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Round the Clock Diner under scrutiny again for accepting PPP loans

The owners of Round the Clock Diner are facing criticism for accepting $545,500 in federal COVID-19 aid before reopening against Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown order.

The owners of Round the Clock Diner in York County are facing criticism for accepting $545,500 in federal COVID-19 aid before reopening against Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown order.

The money came from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a part of the CARES Act that offers forgivable loans to businesses hurt by the pandemic.

Both Round the Clock Diner locations were approved for loans. The location on Arsenal Rd. in Manchester Township received $359,200 and the other location on Memory Ln. in Springettsbury Township received $186,300, Round the Clock owner Dimos Sacarellos confirmed.

Given that the restaurant reopened its indoor service before York County moved to green phase, some in the community questioned whether it was fair to accept PPP loans. A popular Facebook post from Friday that drew more than 1,000 comments accused Round the Clock of “double dealing.”

“Supporting politicians that are anti government while eating out of the government feeding trough doesn't make York better,” wrote Jerry Drake, author of the post.

Round the Clock owner Dimos Sacarellos said the claim that the business benefitted while defying the shutdown is inaccurate.

 “It makes me furious,” Sacarellos said. “You don’t make any comments unless you know the facts.”

Round the Clock was approved for the PPP money on April 10, a month before it reopened indoor dining on May 10.

The  business did suffer when restaurants statewide were limited to takeout only starting March 19, Sacarellos said, and the Memory Ln. location lost even more when it closed completely for six weeks.

“We dispersed the money to people that weren’t working and tried to support their families. Simple as that,” Sacarellos said.

RELATED: Local diner opens for dine-in service

There are several stipulations for a PPP loan to be fully forgiven, including that at least 60 percent of the loan must go to payroll of employees. Sacarellos said he spent all the money according to PPP requirements and didn’t pocket any of it.

“We’re not hungry for money.  Money is not everything,” Sacarellos said. “Money is to support your family, pay the bills and things like that. That’s what we’re working for. You have to have money to support your family.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture fined Round the Clock $2,000 in May for violating the shutdown order. The restaurants' licenses were also temporarily suspended.

Some commenters online wrote even if Round the Clock did lose some money, other restaurants that remained closed lost more, and thus were more deserving of aid.

“Added insult to the Greek restaurant owners in our community who played by the rules and took a huge financial hit. Shame on RTC,” wrote Mary Anthony Baum.

Yet customers at the diner on Tuesday said news of the restaurant’s PPP loans didn’t bother them.

“I mean I’m sure they suffered being closed as well as everybody did,” said Peg Drawbaugh of Manchester Township.

“I think what they got, good for them,” said Terry Drawbaugh, Peg’s husband. “I think there are a lot of other businesses that probably should have gotten some, too.“

Sacarellos said he followed the rules and did not plan on repaying the loans.

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