Trying to get a Kansas City restaurant reservation? ‘People are coming back in droves’

As vaccinations are rolled out and COVID-19 restrictions ease, Johnson County’s upscale J. Gilbert’s Wood-Fired Steaks & Seafood is beating corporate expectations for the recovery.

It had the best Mother’s Day in its 26-year history, and the dining room is not only filled most evenings, there’s typically a waiting list.

“People are coming back in droves. It’s really blowing our minds,” said Bill Cusick, managing partner of the Overland Park location, which is completing a $750,000 renovation.

If you wait until the last minute, good luck getting a reservation in the Kansas City area.

Jasper’s Italian Restaurant in south Kansas City is now usually fully booked for the weekends by Wednesdays. And while it typically turns tables every 90 minutes, customers are now lingering, staying two hours or more.

“We’re getting families — eight, 10, 12 people, cousins. They’re out, they’re out and about, and they want to stay out,” said Jasper Mirabile, chef and owner. “I think this summer will be the best for the restaurant business in 25 years.”

Consumers have relied on takeout, delivery or home cooking since the pandemic hit more than a year ago. Now they are ready to be wined and dined again, and industry experts expect a surge in spending this spring and summer, with fine dining and full-service restaurants especially primed for a rebound.

Memorial Day weekend kicked it off.

According to a new report by Coresight Research, 30% of those surveyed planned to head out for food and drink on Memorial Day. By last Wednesday, OpenTable listed only a 9 p.m. slot open at Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants on the Country Club Plaza. Grünauer restaurant in the Freight House District was booked 43 times in one day.

“People want to go out, they want to have this restaurant experience. They haven’t had it for a long time,” said Jean Chick, restaurant and food service leader for New York-based professional services firm Deloitte. “They’ve been cooped up for so long.”

New restaurant trends

With social distancing restrictions, upscale Novel restaurant in the Crossroads had only been seating at most 25 customers a night. Now they have 75, 100 people on the weekends.

Chris Ridler, co-owner of Zocalo on the Country Club Plaza and the Barrio Mexican Kitchen + Bar restaurants in Brookside and Red Bridge Shopping Center, is starting weekend brunches an hour earlier to keep up with demand.

He also has noticed an increase in group brunches as people reconnect with friends and family outside their COVID “bubble.” They also are having dinner earlier than pre-pandemic, but late night is starting to return.

Michelle Brown and her son Nolan Brown had the misfortune of opening last August — her restaurant, The Chive Simply Good Cafe and Market, and his brewery, Transparent Brewing Co., in a Grandview building they leased.

“Sales are much, much higher than the worst of the pandemic,” she said, with the patio, dog park and lawn games area especially popular on the weekends. “We hit spring and people were dying to get outside.”

The pandemic also accelerated some emerging restaurant trends.

Online orders surged at Jasper’s — the highest since it started offering the service nine years ago — and to-go orders remain just as high, even as the dining room is filling up again.

Poio Mexican BBQ previously offered just dine-in and carryout out at its West Side space, with a menu designed for sharing. In its new Kansas City, Kansas, spot, it has a drive-thru and has added individual meals to the lineup.

Since its soft opening a week ago, customers have been arriving for the 10 a.m. opening, and by 10:30 a line has formed.

“I knew we would be busy, but not this busy,” said Carlos Mortera, chef and owner. “We survived the pandemic. I think we’re good.”

Chick with Deloitte said curbside will still be a hot choice. Some consumers who live or work near their favorite restaurant see it as quicker and less expensive than delivery. More restaurants also are adding drive-thrus as another revenue stream.

Staffing shortages

Still, challenges remain.

Help-wanted signs have sprouted across the metro this spring as restaurants struggle to fully staff.

For every 10 interviews they set up, only one or two prospective employees show up, some restaurateurs said. Some are offering bonuses to be paid after employees stick around for a few months. Deloitte said a few of its clients are paying people just to show up for an interview.

In Westport, several concepts by Culinary Virtue Restaurant Collective (formerly BeerKC) were open for limited service, or just shut down during the pandemic. Now the restaurants — Beer Kitchen, Char Bar Smoked Meats & Amusements, and Mickey’s Hideaway — have reopened.

“Beer Kitchen is only open Wednesday through Sunday and that is 100% due to staffing challenges,” said James Westphal, partner in Culinary Virtue. “We’re shocked that the industry in Kansas City is having such a hard time getting people to come back to work. We choose to be open less hours and try to provide the same service and quality rather than overworking our employees.”

Culinary Virtue recently took over as owners of Port Fonda in Westport and said staffing issues may push back its reopening until later in June.

Mortera of Poio said some restaurant employees switched to 9-to-5 jobs with benefits during the pandemic, and they don’t want to go back to working evenings and weekends.

He’s paying all of his employees $15 an hour, and those working 32 hours or more a week have such benefits as insurance and a week’s paid vacation after a year. He hopes to franchise the concept so there will be opportunities to advance in the company.

Consumers also are still confused over what mandates are still in place. In May, federal health officials said people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to wear masks or social distance, indoors or out. Area municipalities soon dropped their mask mandates. But businesses aren’t checking to see whether customers are indeed vaccinated.

Ryan Brazeal, chef and owner of Novel, said customers will stroll up the sidewalk, mask in hand, and then check out the scene inside before entering.

Signs of the pandemic’s toll also remain. More than two dozen restaurants closed in the Kansas City area in the last year, and “for lease” signs still remain on many locations.

“When we are able to open, we have been busy. We aren’t doing 2019 sales yet but we are getting closer,” Westphal said. “I feel fortunate. Many of our independents will never reopen or they will reopen under circumstances that they may not be able to overcome.”