Few restaurants brave weather and open

WITH VEHICULAR TRAFFIC BANNED, Thayer Street in Providence turns into a pedestrian mall. Some shops remained open in the city despite the blizzard known as
WITH VEHICULAR TRAFFIC BANNED, Thayer Street in Providence turns into a pedestrian mall. Some shops remained open in the city despite the blizzard known as "Juno." / PBN PHOTO/ELI SHERMAN

PROVIDENCE – Despite a travel ban and the Rhode Island governor advising residents to stay in and “hunker down,” some business owners decided to brave the storm Tuesday and open their restaurants.

Michele Brunelle, owner of Wayland Square Diner, at 208 Wayland Ave., woke up at 5 a.m., hitched a ride to work with a plow driver and opened her restaurant by 7 a.m.

Police, plow drivers and other city workers, who’d been up through the night trying to keep the streets cleared, stopped by for an early morning breakfast and Brunelle continued to take orders on the phone throughout the morning.

“We’ve always opened,” Brunelle answered, when asked why she decided against closing, like so many other businesses throughout Rhode Island.

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“We find that the worse the weather, the better the business,” Brunelle added.

Absent of cars due to a statewide travel ban, the snowy East Side roadways were dotted with pedestrians busy shoveling driveways, walking through the howling winds, or looking for a place to eat.

“It’s just weather,” said Ed Ramos, manager of Antonio’s Pizza, at 256 Thayer St.

Ramos, working with his colleague Oscar Castro, decided to open up shop because he suspected there would be a lot of Brown University students looking for a bite to eat.

“We put the word out that we’re open,” Ramos said.

Besides Antonio’s and Wayland Square Diner, most East Side businesses were closed at about noon on Tuesday.

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