CANTON – Last year, restaurants had to survive stay-at-home orders and having their dining rooms shut down for more than two months due to the pandemic.
And when the state allowed them to reopen, they had to weather mandated curfews, capacity restrictions and a loss of business due to patrons concerned about the risks of contracting COVID while dining out.
Now, with many adults vaccinated for COVID, customers are flocking back to area dining rooms and outdoor restaurant patios, increasing business above even 2019 levels.
But the rising demand for the dine-in experience presents restaurant owners and managers with a different challenge: They're having a difficult time recruiting servers, cooks, supervisors and other workers to handle the rising number of customers. One Stark County restaurant even closed this week, citing in part a lack of employees.