Emily Mendenhall

I have been wrestling the last week with how to approach what we’re facing here, and trying to keep a brave face on and to find some way to not resort to what in a way feels like begging at this point as I know so many people are struggling and so many small businesses are struggling right now and this isn’t our first call to action post– but what was a threat code orange situation has become (with a large piece of equipment going down and needing replaced) code red, so here we are.

We deeply want to keep on keeping on, to show up for our community, and to offer all staff hours, but we have to have the funds to do that. We’ve made some tough decisions already over the last couple months with further belt tightening enacted daily, but we very much need your support for the next 2-3 weeks to bridge us over to holiday season.

We have a great roster of weekly specials. We understand things are tough for folks at home as well, and are offering discounts and incentives to join us. Wednesday you can enjoy a caesar salad with fries and a Belle of Dayton martini for just $19! Tuesdays its Burger and a Pint night with burgers for $12 and a pint making for a full meal for $15. Happy Hour pricing on drinks and Bao buns runs Tuesday-Friday 430pm-630pm. Our menu highlights many snack options for under $10 to be able to enjoy various items without a big price tag.

We are rolling out a week of Pumpkin specials this week hoping to honor a favorite ingredient this Halloween season (typically a very slow week for us with trick or treat and parties) and will have pumpkin drink specials including pumpkin espresso martinis and pumpkin cold brew. These are offered nightly starting Wednesday 10/29-Sunday 11/2 from 430pm on with drink specials and pie specials at Brunch Friday, Saturday and Sunday

We also signed up to be a location to collect food for the The Foodbank, Inc. over the next several weeks and would welcome you to stop in to donate and maybe grab a quick snack or beverage while doing so.

I’m sharing this ultimately because in the end, it’s not about my pride or really anything other than being transparent and not allowing us to be one of the places that shuttered our doors only to have so many people saying “I wish we would have known.” I owe it to our staff to try to keep things going, and I owe it to our community to be real and let you all know. If we’ve reached the time where the business is no longer feasible, I’m at peace with that as well and will be the first to thank everyone for all the good meals and good times. We’ll do our best to give folks notice to use gift cards and staff for work and to help place staff. I’ve always said we won’t just up and close up over night like so many places seem to do. Right now we’re not quite at that point, but this is more or less the final card I have to play.

If you can’t make it in to spend and support that way, please always remember likes and shares and kind reviews help a lot and are 100% free. if you can make it in, reservations help us with planning and can be made online at https://www.exploretock.com/lilys or by calling 937-723-7637 though walk ins are always welcome too (sometimes there may just be a wait or less staff).

Thank you all for taking the time to read and for the support over the years and we hope to see you even its just to pop your head in and offer a kind word.

With Gratitude,

Emily and the Lily’s Crew