2 years into pandemic, restaurant industry once again facing shortages of staff, and customers

With multiple rounds of lockdowns and restrictions, it's no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has been hellish for Manitoba restaurants. 

Now, owners say the latest spike in cases driven by the Omicron variant is causing major staff shortages, while the cold weather and fear of getting sick is keeping customers away. 

Restaurants are limited to 50 per cent capacity in their dining rooms for vaccinated patrons only under the province's current COVID-19 restrictions. 

But at Roughage Eatery in the West Broadway area of Winnipeg, co-owners Jessie Hodel and Candice Tonelete closed their dining room in December when COVID-19 cases started rising. 

With their small space, it didn't seem right to keep it open, Hodel said.

"We want to keep everyone safe, our family members safe, and just not get sick, right? It's not about the money all the time, it's about keeping everyone safe," Hodel said. 

Still, the decision has been hard on them. 

"It feels like we're only being able to give half … half our best. And then, even then, it's like, not very many people are coming and it's … it's really tough right now," Hodel said. 

Now, more than half their staff are off, either sick or self-isolating while they wait for test results, meaning the staff they have left are putting in long hours filling takeout orders. 

"So half the staff and most of us are working 12-hour shifts as opposed to just six- or eight-hour shifts, so most of us stay here all day and all night, but it's worth it right now to keep us afloat."

Roughage Eatery isn't alone. The Manitoba Restaurant and Food Services Association says about half of their members have had to either close their dining rooms or cut their hours in recent weeks, either due to staffing issues or lack of business. 

"It just blows my mind how some of these operators have found a way to keep those wheels rolling when you're facing one heck of a stiff headwind," said Shaun Jeffrey, the association's executive director.

"So it's quite it's quite a challenging time, that's for sure."

At Cilantro's Restaurant, co-owner Ritesh Patel said they're keeping their dining room open but aren't seeing very many customers come in.