The snow stopped falling in Freehold Friday evening, but a bitter blast is making for a slow night for business owners in the area. Despite the weather, many area restaurants decided to remain open.

Rudy Nolasco, owner of Mateo’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant checked in on the condition of his parking lot and sidewalk early in the morning.

“We shoveled, we cleaned the front and now I was just throwing more salt back there because it started to stick again,” said Nolasco.

He has a full staff of servers, cooks in the kitchen and eight delivery drivers prepared for a large amount of customers wanting to eat in the comfort of their own homes. He just asks people to have some patience as deliveries may take longer than usual.

The Schneider family decided to come out to have dinner at Ramen Nagomi, another area restaurant that has been busy with take out orders. This year, their 1-year-old daughter got to take part in the family tradition for the first time.

“We hope to play in it tomorrow. It snowed all day, so we didn’t take her out today, but hopefully tomorrow,” said Alyssa Schneider.

Other area children out for dinner with their families enjoyed sledding on their snow day.

“It’s very soft and then on the bottom it’s icy, so it was really fun and really nice to sled on,” said Ella Gundaker.

“It was really good, especially because last weekend we had a four day weekend. So, it’s kind of like winter break all over again,” said Jack Gundaker.

Other area businesses such as, Headmasters Barbershop & Salon also decided to remain open during the day. They say only a few clients cancelled their appointments due to the weather.

“We’re always open to be honest. Rain or shine were always here. Pretty much we have our regulars who are always here and they always come to their appointments,” said Headmasters Barbershop & Salon owner Catherine Vargas.