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Zins, Emil’s owners grateful for support

By Tim Kenyon

The menus may differ between Zins restaurant and Emil’s deli, but the owners operate in a similar grateful manner since their recent returns to downtown Cedar Rapids.

Zins co-owner Amy Wyss says she found herself momentarily caught up in the hectic activities the day after a June 11 reopening and was not thinking about the June 2008 flood.

That’s been extra motivation since then to remember it and be grateful.

She’s also quick to remind staff and patrons about the generous support.

“We can’t forget. There are too many businesses and people who aren’t back yet,” Wyss says.

A greater emphasis on buying local is one way Zins, 227 Second Ave. SE, is responding to the overwhelming support shown to the establishment during its long struggle to clean and rebuild following the flood, she says.

The restaurant renamed its back dining room in honor of business leader Al Ruffalo.

His company, RuffaloCody, sponsored Zins in the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce’s Adopt-A-Business program that paired flood-damaged and displaced businesses with less-affected businesses.

“Al Ruffalo represents himself and the kind of help we’ve received from hundreds of people. We could never list all the people who helped us along the way,” Zins co-owner Lee Belfield says. “He adopted us and was instrumental in helping us find investors needed in this do-over.”

Nearing retirement, Dave Allick contemplated not restarting his Emil’s Deli business in the basement of the U.S. Bank Building at 115 Third Street SE.

However, financial assistance and moral support from bank officials helped make the comeback possible, says Allick, whose father started the deli in 1964. His sister, Deb, reopened her downtown deli late in 2008. His son, Nathan, recently opened Emil’s Deli II on the northeast side of Cedar Rapids.

The bank contributed a new stove and convection oven and provided more practical space among numerous other items, Allick says.

“The bank’s been absolutely wonderful,” he says. “That’s why I’m able to be back.”

Other sources of financial help he awaits include a check from state JumpStart funds and approval of a rental reimbursement program application.

The deli features some obvious changes and some not so noticeable.

A new room in the dining area can be closed off by doors for meetings. Previously, a row of booths went to the wall and a cooler was on the opposite side. Now a larger walk-in cooler is in a separate area. Another nearby space provides much more room than he had combined in three separate places for storage.

A glass partition separates the dining area from the counter holding eating supplies and drink fountains.

“It makes it quieter in the dining area,” Allick says.

The order counter features a small cooler where pre-made items can be grabbed, a new convenience for customers, he says.

Patrons almost instantly recognize that the Iowa Hawkeye memorabilia is new. The deli lost the original 173 photographs and other accumulated items displayed on the walls to the flood, he says.

Most of the regular customers had stopped by within two weeks of the June 8 reopening, Allick says.

“But I keep seeing new faces every day. That’s good,” he says.

He also notes that catering orders outside of the eatery are up since the reopening.

Some things take continued adjustments, he says.

“When you start over you do it with nothing. And now when you start replenishing general supplies you find you don’t have anything. You make a list, go to the store and come back and make another list,” Allick says. “Doilies, spices, pens, paper clips... and staplers — it’s everything — every little item you can think of.”

Wyss and Belfield can relate.

A few things remained to be done at the small-plate concept restaurant, although new items arrive daily, such as china, an item that had to be completely replaced.

An ice maker was among the reopening day challenges, Belfield says.

“For our ice-maker machine we needed a compressor, but they only sent a bin,” he says. “So we have to go out and buy ice. It makes life a little harder for us, but the vast majority of the shortcomings were behind the doors so we went ahead and opened.”

The restaurant will soon feature a new online reservation system, he notes. The technician who will install it to work with the restaurant’s point-of-sale software system hasn’t had time to do it. The system will require new gift and loyalty cards, which also need to be reordered, Belfield says.

He says changes include rearrangement of equipment in the kitchen and bar to improve speed and efficiency.

In addition, the wine list increased about 10 percent, he says. And about 75 percent of the 35-member staff returned.

This article originally appeared in the Corridor Business Journal.