[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I don't see the same thing with sit-down bars/restaurants - they seem to have pretty full service hours. Maybe the difference comes down to tips making these more desirable?

Why one of San Francisco's busiest restaurants is closed for a 'mental health break'
Elena Kadvany
July 20, 2021
Updated: July 21, 2021 3:46 p.m.

Popular San Francisco restaurant the Morris is busier than ever. Tables are booked every night. It has even limited the number of reservations due to the demand. But this week, owner Paul Einbund did something he never thought he’d do: He closed his restaurant for four days to give his staff what he called a desperately needed “mental health break.”

Restaurant owners across the country have been struggling to hire workers amid a labor shortage, and the Morris is no different. The Portrero Flats restaurant, known for its wine list, high-quality service and whole smoked duck, is understaffed, and the employees who are there are overworked. Despite slimming down the menu to be less labor intensive, stopping to-go service, cutting the Morris’ hours from six to five days a week and keeping the bar closed, Einbund knows service is suffering. And so is his staff . . . .

Restaurants are doing what they can to adapt to the labor shortage: shortening hours, using ordering kiosks and technology to fill in for human beings, adding fees and raising pay to attract employees — while managing the expectations of customers eager to dine out after more than a year. The owners of Palo Alto bar Sun of Wolf are sharing staff with their parents, who run nearby Mexican restaurants, and paying for Ubers to shuttle employees from one business to another. In Massachusetts, the owners of one restaurant reached their boiling point with rude customers last week and decided to close for a “day of kindness” for their staff. (While the Morris is closed this week, salaried staff will be paid while hourly employees were given the option between taking vacation days or paid time off.)

[At The Morris] "the team is still working their butts off. Even though we went down to five days a week, it’s too many hours in the day. It’s too exhausting. We just don’t have enough hands."

https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/art...s-16327206.php