The World has Changed! So have Restaurants
I was scheduled to work last night so I took a quick nap for about half an hour. IT felt great (as usual) and I shut my alarm off on my phone before the alarm sounded. I glanced at my messages noting that I had a couple from my work.
“The restaurant is closed tonight.”
“There are no cooks.”
Wow. I thought this was a joke; I called and no, it was no joke. I felt excited, giddy then wondered, what happened? I work in a privately owned restaurant that opened during the pandemic. It’s been two years. It’s 2023 and seriously, things have truly changed! Some places closed and have never re-opened. There are no “extra people” to fill in shifts that suddenly need to be scheduled. When there are staffing issues like a couple of line cooks who call out sick, the restaurant has no extra staff to cover them and thus, it has no choice but to shut down.
This is new to me. I come from a corporate restaurant background that always had extra staff to call in that wanted and needed more work hours. I would never have predicted that a couple of cooks now, in 2023, by calling out sick can change the revenue and work schedule for an entire restaurant; but it can, and it does.
Lately, it’s been a bumpy ride for me going back to work in into the restaurant business (non-corporate) and seeing all the changes that have taken place since 2020.
Here are a few changes that I am STILL having problems adjusting to.
Non-printed Menus. Older folks who walk in and don’t have their phones ready hate this. (I hate it too). This makes it hard to “read” the table when you can’t tell if your guests are looking at the menu, lost in trying to upload the “QR” code, or simply scrolling on social media. I have interrupted many (my mistake) who are confused and angry about having to read their phones to see what the soup is, and what the specials are. I tell them everything is listed; if it is late in the day however I have to interject and tell them a few of the items we no longer have. Guests truly hate having to look on their phones; some don’t bring them into the restaurant because they are trying to be “device-free.” As a server, I continually have to side with my guests and tell them I don’t like looking at menus on my phone either. Sometimes this breaks the ice; sometimes not.
Not having enough servers on to take adequate care of each table. This is happening all over in restaurants and the service industry in general. SO many people have left the business and “new hires” are still learning the basics of good restaurant service. Servers do not have the time to explain menu items and basic drinks when they are overloaded with tables, order taking, drink fetching, and clearing. This has become the “norm” of restaurant service.
Running out of “entrees” before closing time. This is a tough one for me; especially on Sunday nights. Restaurants no longer have the space or the ability to store more items than truly necessary to get through the evening. Entrees are some of the first items to sell out; a recent Sunday evening included “86” items like “Lasagna”, “Salmon” and “Brisket” which the kitchen prep cooks had no idea we needed more for our sunny and busy evening. This includes individual desserts like cobbler and bread pudding; Items I used to take for granted having worked in corporate restaurants are no longer stocked because the small kitchen space and refrigeration has no extra room. It’s like playing “Tetras” when you venture into the small refrigerator looking for ketchup and half and half for French fries and coffee. Once big walk-in coolers have morphed into tiny little ten-by-eight refrigerators that can’t handle more than its share of a few days supplies.
I am also trying to adapt to this conundrum. It is not easy. Making the best of these new ways of doing business is mandatory!
Unfortunately, this may get worse as restaurants change their policies and standard operating procedures. Most restaurants are struggling, day to day, week to week to operate in ways that keep them profitable. It is becoming harder; most restaurants still need staff and workers willing to go the extra mile to make it successful. Volunteer to help out in any way that benefits YOU and THE RESTAURANT!