake Mead Blvd. on March 18 — permanently, he feared — and shifted the one at 7070 N. Durango Drive to takeout only, in the hope of eventually returning to regular service.

Pierro was facing challenges he had never experienced. Because he had lost his managers, he was opening and closing each day. He had lost much of his remaining staff to various factors, and because much of the food the restaurant served was perishable, the risk of costly waste was high. It all just didn’t seem worth it.

“I felt beaten down by so many odds,” said Pierro, with a remaining trace of the Buffalo, New York, accent of his youth. “There was no good news. It was just dismal.”

But that day launched a new beginning, of sorts. The day turned out to be the most successful of the week, but maybe more important, it also was one characterized by the kindness of guests who expressed gratitude that the restaurant was open and blessings that it would survive — plus some “really incredible” tips for the staff.

“All that just melted my heart, and by the end of the day, I told my family that we will survive this and we will remain open,” Pierro said.

They ended up doing decent takeout business during the shutdown, about 22 percent short of normal volume, with sales some days actually exceeding those of a year before. The shift to takeout mode enabled them to continue serving a menu of dishes that reflect Pierro’s Italian background and his wife’s Greek heritage, such as lasagna and eggplant Parmesan, pastitsio and moussaka and less traditional choices such as whitefish scallopini, pomegranate chicken and the ever-popular Aphrodite’s Cheesecake, which has a baklava crust.

Because the all-clear for reopening came with short notice, they weren’t able to reopen dine-in in time for the highly profitable Mother’s Day, but then, too, sales were just below last year’s.

When they reopened about a week later for dine-in at 50 percent capacity, takeout sales still were about 75 percent of business. But things have gradually turned around. Now, Market Grille Cafe, which opened at its current location at Elkhorn Road and Durango Drive in late 2011 (after five years on West Tropical Parkway) is thriving.

“Now, at this point, I’m overwhelmed with the business we’re having,” Pierro said. “There are so many words of kindness that we stayed with it. We’ve got enough of a following — we’ve got enough support — we’re going to make it. Now 35 to 40 percent is takeout and, with the dining room at 50 percent capacity, we’re filling up our dining room and we’re always on a wait.”

And he’s getting ready to reopen the West Lake Mead Boulevard location Sept. 14.

“We keep hearing from customers from the Lake Mead store, ‘When are you going to reopen?’ ” he said. “It’s going to be a challenge. It’s reawakening a restaurant that’s been shut down for five months — and at half capacity. I’m hoping some of the customers are going to come back. There’s a lot of places that are closed.”

Pierro remains wary, however.

“Things are good enough that I’m bringing on more staff,” he said. “I’m an optimist, but with the world what it is, I don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring.”

Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Follow @HKRinella on Twitter.