t from Most Pizza Huts that still had dine-in have either closed the dine-in location and moved to a smaller, more rent friendly location nearby, or are doing take-out only at this time due to Covid. I wonder if the website still shows the dine-in locations. I miss being able to eat from their all you can eat buffets years ago. I especially liked their dessert pizzas.

Delete

I just posted and deleted this...didn't see your post earlier. I was able to get in without a subscription. I thought the article made a good case for the federal subsidy being the main cause of the labor shortage, but also explaining some of the lesser reasons - and exceptions like the woman who was furloughed but still getting health insurance from her employer - making it difficult to take a new job and lose that insurance. It will be interesting to see what happens in Q4 this year after the subsidy expires everywhere. I would think a smart restaurant owner would try to hold out for a few more months, if they're able, to not be back on the right side of the supply and demand curve.

This morning GS stay home basket is a +0.90%, while their reopening basket is -2.5%. We're starting to see some concern over the Delta variant, which may further complicate things for restauranteurs--it's a pretty murky veil they're going to have to try to pierce through.

I'll admit I'm something of a picky eater, and don't really find the types of meals you cook in an instant pot to be things that I really tend to want to eat, so it's hasn't been helpful for me.

I certainly had enough exposure to cooking while growing up. My family certainly didn't do a lot of restaurant eating when I was a kid. I've just never really learned to like doing it, and that combined with a fair number of years where the schedule for my wife and I just wasn't conducive to the idea of cooking at home a lot we just haven't really liked doing it.

Oddly, I do like to bake, but it's a somewhat limited selection there too :).

Similar upbringing for me, and I didn't like to cook. I really learned once I was on my own after college, and found that I could make restaurant quality food for a fraction of the price, any day of the week. I started working from home about 15 years ago and that's when it really took off. Once I lost the hour plus commute each way, I had the time. Your reasons make sense to me. As far as baking, maybe not that odd. Most people either like baking or cooking, but not both. Of course there are some that don't enjoy either. About a year ago, I decided to experiment with soda breads and biscuits. My wife still likes to tell her friends how she could hear me swearing (both profanity and an oath to never do it again) from the kitchen every time I tried.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/lower-w...d=hp_lead_pos2

Again, not sure if it's behind a paywall since I have a subscription.

PS - In addition, I'd wager the overwhelming majority of us have tipping more during the pandemic. It'll be interesting to see if this remains the case as we exit it.

I’m still tipping high when dining out and I’m trying to eat at home as much as possible when in my home city. I haven’t had any Chinese food from our carryout restaurant since April 18, which is a much larger sacrifice than one would think because it’s still a favorite cuisine for decades.

We encountered a cook shortage Friday afternoon. I guess the kitchen guy failed to show. The bartender handled it very well and spoke to every patron as they entered. She told them that the kitchen was temporarily closed but she was still serving drinks. If anyone expressed dire hunger, she recommended another restaurant about a mile up the road (same ownership, which she didn’t mention). One of the cooks from another of their restaurants showed up an hour later and the food started flowing. The guy had already worked a full shift. I hope he got free at a decent hour.

I’m at a 5 star property on the Phoenix/Scottsdale border, and there are no shortage of serving staff here. We arrived at the beggining of service yesterday, and saw 15 servers just waiting for customers to arrive.

It looks like the high end either didn’t suffer or will be fully staffed first. I’m guessing fast food will be the last in the chain because of the low wages. If a server can make 50-100k a year, he or she will put up with a lot and unemployment pales in comparison.

Fast food may do better in places with tipped minimum wage combined with not a lot of upscale dining.

I’ll venture that high end is paying nicely even without tips.

do we really know how much fast food wages are with tip? Do fast food clients tip?

Tip jars, I guess. Cant be that lucrative.

I cannot ever recall seeing a tip jar at any US chain fast food restaurant (McDonald's, Burger King, etc.) I've ever been in.

[The fast casual (Chipotle, Panera) chains do have tip jars.]