Your Pie
“To blame this all on unemployment benefits is unfair,” said Efrem Yates, a Your Pie franchisee with three locations in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., area. “Everyone had to make tough choices this past year there are parents that had to leave their jobs because they became the primary caregiver. There are so many layers to this.”
For Yates’ restaurants, getting employees in the door has been much more challenging than fighting the turnover rate, and he cites the highly competitive job market, which has pushed restaurants to raise their wages just to compete.
All three of his restaurants are operating with 15–20% fewer employees than they had in 2019, making for a very tight ship. At one location, he had to shorten hours and close between the midday lunch and dinner rushes to combat the staffing shortages.
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Although the official start of summer is still a few weeks away, Black Abbey Brewing Co. and Otaku Ramen are getting their annual running start on the season with some fun upcoming events.
At the Berry Hill brewery, Black Abbey celebrates the smooth sounds of Yacht Rock on Saturday, May 29, from noon until 8 p.m. Black Abbey co-founder Carl Meier will be spinning the vinyl classics from his (disturbingly) extensive collection of yacht rock albums along with flights of punny thematic beers like Steely Dank IPA and Christopher Cross Rose Shandy. The big release of the day will be their new Nice Nice Very Nice Ambrosia IPA, named after the painless prog rock pablum of the same name by the band Ambrosia.
Otaku Ramen Launches Cherry Blossom Menu nashvillescene.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nashvillescene.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Like nearly all chefs and restaurant owners, Sarah Gavigan did a fair amount of pandemic pivoting in 2020. She launched at-home ramen kits back in January after opening a pop-up location in West Nashville. That spot offered both ramen and kits for pickup and delivery. She’s now decided to make that Charlotte Avenue location permanent.
“It seemed completely bananas to open during a pandemic,” Gavigan says. “We were beyond surprised at how well the neighborhood responded to the location, so we signed a full-term lease.”
The Otaku Ramen West will be open seven days a week from 4 to 9 p.m., offering pickup and delivery. They’ve streamlined the process so ordering takes place directly from them, rather than a third-party app. (Third-party drivers will still do the delivery, but they essentially act as dispatch, and Otaku gets to keep a larger percentage of fees and can manage the process.)
Otaku Ramen Launches At-Home Kits
The ramen shop will begin accepting orders today for its long-awaited take-home Ramen and Snack Kits.
At-Home Kits, which will be available for pickup starting Wednesday, January 20.Â
With its take-home kits, the beloved ramen shop will offer eight signature bowls and four snacks, all of which can be easily heated and assembled in under 20 minutes.Â
Ramen Kits are big enough for two and include fan-favorite options Tennessee Tonkotsu, Shoyu, Monster Style, Spicy Miso, Szechuan Pork Miso, Shiitake Maz & Cheese, Tantanmen, and Hot and Sour Tantanmen. Customers will also be able to choose from a variety of add-ons like bonito flakes, pickled ginger, and pork belly slices.Â