Avoiding Post-Pandemic ‘Honeymoon Period’ Pitfalls

In my last article I talked about how busy our restaurants will be. That was only a few weeks ago and we are now there. At this point every state is reopened to 100-percent capacity. Our customers have been very understanding of our slow service, our inconsistent staffing and fluctuating hours.

This after-COVID honeymoon period is about to end and guests’ expectations will be very high. I want to highlight some very avoidable pitfalls that I have run into over the past 30 days. Essentially, all of the restaurants I will discuss could have done it better and more efficiently by utilizing the tools that we have available to us now. 

Adjusting Hours and Customer CommunicationOne way that many restaurants are dealing with this labor shortage is by adjusting hour or days of operation. I know of a number of restaurants that have gone from being open seven days a week and to now five days a week. Some operations are cutting out an entire service, meaning that they only do dinner whereas…