Kitchener restaurant robbed 3 times in 1 night, owner says

A Kitchener restaurant says thieves broke into their business not once – but three times – on the same night.

Melody Wherry, the owner of MôR Elevated Dining & Lounge, said when she started her shift on Tuesday she noticed a missing iPad. She didn’t realize something was amiss until she looked around the restaurant.

“I opened the office door [and] I noticed that both my personal laptop and the business laptop were gone,” she said.

Waterloo regional police believe two thieves broke into MôR Elevated Dining & Lounge three times between 12:40 a.m. and 5:50 a.m.

Wherry said $5,000 in cash, electronics and alcohol were taken.

“He reached his arm in. We’ve actually just put a padlock cover on here, and [he] unlocked the padlock,” explained Wherry.

The back door window has now been boarded up.

Melody Wherry, the owner of MôR Elevated Dining & Lounge in Kitchener, shows where someone broke into her restaurant on Nov. 30, 2023. (Colton Wiens/CTV Kitchener)

“[It’s] very violating personally to myself and as well as… a small business,” she said.

The restaurant was closed on Tuesday. They reopened Wednesday, but it wasn’t business as usual.

“We were actually able to operate on a pen and paper system just like the diners of the 50s,” Wherry said.

The restaurant didn’t have an alarm system.

Wherry said they're planning on beefing up security.

Security video still of a theft at MôR Elevated Dining & Lounge in Kitchener, Ont. (Source: MôR)

“[I’m] hoping that these gentlemen don’t hit another local business, that’s the main concern here,” she said. “They were very brash and very brazen.”

And it couldn’t come at a worse time.

“Very difficult for us, just kind of going through this at a very busy time during the holiday season,” Wherry said.

Police are still investigation and are asking anyone with information to contact them.