(WXYZ) — A new survey from the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association found the state's restaurant and hospitality industry have gotten over a big hurdle but there is still plenty of climbing to go.
According to the survey, According to the survey, in most cases, wages are up but staffing is still critically low. At one restaurant in Commerce Township, they're dealing with that.
Richard Lindberg, the owner of Gest Omelettes, is still down two cooks and a server at his family diner off 14 Mile and Haggerty.
“When you lose one person in the kitchen, it takes a lot of time away from the getting the food prepared and out that pass," Lindberg said.
It prompted a reminder right as you walk into the restaurant: "Give us that little extra time we need to get stuff done," Lindberg said.
The survey had responses from nearly 150 hotel and restaurant owners earlier this month. The MRLA found 80% still don't have enough staff, even though nearly all of them have increased wages.
"It's pretty challenging. i have lots of anxiety, but hey, I get used to it," Tom Lin, the chef and owner of Szechuan Empire, said.
During the pandemic, dine-in service lulled so much he expanded his food truck fleet to three. It's now his main revenue stream outside of the delivery, but with gas prices through the roof and often no one to drive food to events, he's handling multiple jobs himself.
In addition to uppiing pay, Lin has also had to raise menu prices, but just once. According to the survey, 87% of the restaurants have had to raise prices.
“I had to, I had no choice. It was either that or the doors would close," Lindberg said.
Memorial Day weekend is right around the corner and that’s a chance for restaurants to fill up and cash in. But a lot of the places in Commerce Township are still operating on shortened hours due to a lack of staff.
Samer Yousif, the owner of TopUp Burgers, needs to hire three more workers. Right now, he's breaking even.
“The hardest is finding stuff. That you don’t even find anymore. You know boxes for hamburgers, boxes for subs," he said.
Surprisingly, most of the owners we spoke with say they're optimistic for the future, having had their business survive – and in some cases – begin during the height of the pandemic.
