Here's why restaurant staff, service, wait times are expected to return to normal soon
Here's why restaurant staff, service, wait times are expected to return to normal soon
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- Rahul Chugh
- Jun 1, 2021
- 28
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The June 26 end of federal unemployment supplements to Florida workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic may mean relief for restaurants facing staff shortages.
That may decrease wait times and ease tensions between overworked employees and unhappy customers across the Treasure Coast.
Captain’s Gallery owner Taryn Rains is dealing with a staff shortage at her Fort Pierce restaurant. The cooks are working more hours and longer days, and some servers are working all six days the restaurant is open because no one else can cover the shifts.
The popular brunch spot typically has a line out the door on weekends, but it’s gotten even worse.
“The wait is taking a little longer because the food is taking a little longer because we’re short-staffed,” Rains said.
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She and other local restaurant owners think workers will return for front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house jobs when unemployment benefits are cut by $300 a month.
The restaurant industry is notorious for being a stopping ground for people heading toward other careers, said Lou Kolbauer, owner of Chive and Green Marlin Restaurant & Raw Bar, both in Vero Beach.
What’s happened this year because of unemployment payments is different, he said.
“You can’t blame people for saying, ‘OK, I get to stay home with my family and not have to work at all and get paid the same that I was getting paid before,’ ” Kolbauer said. “But I don’t agree with it because if you cared about your restaurant and your fellow employees, you’ve made their lives really hard for months.
“They put stress on us because we had some guys working doubles every day,” Kolbauer said. “We just didn’t have enough coverage that wasn’t the same people over and over having to cover shifts.”
Rehiring staff
Local restaurants finally are starting to hire and train new employees, but it hasn’t been easy for owners to get them in the door.
Rains now expects applicants for jobs at Captain’s Galley to be serious instead of how it’s been:eople apply online and cancel 20 minutes before the interview. She said it’s a way for them to show the unemployment office proof they’re trying to apply for jobs, even those that requirement was eliminated in Florida last year because of COVID-19.
In the last two months, Rains said, 15 to 20 applicants set interviews but didn’t show.
Kolbauer also had no-shows at Chive and the Green Marlin, saying, for example, that only one out of four applicants in a day would follow through on the interview. Workers who sat out the pandemic or didn't show for interviews may find it harder to be hired.
“I can see your unemployment gap,” Kolbauer said. “If you’re one of the ones that took advantage of it, you may be last on the list I’m going to hire.”
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Those who did show for interviews asked for more money than usual.
One applicant for Captain’s Galley asked for $15 an hour for their first job, Rains said. The current minimum wage in Florida is $8.65 per hour, but it will jump to $10 per hour in September and then increase $1 every year to reach $15.
Chive typically hires teenagers, giving them a good first job paying $10 per hour plus tips, Kolbauer said. Now he’s getting high school students without experience asking for $12 per hour to start.
“I don’t want to keep raising prices to accommodate the raises in wages, which unfortunately is coming,” Kolbauer said. “We’re going to have to do that.”
Customers have ranged from patient to downright rude
Both of Kolbauer’s restaurants have been busier than ever, setting records week after week, all while working with about 30% less staff, he said. Bartenders worked server and manager shifts, and non-prep cooks helped in the kitchen.
Those employees, including himself, were working 60 hours to 70 hours weekly, so he temporarily closed each restaurant for one day each week.
“Everybody was just so worn down, so tired,” Kolbauer said. “We weren’t being the restaurant that we needed to be. The service wasn’t as good. The food wasn’t as good. It was hurting all of us.”
What surprised him most was how many customers didn’t believe him when he told them about the worker shortage. They thought he still could find people to work if he tried.
“Some of them were very nasty,” Kolbauer said. “Most people get it, but I would say 30% of the customers I talked to actually said, ‘Is this really a thing? A labor shortage?’ They were dumbfounded.”
He said he got into arguments with customers who were rude to his staff. At Chive, several people got impatient waiting in line. The restaurant needs seven people working, but it had only four, making the line longer and slower. The wait typically takes 5-7 minutes but increased to 12-15 minutes, sometimes even 20 minutes.
At the Green Marlin, one customer got upset about an appetizer and grabbed the server’s arm.
“There was a percentage of people that were extra mean,” Kolbauer said. “They were extra rude. I hadn’t seen anything like it.”
He went home some nights wondering if he wanted to own restaurants anymore.
“I just can’t tolerate you thinking that life is normal and everything’s fine,” Kolbauer said. “You take for granted that you can come out to these restaurants, and we’re struggling, and you can shake your finger at us.”
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Less staff means longer wait times
Customers such as Tessa Durso, 25, and Krista Case, 28, both of Port St. Lucie, are more understanding because they worked in the industry and know restaurants can have high turnover and staff out sick even during the best of times.
“I can only imagine in this kind of scenario where things are so much harder that shortages are probably through the roof,” Durso said. “I know what it’s like to be short-staffed at a restaurant. I feel for them. I know it’s rough.”
They have patiently waited for tables for 15-20 minutes, depending on the day of the week. Even after being seated, they waited longer than normal to order. Case said one server apologized profusely when she got to their table.
“She was almost in tears because someone had been rude to her,” Case said. “I was like, ‘Girl, you are fine.’ Both of us were making sure she was OK because those people were being so rude to her because they had to wait an extra five minutes to get their margarita. It was ridiculous.”
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Rahul Chugh
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