Local

Forest Hills restaurant concerned about drop in business due to road work

ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — A Forest Hills restaurant says business has dropped significantly due to road construction nearby.

“We use to have a line out the door. It’s just totally different now,” said Kalea with Drew’s Family Restaurant.

Drew’s Family Restaurant has been feeding hungry Pittsburghers for decades but tells Channel 11 that ever since the almost $14 million improvement project began on Ardmore Boulevard several months ago, their business has taken a hit.

“Our sales are down about 30%,” said Angela Connelly with Drew’s. “We are talking about filing for unemployment again, which we really don’t want to do.”

Connelly says customers have complained that the construction and detour signs are oftentimes confusing.

“They have had road blocked off several times. It’s been rough.”

As the project makes its way down Ardmore Boulevard, it will soon be in front of Drew’s. According to staff, construction    will take up half of their parking lot — another blow to the business.

“It’s supposed to impact us tremendously. If the sales aren’t up to where they should be, if it’s not even worth being open, they will cut down to maybe being open on the weekends,” said Connelly.

That looming fear prompted Kalea to take to Facebook where she made a post asking Drew’s customers for support as construction continues.

“I only have about 100 friends on Facebook, but after I posted it, it was a shocker. It got almost 2000 shares,” said Kalea.

“Today we had more business, and I think that’s because of the post,” said Connelly.

Despite all the road signs on Ardmore, Drew’s is open and encouraging everyone to stop by.

PennDOT tells Channel 11 the work will continue through next summer.

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