COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – This was the first weekend in more than a month where there were no restrictions in the Short North.

An executive order for a midnight curfew on food carts was repealed on Monday by the Columbus City Council, and now mobile food operators are happy to be back to business as usual.

Moatazel Bana has been working in the Short North for the last 14 years, calling it a second home.

“We’re happy to go back to work after being out of business for three weeks,” he said.

Bana was happy to have business this weekend, though there were some changes he had to deal with.

Mobile food vendors are now required to register on a website called streetfoodfinder.com. They are required to choose an approved location to set up their cart, allowing law enforcement to know who is working where and when.

Bana said it’s impacting his business because he operates more than one cart.

“In my opinion, there are a lot of gaps in it because you can only book one food cart,” he said. “I have multiple contractors, so I have to sit them at home because they can’t work. I only have on cart that can work here. We’re still losing business, but we are happy to go back working until 2:30 (a.m.).”

Bana said he’s noticed a larger police presence in the area and believes it is helping curb violence in the neighborhood.

Bana and John Allen, owner of Short North Tavern, are trying to recoup some of the money they lost during the past three weeks.

For the last 42 years, Allen has owned the tavern and has seen much in that time, but the restrictions were a first for him.

“This has been a new one,” he said.

In addition to shutting down the food carts, the restrictions also asked bars to voluntarily close by midnight.

“I probably lost about a third of my business, maybe a little bit more,’ Allen said.

Bana believes the restrictions may have worked.

“I haven’t seen any violence for like a month now, some little fights, but no violence because the police presence is more effective now,” he said.

Allen, meanwhile, isn’t sure yet. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t optimistic about the neighborhood’s future.

“We have to come back over the years from where we’ve started because I’ve been here the whole time,” Allen said. “We’ve come back from all kinds of things over the years.”

City leaders have made it clear that the restrictions can be put back in place at any time if violence ticks up again. However, they’re confident that the increased police presence and new safety initiatives will make that unnecessary.