Gulla’s Lunch is a Bellaire, Ohio staple and has been so since it first opened back in 1929.
It’s that status that’s helped the diner thrive, relatively speaking, amidst the coronavirus pandemic’s shifting sands of restrictions, regulations, and negative effects on restaurants.
Safe to say 2020 hasn’t been a banner year, for anyone. But, according to Paul Gulla, it could have been a lot worse.
“We’ve been doing all right,” Gulla noted earlier this afternoon. “Our community support has been great. It’s a smaller community and they support the small, local businesses.
“It’s not what it was, obviously. We’re doing about a day and a half less every week in sales.”
Gulla’s Lunch is doing well, considering. Gulla’s After Hours, the eatery’s bar-themed establishment next door, hasn’t been as lucky.
That tends to happen when multiple curfews causes early closure of a night-centric business.
“The bar business has gone straight downhill,” Gulla admitted. “It’s been bad. The lunch crowd has been below average. But the dinner crowd, cut in half, maybe less.”
Paul Gulla working the register, greeting and waiting on customers.
Ever the Optimist
Gulla knows times are tough, but the eatery is managing. He’s also seen a few silver linings amidst all the negativity.
One is the delivery aspect of the business. Earlier this year when restaurants were limited to drive-thru, carryout, or delivery only, Gulla’s linked up with Delivery.com to transport fan favorites to customers throughout the area.
They picked up some new customers in the process.
“It really took off, and we did pretty good on the deliveries with Delivery.com,” Gulla admitted. “Plus, I think we gained new customers. People weren’t going out and wanted to try new places and support local businesses.
“It’s been a struggle while this is going on, but we picked up some new customers, so some good has come of it. We try to keep positive.”
Even now, with dine-in options available, Gulla is seeing customers from further away make the trek to the All-American town to try a famous Gulla Dog or Fish with a side of gravy fries.
“We’re still having newer people come in all the time,” Gulla said. “We had some people drive down from Waynesburg (Pa.) on Tuesday. Things are closed up there, so they wanted to come in and eat. They’d heard about us and made the trip down.
“They even bought a t-shirt.”
Part of the trinity of food at Gulla’s Lunch: a Gulla Fish and Gulla Dog (minus the mustard and onions), plus the fries with gravy in the accompanying photo 
The aforementioned gravy fries 
Chicken planks and fries
Other Increases
Gulla’s, like Figaretti’s in Wheeling, is known widely for its sauce. The sauce can be purchased in to-go quantities ranging from 12, 16, and 32 ounces.
With customers out and about less frequently, they aren’t wanting to go long without a taste of their favorite dogs. So, the sales of sauce to go is seeing a marked increase.
“There’s a bigger sale of sauces to go; that’s for sure,” Gulla said. “People are wanting to take it with them.”
They also still want to dine-in for the full experience. That’s why Gulla’s Lunch erected dividers between the majority of its booths, allowing for the maximum number of possible patrons at one time.
They provide a sense of safety while also affording the restaurant the option of serving a greater number of customers safely.
Learning what to do and what not to do during the first round of restrictions made it easier for Gulla’s Lunch to adjust when the second set rolled through earlier this fall.
“We can still use most of our booths,” Gulla noted. “There’s a couple we can’t use. People understand the changes and have been supportive. That’s the best thing.”
