TOLEDO, Ohio — Although bars and restaurants are allowed to serve you until the morning hours, some places just don't have the employees to do that.
Dorr Street Café, a staple for locals in Toledo, is losing several hours of business because of this.
"It's like one of those bars where you move out of the neighborhood but it's still your neighborhood bar," said Greg Bankston, a customer at the café for more than 10 years.
"Most say it's like Cheers," added Amy Schuchard, the manager at the café.
The neighborhood café and bar would usually stay open until 2:30 a.m. after the curfew was lifted.
But recently it posted an announcement on its social media, which states that starting this week, it will start closing at 8 p.m., losing multiple hours of business when they could be making money.
"And the reason for that, is we're short of staff. You know, we're having trouble hiring people and keeping," said Bob Reichert, the owner of Dorr Street Cafe.
Reichert says it's been a successful business for more than three decades now, but the pandemic has caused all sorts of problems with staffing.
"Some of [the staff] are making more money on unemployment than they make here. I think that's going on across the country. And some of them don't, can't deal with wearing a mask all the time while they're at work, which is part of the state rules," added Reichert.
This also puts a strain on other employees.
"Cause it's constantly training new people, and you worry are the new people doing the job fully. So you have to watch that. Plus, you're maintaining what you always have maintained," said Schuchard.
So far, there isn't an exact remedy on how to fix the problem other than to keep hiring.
Bankston says he believes all employees should be paid what he calls a "living wage."
"Maybe they should do that everywhere. I saw a paycheck on TV, a bar-type worker. Her paycheck for the week was nine dollars and 70-something cents. And I know they say, 'well, they get tipped.' Eh, I don't know. That's not a guarantee," said Bankston.
Dorr Street Café is hiring bartenders and servers who will be team players.
Meanwhile, we also reached out to OhioMeansJobs Lucas County, which is hosting webinars to help job seekers improve their resume and interview skills.