After nearly a decade, family-owned Central Ohio restaurant announces permanent closure

A Sunbury staple will shutter before the end of the month.

According to owner Tony Eisnnicher, PJ’s Original Family Restaurant will close its doors after service on May 31.

“That work life balance, you really don’t get it as a small business owner,” he told 614Now. “It really starting playing a factor about a year and a half ago. I thought a lot about it, and at the end of the day, I said, ‘I think I’m done.’”

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Eisnnicher cited high food prices and labor costs as contributing factors to the closure, in addition to the time it took to operate a small business.

“I’m not just an owner, I work at the restaurant seven days a week. I have a son about to graduate. I have a grandson. I didn’t want this place to kill me,” he said with a laugh.

While he claimed formally stepping down feels “bittersweet,” and breaking the news to staff was “emotional,” Eisnnicher is committed to finishing out the restaurant’s final days with the same quality food and service that kept it open for nearly a decade.

“Nothing will change for our final next two weeks,” he said. “Unless we run out food. Then we’re done.”

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