At Morristown Restaurants, Things Not Quite Back To 'Normal' Yet

MORRISTOWN, NJ — After more than a year of capacity restrictions, New Jersey's restaurants can return to "normal." But although full capacity is now possible, some Morristown restaurants told Patch they're having a hard time getting people out — that can mean customers or staff.

Gov. Phil Murphy erased restaurants' occupancy limits in May, which followed with the state no longer requiring 6 feet between groups of patrons.

Luna Cafe Ristorante opened earlier this year on South Street. Overall, things have run smoothly, according to head chef and owner Nino Verona. But during certain times, they notice customers not out as much.

"So far, things are OK, but we need more people coming out," Verona said. "Because people still seem scared to come out. I don’t know why, maybe because of COVID-19 still. They come in, but they’re not coming like they used to before."

The family in charge of the business has plenty of experience in Morristown, having previously run Fiore's Italian Restaurant on Elm Street. Luna gets full on weekends but could use some more customers during the week.

One way in which they try to make customers comfortable is by putting tables at least 6 feet away from each other.

"I think we just have to wait for people to feel comfortable to come back, the way they used to come before," Verona said. "People want to sit far away (from each other) at their tables."

South+Pine — just down the road — has a different issue. Chef and owner Leia Gaccione describes the recent surge of customers as the "roaring 20s," with patrons eager to go out. But they could use a few more employees, a predicament which will amplify when more front-end employees such as bussers, servers and hosts return to college.

As a result, south+pine hasn't returned to 100 percent capacity. Some nights they also turn off online ordering so they can focus on the patrons inside the restaurant.

Gaccione attributes the staffing struggles, which aren't unique to her restaurant, to a couple of factors. One is enhanced unemployment benefits — an extra $300 a week — which will expire in September.

But another is that restaurants have developed a poor reputation as workplaces. A recent survey from advocacy group One Fair Wage claimed restaurants have a wage shortage, not a worker shortage. Of 2,800 restaurant workers, 53 percent reported they were thinking of leaving restaurants, while 76 percent said they are leaving because of low wages and tips — by far the most common reason for leaving.

But Gaccione says she treats workers well. For instance, she tries to schedule employees for back-to-back days off, has given bonuses twice to her back-of-the-restaurant staff and says servers make "very good money" off tips at her restaurants.

"I think it’s a little bit of a one-sided narrative about people not wanting to come back to work at the restaurant business," Gaccione said. "I know plenty of restaurants that don’t treat their employees fairly, but south+pine and Central+Main (Gaccione's Madison restaurant) are not those places. So it’s kind of putting a bad name out for a lot of the good ones."

But even if the pandemic-related issues disappeared, restaurants are never in the clear because of thin profit margins, Gaccione says. Even something as simple as a broken HVAC unit could put them under.

The industry also has no idea what complications the delta variant might bring, as COVID-19 cases steadily rise in New Jersey. The state has averaged 398 COVID cases in each of the past seven days, while hitting 249 per day in the previous week.

Whatever happens, restaurants will persist, Gaccione says.

"We’re going into fall and winter a lot more prepared than we were the first time, and we just hope for the best and hope we don’t have to just do takeout again," she said. "But if we do have to do that, we’re going to do it. We’re not going to stop fighting."

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