BUTLER TOWNSHIP — Customers were surprised to learn the restaurant they were sitting in was closing.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5, the Frisch’s on Benchwood Road had just hours to shut down.
“It’s like there goes history, part of your life, you know?” Larry Martin said.
Martin was eating breakfast inside the Frisch’s when he heard waitresses and other workers talking about their last day.
“We’d been here Monday and they told us, ‘I don’t know yet, it could be two weeks or a week’ so I guess it came down today,’” Martin said.
He said it sounded to him like the workers only had a couple of hours’ notice.
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He and other customers were trying to leave big tips to help soon-to-be unemployed workers in some small way.
“I could tell that they had a sad feeling, like ‘what am I going to do now?’” Martin said.
Workers were spotted walking out of the restaurant, taking personal items to their cars.
Two different U-Hauls showed up to take larger items away.
News Center 7 previously reported that many Miami Valley and southwest Ohio Frisch’s were closing after getting eviction notices.
Court documents showed landlords were owed around $4.5 million.
“I hate to see that because they’ve been around a long time, it’s a shame that they’re closed,” Dennis Munday said.
News Center 7 received calls into our newsroom claiming that a water leak inside the restaurant may have led to the sooner-than-expected closure.
Frisch’s posted on its Facebook page that there’s “No need to worry-Frisch’s is here to stay!”
We will continue to update this story.
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