El Pegao co-owner battles health issues to keep restaurant open

LORAIN — In the three months that El Pegao has been open on Broadway in Lorain, the tiny corner storefront has amassed a following. It was something co-owner Ruby Fridell never expected when she and her business partner and best friend, Coast Padilla, opened the space in mid-November. A self-proclaimed foodie, the 36-year-old has never been one for clubs or parties, but instead visits restaurants and tries to re-create the recipes at home. She is self-taught, inheriting her grandmother's Irish and Italian cooking, but found a love for Puerto Rican food that stuck when she and Padilla opened their Broadway restaurant. The corner space at 763 Broadway, most recently home to Marta's N More Bakery before the bakery moved to 400 Broadway, felt right to Fridell — reminding her of the bodegas of New York City and the eclectic mix of businesses and nationalities in Florida. "I felt like it brought me a twist of my childhood growing up in between Florida and New York," she said. The business took its name from pegao rice, or the crispy rice scraped from the bottom of a pan. "It's kind of like, if it's not good enough to scrape, then it's not good enough to eat," she said. But it all may be put on hold as Fridell faces numerous health issues and two upcoming surgeries in the spring. Fridell and her four sons moved from central Florida to Lorain in the spring so Fridell could receive better medical care for her lupus, as the hospital systems in Northeast Ohio are better than those in Florida, she said. She used a settlement from a car wreck in New York City to help pay for the family's new home, taking the weight of a mortgage or rent off her shoulders. Since moving, she has been diagnosed with Crohn's disease and cancer recurrence despite prior surgeries. Those prior surgeries saw only a portion of her ovary removed, due to her lack of insurance, she said, but the cancer has since returned and spread. She is scheduled for a hysterectomy in March. She suspects the neuropathy from her lupus may have had something to do with the Crohn's diagnosis, she said, as it can leave her immobile from the waist down for days or weeks on end. Coupled with a lack of consistent care because she had no insurance in Florida, it is hard for Fridell to tell what really caused everything. What she does know is she faces a long road ahead. She is nervous going into her surgery early next month — worried whether all the cancer can be removed and if she will have any complications from her lupus — and about her sons, ages 17, 15, 12 and 11. Ultimately, she asked patrons for patience and does not plan to let her health keep El Pegao closed. While it is just her and Padilla cooking and staffing the corner space, she plans to be open as much as she can. It has not been easy, she said, but opening the business was not meant to make her and her co-owner rich. It is about keeping her pride and providing a distraction, she said. Owning her own businesses in Florida and now Ohio allowed Fridell to provide for herself and her sons while adjusting hours to meet her needs, she said. "I have four kids that I have to show examples to," she said. "What would I be teaching them if I just fell into the category and said, 'Hey, I'll go on disability?' That doesn't teach them to fight for what they want." She continued, "Me, getting up every day, even in pain or going through whatever, forcing myself to get up and keep my body moving is what is stopping it from really shutting down." A GoFundMe is available to help offset Fridell's expenses. Follow El Pegao on Facebook for business updates. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.