Restaurants added 30K jobs in December
Plus: Are tablecloths making a comeback?
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Never underestimate the restaurant industry’s ability to take lemons and make lemonade. Just look at restauranteurs in New York City that are leaning into the drama surrounding the city’s new congestion pricing by offering congestion-related promotions.
ICYMI: NYC’s congestion pricing requires cars and trucks entering Manhattan below 60th Street to pay a fee and it is frustrating many restaurant operators worried about deterring diners and accruing additional delivery fees. But they’re making the best of the situation by trying to attract diners with discounts. “It’s a way to take a bit of the sting out of being stung by congestion pricing,” Aristotle “Telly” Hatzigeorgiou, CEO of hospitality company The Lure Group, tells the New York Post.
Here’s to more lemonade and fewer lemons in 2025.
On the menu:
💠 The latest tipping frustrations
💠 A very relatable commercial from Toast
💠 Strong industry hiring leaves out full service establishments
💠 The return of white tablecloths
What we're keeping an eye on: The latest tipping news. The Wall Street Journal posits that a decrease in restaurant tipping might stem from frustrations with increasing prices and requests to tip at other non-restaurant establishments.
What we're following: What the potential TikTok ban might mean for the restaurant industry. A new survey from Numerator found that TikTok users tended to use third-party delivery platforms more than other groups. The survey found TikTok users are three times more likely to use DoorDash and 2.5 times more likely to use UberEats.
What we're watching: The new Toast commercial, "One of Those Nights." It features a dining room full of guests asking for increasingly absurd and complicated meal accommodations for various diets and food aversions.
Who we're following: Restaurant Business's executive editor Lisa Jennings. She's reporting live from Los Angeles via LinkedIn and sharing the latest on the city's fires and how they could impact the restaurant industry.
Plus: Fox asked restaurant insiders how to snag hard-to-get reservations. Our favorite tip: pick up the phone and call the restaurant. This obvious but underutilized advice came from Peter Brattander, vice president of food and beverage at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City in New Jersey. "Personal interaction may also provide opportunities that aren't available online," he says.
Restaurant hiring finished the year strong
Eating and drinking places added nearly 30,000 net jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis in December. That’s the second time the sector added more than 20,000 jobs in consecutive months in 2024, according to the National Restaurant Association. However, the industry hasn’t seen an even hiring increase across all restaurant segments. Hiring in the full-service category remains about 4% lower than pre-pandemic numbers, the Association notes. Some full-service restaurants are just making do with less staff and leaning on different tech tools to fill in the gaps, Catch Hospitality Group Co-founder Eugene Remm told Bloomberg. “We’re probably down 20-25% [in staff] in each one of our stores, so even though our revenue is not particularly down, we’ve been able to run more efficient and that has been the biggest gift, whether we like it or not, of Covid.” (Restaurant Hospitality)
Welcome back, white tablecloths!
A white tablecloth used to represent a particular sort of high-end restaurant, but they've fallen out of fashion in the past 20 years. But now, white tablecloths are staging a comeback, writes Anna Hezel in Grubstreet. White tablecloths are "a signal of, 'Okay, let's unplug — we're gonna have a nice meal,'" says New York City restauranteur Tim Meyers, who recently opened Field Guide in Brooklyn. The white tablecloths at Field Guide require a bit more money and work than a bare table does, but they're worth it to create the ambiance Meyers is going for. "There's a tactile element to the white tablecloths that I don't think a lot of people appreciate; it's nicer to set your forearms on a warm tablecloth than a cold, hard table." (Grub Street)
9 minutes
The average time diners spent on a restaurant waitlist in Q3 2024
(Toast's Restaurant Trends Report)
💠 9 restaurant industry trade shows to consider in 2025
💠 McDonald's closes some CosMc’s locations, changes strategy
💠 Blue Hill at Stone Barns has been temporarily shuttered after a fire
"I feel like I’m an interpreter of cuisine, but I have to make it my own."
-Lisa Dahl, chef and owner of Dahl Restaurant Group in Sedona, Ariz.
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