Behind The Bar: Making Front of House Top of Mind

The pandemic may be over, but COVID is not—at this point, we’ve come to expect periodic surges. We expect the scrambling shift coverage that finds us struggling to keep beer flowing from the brewhouse to the bar and beyond. You’d think each callout would be a reminder of how difficult it was to run a business during peak COVID—but in reality, it just underscores how trying it has continued to be.

Those early days caused an exodus that has left the brewing, bar, and restaurant industry short on staff to this day, particularly the kind of experienced and energized, long-term employees around which all our businesses had long been built. Today, more than a million more hospitality jobs remain open than before the pandemic.

All the while, competition has remained fierce, and not just for attracting capable employees. Our guests have an ever-expanding array of options for their dollars, even as economic factors have caused more than a few to pull back on spending. Those who continue to spend more freely can be a bit less forgiving when staffing issues lead to poor service or unsatisfactory products. It often feels as if guests supported us during the hard times with the expectation that the pandemic would come to an abrupt end, and then we’d pay them back with a level of service that’s become seemingly impossible to offer.