WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – Many restaurants in Central Wisconsin continue to face staffing shortages and supply chain issues. Those problems are likely to linger into the new year.
“It’s hard to pick what you want anymore so that’s a struggle,” Anna Anderson, owner of the Palms Supper Club in Schofield, told WAOW-TV.
According to the National Restaurant Association, 96% of restaurant operators say they’ve had issues getting their usual food in the last year, a trend that a recent report says will likely continue.
“It’s hard to get product so you basically work with that,” said Angela Benson, manager of Gulliver’s in Rib Mountain.
“We’ve had to change a couple of the items on the menu to market price because you can’t navigate what it’s going to be from the beginning of the month to the end of the month,” Benson added.
Those issues are being felt all over, with Anderson admitting The Palms sometimes hasn’t had their typical standard of some menu items.
“We’re having that trouble with our ribs right now. We’re making decisions to not serve them half the time, not make about half of what we’re getting. So I expect that’s going to be an ongoing situation,” she said.
As part of those struggles, the report says a majority of owners think it will still take a year before business goes back to pre-pandemic levels.
“I’m thankful that we’re family owned and operated, we have a great staff. We are just all working together to try to get through it,” Benson said.
“Do I think it’ll go back to the normal that we knew of two years ago? No. I think this a new normal,” Anderson said.
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