Is this the new eating out

[ivykaty44]

Went out for a meal last night and the place was packed, not an issue with that but the service was so very slow as they clearly didn't have enough staff

we sat down at 7.55 and our food arrived at 9.30 shortly after our drinks at 9.10, we did have table water though so that was ok
we paid the bill at 10.45

there were two waiting staff servicing the entire restaurant bar area and about 50 covers approx

not sure if it is the same in UK, but as a restaurant owner I can tell you my experience here in Ontario Canada. We were allowed take out. Our patio (that we are lucky to have) opened 3 weeks ago. We just got the news that we can open to inside dining next friday! whoo hoo... or NOT as here the government is paying to employees what is known as CERB. They can only earn a certain amount before they are not eligible for CERB. For a kitchen staff or waitress..Cerb is just under 2 thousand a month. Most don't want to give up cerb...they can make 1000 dollars a month on top of that, so honestly, thats all MOST want to do. I have been trying to hire for MONTHS, with no applications considering that our takeout business and now patio business if very good. I also pay what is classed as a "living wage" here in Ontario, not minimum wage. We are trying. Please be patient. I am lucky to have a few amazing full timers that have worked this whole time rather than sitting home on Cerb.

I have a friend who works in hospitality in a tourist hotspot.

She's just worked 17 straight days - mostly split shifts or 12+ hour shifts due to the huge lack of staff and massive increase in custom. Staff are isolating, so there's less people around than normal - they can't hire anyone else for love nor money. Nobody wants to work in hospitality right now and you can really blame them?

Dealing with Test and Trace and COVID restrictions, wearing masks while running around in hot kitchens all day, dealing with the public and all for minimum wage. I'm so grateful I don't have to do it.

Lots of places here have closed or are on very limited hours as they just don't have the staff available to open "normally". We went out for lunch a few weeks ago and they'd shut the kitchen as they were so swamped with orders they couldn't cope. It was ridiculous. They were telling people who'd booked tables it would be a 90 minute wait to ORDER, and even then it was a maybe.

The staff are exhausted, stressed and fed up.

I've found that service is much better in family-run restaurants, such as Bangladeshi/Chinese/Thai - both pre- & post-CV.

And independent pubs where the landlady/lord is highly motivated to keep customers happy.

Family restaurant here with spacing lost a third of covers. Tourism area so staffing is a headache. Shorter opening hours, closed in the early week is happening in a lot of establishments to give staff a well deserved rest.