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Austin has developed a thriving hospitality scene throughout its eventful history. There is no shortage of bars, restaurants, cafes and cafes that show the diversity and breadth of the city. Among these great choices are some of the most popular places that are usually open 24 hours a day: Magnolia Cafe, Kerbey Lane Cafe, a slew of coffee shops, and so on.
But that has all changed since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, and most businesses now close their doors at 10 p.m., leaving Austinites with few options outside of fast food places like Whataburger.
The local leisure and hotel industry, which had grown steadily over the past decade, bottomed out in April last year when the number of employees in the industry fell from 132,600 to 72,800. The industry has been on the upswing since then. In July, more than 125,000 people were employed in the leisure and hospitality industries; still well below pre-pandemic levels, but a significant improvement since the pandemic low.
Stephanie Williams and her husband Steve are the owners of Bennu Coffee, a series of coffee shops that, like other famous Austin stores, were open 24 hours a day. Since March last year, their stores have seen a number of changed opening times.
When asked why stores weren’t up and running 24/7, Stephanie told the Austin Monitor that the answer came down to a few different things: demand, economy, and staffing.
With vaccines widespread and with some of the early pandemic requirements easing, Bennu has slowly started extending its hours – initially until 7 p.m. and now until 9 p.m. There just aren’t enough customers coming. Stephanie estimates her highest volume business is still only 65 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
Additionally, coffee shops have, on average, lower retail prices than restaurants, making recovery difficult. Coffee shops also rely more on commuting to and from work – a source of income that has been disrupted as working from home has become the norm.
“Margins in coffee shops are very slim at the best of times, and we just haven’t been able to switch to third-party delivery like many restaurants have,” she said.
Staffing is also a constant issue, not just at Bennu, but in the entire industry. A report released in August said the industry is “in a crisis of labor shortages and retention,” with pay, a lack of constant income and demanding work hours being some of the main reasons.
Stephanie Williams says it’s incredibly difficult to find people willing and able to work overnight – and things have only gotten tougher recently. In the past eight weeks, Bennu has lost team members who have been with the company for years.
Even so, Bennu plans to work around the clock at his Highland location for the next few weeks, although an official date has not yet been announced. Steve Williams told the monitor that as the school year is back in full swing, they are hoping to attract a clientele of college students.
For Stars Cafe, another former 24/7 restaurant, the company’s new 6pm closure is much easier to explain.
“It’s all staff,” says Shannon Sedwick, co-owner of Stars Cafe.
She told the monitor that although overnight stays are a source of profit for the company, they couldn’t reopen 24/7 because they couldn’t find the staff.
“We have advertisements for chefs and kitchen staff, and we’re out of luck … we haven’t found anyone who wants to do the late shift,” says Sedwick.
Even for stores that managed to stay open 24/7, it was far from easy. Tyson’s Tacos has largely managed to maintain 24/7 service throughout the pandemic, but in the words of Jacob Kouhana, a digital consultant at Tyson, “staffing is no joke in this industry right now.”
Despite the raise, Tyson’s had been understaffed for six months, and at one point the company had to shut down night operations for nearly a month due to staff shortages. However, according to Kouhana, Tyson’s overnight sales have “grown tremendously in recent years.”
However, there appears to be a business model that has performed well in the coronavirus era while avoiding many of the industry’s staffing problems: food trucks.
While stationary restaurants and cafés usually require more staff to fill different positions and more maintenance of lobby and seating areas, food trucks usually run efficiently with only a handful of people and allow customers to socialize.
Taqueria El Paisita is a food truck on East 12th Street that opened this May. They serve Mexican food until 2am during the week (they are open until 3am on weekends), and so far business has done well.
Co-owner Michelle Hogan said that “there aren’t any options in the area unless you want fries or a burger and that’s a problem,” which is why her business plan has always been to stay open late and be healthier To offer options.
In a city of nearly a million people, late night food service can still be a lucrative business opportunity. Between college students, night workers, and people who just get hungry at night, the demand is there.
“So much happens in the hours most of us sleep,” said Hogan.
Jonathan Funes Morales is the head chef at Taqueria El Paisita. “When we started,” he said, “we thought it would take two to three months to get business going again, but it actually went a lot quicker, about 15 days. So far we’ve been very busy. “
When or if Austin’s 24-hour hospitality will return to its pre-pandemic state is an open question at the moment. Right now, however, Austin’s 24/7 hospitality companies are working on logistics, trying to strike a balance between service and profitability.
Jonathan Funes Morales’ quotes have been translated from Spanish. Photo made available under a Creative Commons license.
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