Restaurants filling up already...in late September! (Plantation, Sarasota: 2014, home)

[beach43ofus]

Just the past weekend I noticed the restaurants filling up again, on the weekends. Monday-Thursday are still w/o wait times (in most places), but Friday & Saturday, I'm seeing wait times again; and full parking lots.

When I can't find a parking space at a restaurant, it makes me want to just go back home to eat. I came across 3 restaurants this past Saturday that had 100% full parking lots...ugh!

Geez, its not even October yet. It used to start after Thanksgiving 25 years ago, but now it starts much earlier.

I wonder if it's due to having to live here for 6 months + 1 day, to claim Florida residency to avoid higher taxes elsewhere, & there's more of those folks than ever before ?

I don't think its covid-related, but it could be if the rules are still very strict up North, and people are sick & tired of wearing masks. I was in RI for August, & masking wasn't req'd much at all there.

October used to be my favorite month here, but I fear it might be slipping away.

Its good for the local economy, and restaurant owners/workers who suffered through covid, so that part of it is good. Admittedly, my patience is awful, & I don't see that changing.

I'll need to shift my dining out times to avoid the crush from 5-7pm. Maybe go out for lunch, and skip even trying to go out for dinner. I'll start avoiding Friday & Saturday evening eating out like the plague.

Do any of the country club restaurants in Southern Sarasota County cater to the public, or are they all private? There's quite a few of them all around me. Venician Golf & River Club, Plantation, Pelican Point, Jacaranda West, Sarasota National, Boca Royale. I see Calusa, Capri Isles, & Waterford restaurants all close at 6pm.

What are you seeing? How do you work around it, and cope?

[joshan]

I am in Chicago Suburbs at the moment, and tried to find a Thursday night reservation last week for a special occasion at the last minute. We found nowhere decent with any availability at any time and even Olive Garden said an 1:40 wait. Crazy times... and not just Florida. That is NOT normal.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by joshan

I am in Chicago Suburbs at the moment, and tried to find a Thursday night reservation last week for a special occasion at the last minute. We found nowhere decent with any availability at any time and even Olive Garden said an 1:40 wait. Crazy times... and not just Florida. That is NOT normal.

There are a couple reasons you had that problem.


At least around here in my county in Southwest Florida, especially big chains you gotta wait.


Olive garden for example. Always a 15 min wait it seems even on weekday. Outback was 30 mins last time.


But then you notice that 50 percent of the place the tables are vacant but you still have to wait.


That's because there is a lack of staff. They don't have enough waiters to fill the place up so they have to close half the dinning room.


That is happening at most of the large chains around here. Wait times despite half the tables being unused.


The smaller places around here seem to have less of a staffing issue.


I just went out to eat for dinner at Fisherman's Village. Brewhouse bar was closed for cleaning before season. Despite this the place was VERY dead overall. I went next door and had fish and hardly any customers there. The place was dead.


But yet back in July it was busy for being summer I guess due to summer vacations. Was a very nice day out too. I was shocked how slow it was.

[macrodome2]

I was just going to say, lack of staff. We've had a part time position at our clubhouse open since July and can't find anyone. The pay is good, much higher than what they started last year. Still can't find anyone. We also need another gate staff as well. No one is applying.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by macrodome2

I was just going to say, lack of staff. We've had a part time position at our clubhouse open since July and can't find anyone. The pay is good, much higher than what they started last year. Still can't find anyone. We also need another gate staff as well. No one is applying.

Correct.

However, from what I'm seeing it's the chain places like Outback, Oilve Garden, Chilis that are having the biggest issues. The local places are too though but just not quite as bad.

The local Chilis sometimes the wait is 30 mins and they only have the bar area open which has about 7 or so tables because they only have two servers and a couple cooks. Sometimes they only have the to go open because they have no staff. The last time I walked in is when they only had the small bar area open and the host dude told me about half hour. And he said it's because they can't find any staff.

Steak and Shake is only open through drive thru. I love their burgers but not driving 12 miles back home and it gets soggy and cold.

Fl min wage for waiters also went up a dollar an hour too. I wonder if this will cause smaller places to not hire as much help.

[joshan]

I pointed out Olive Garden as the chain places are usually the easiest to get into in my experience, not because we wanted to go there haha. All of the local places were zero availability on a Thursday. I tried literally like 20 places and checked open table. It is damn hard to get into restaurants right now in both places (likely everywhere).

[FoxyFats]

Well, Sarasota-Manatee is no longer that 'seasonal'. We saw it coming in mid-1990.


Sickening. Too many people. That's what happens with restaurants.

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by joshan

I pointed out Olive Garden as the chain places are usually the easiest to get into in my experience, not because we wanted to go there haha. All of the local places were zero availability on a Thursday. I tried literally like 20 places and checked open table. It is damn hard to get into restaurants right now in both places (likely everywhere).

At one time, yea. But now these big chains all have issues post covid lockdown. Like I said they keep about half the tables unused because they don't have enough wait staff.

Outback was like that a month ago. I had to wait 30 minutes despite nearly half the tables not being used.

The only chain not like this is Applebees I go to and that's because it's right off the highway and not a lot of stuff around it so it's usually slow.

I don't know how the Chilis stays in business around me. When they're open they have just the bar area open because they only have two waiters if you're lucky. When I went in to eat last time the host basically nodded and said don't even bother.

[joshan]

Ahh thanks for the update Moforthewin, that makes more sense. I do not frequent those types of places often, but was trying basically get into anywhere at that point (that would not get us sick...).

[MOforthewin]

Originally Posted by joshan

Ahh thanks for the update Moforthewin, that makes more sense. I do not frequent those types of places often, but was trying basically get into anywhere at that point (that would not get us sick...).

YW. Not like that around here. I don't know what is going on in Chicago then. Unemployment ran out in June for the extra $300 a week so I don't know how these people are living.


I suspect a lot of them were college students. They got the unemployment $600 plus that $125 a week on top of it and stayed on it. Then when it went to $300 a week they stayed on unemployment. To college students that's a lot of money, maybe more than what they made while working.


I do notice less young adults serving staff when I eat out lately so I suspect that was a reason why they can't find people.


I would think around Christmas time they will be applying for those jobs again once they run out of money.