‘Perfect storm’ of shortages and COVID strains Columbia restaurants as crowds keep coming
Just this month, one Columbia restaurant closed to redistribute workers to understaffed locations, others have closed temporarily after staff members tested positive for COVID-19, and another has temporarily cut menu items to lighten the load on its thin staff.
All the while, hungry customers continue to fill up dining rooms across the Columbia area, even as service is strained and supplies are in, well, short supply.
Facing a triple whammy of rising COVID cases, ongoing staffing shortages and consistent supply chain issues, some local restaurants say they are challenged in a way that makes this time last year look if not easy, then somewhat less hard.
“It’s difficult to say this, but it seems like we’re in worse shape with these newer challenges than we were a year ago when we really were in the thick of the pandemic. Although, I feel like we’re back in the thick of the pandemic now,” said Kelly Glynn, a co-owner of Village Idiot pizza restaurants. “Where we are today is a domino effect of where we started 18 months ago.”
The strain is being felt almost across the board for restaurants, said Bobby Williams, CEO of Lizard’s Thicket and board chairman of the S.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association.
“It’s been a perfect storm here. We’re extremely busy, and we’re shorthanded,” Williams said. “We’re short of employees, so the ones that are sticking it out, they’re just frazzled. They’re busy, and it’s really been a challenge.”
‘I’m at a loss’
Glynn said that Village Idiot couldn’t risk bringing the pizzeria kitchen to a crawl whenever more complicated menu items that require extra steps — like calzones or some sandwiches — came down the line. Their staff was already stretched too thin, with a lot of employees still learning the ropes.
So they’ve trimmed the menu down for now, and they’re crossing fingers that college students’ return to town will mean more applicants for open jobs.
“I’m at a loss,” Glynn said. Why are they still so short of employees, she wondered?
There are, simply, fewer people willing to work in restaurants today, she reasoned. “I don’t know how else to explain it.”
After the state ended the supplemental federal unemployment benefits that were being provided throughout the pandemic, seen as a strategy to get more people back in the workforce, “We thought for sure that (applicants would) just be beating the doors down,” Williams said.
That hasn’t happened.
Lizard’s Thicket normally carries a staff of more than 700 people across its 13 restaurants, Williams said, but the company is short more than 100 employees. Trying to fill those available positions isn’t easy. Williams said they’re lucky if one out of every 10 job applicants responds when the company reaches out.
His restaurant chain temporarily closed its Beltline Boulevard location to redistribute more experienced staff members to other locations that were strained for help.
Longtime restaurateurs like Williams and Eddie Wales, owner of Motor Supply Co. in Columbia’s Vista, say they’ve never seen so many restaurants seeking workers at one time.
“A lot of people left the industry, I believe,” Wales said. “The nation as a whole ... kind of has a new appreciation for life and not working all the time. I think I have a new appreciation because of everything we’ve gone through. But it’s just people ... found other alternatives to busting their butt for 40 hours for not enough pay.”
Wales said he’s fortunate to be fully staffed at his relatively small restaurant.
But even for those who have enough staff on a normal basis, the specter of COVID-19 weighs on the employees and the business. Wales closed Motor Supply for a few days recently when staff members, who were almost completely vaccinated, were exposed to COVID. His restaurant is not the only one that’s taken that step in recent weeks.
“Right now, it’s a frustration that we’re having to go through this again, and that’s because of the vaccination rate. Period. I put it squarely on that,” Wales said.
Fewer than half of all South Carolinians have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, one of the nation’s lowest rates.
‘Do the best you can’
The worker shortage is affecting the restaurant supply chain, too. And that’s adding even more stress to the restaurants themselves.
Any given week, a restaurant might not be able to stock chicken breasts. Another week, it’s a lack of napkins. Another, cups.
“Right now, don’t ask for a straw anywhere,” said Glynn.
“Styrofoam right now is a problem,” Williams said. “We found out today we can’t get any cups.”
While most Columbia restaurants weathered the earlier brunt of the pandemic, as worry swirled across the nation about how many businesses might close last year, the challenges are stacking up differently now.
But by and large, restaurants adapted well — from adding outdoor tables to shifting to carryout orders — and they’ll continue to do so, Williams said.
Restaurants will have to accept some staffing changes going forward, he said. “We’ve got to be more accommodating and make it less stressful for them and pay them more.” Which also means, “we’re going to have to charge a little more.”
Uncertainty about when the industry will begin to settle again continues to linger — the same as it did a year ago, and yet it’s hitting differently this time around.
“Pre-COVID, it would be upsetting to me that we’ve got shortfalls and we cannot cater to all the guests. The attitude now has shifted to, ‘Just do the best you can,’” Glynn said. “We hope that customers are understanding.”
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
