5 Ways You Can Support Hudson Valley Restaurants Right Now

Have you been seeing local restaurants (and many other types of businesses) shortening their hours or even closing an extra day, during the week? Yes, we have all heard that staffing is an issue right now, with just not enough people to work, but is that it? No, hardly.

I spoke with a pizza place, that I order from often and got a sub/wedge that I have had many times, but this time it tasted really different. Not bad, just different. It took me a few minutes to realize that the bacon that I got on the sandwich, was maple flavored. It wasn't a love match with the other flavors, but I called them and was like 'Hey, just so you know, someone put the wrong bacon on the sub.' It was explained to me that they had such an issue actually getting bacon, that they were happy to take whatever they could. I wasn't angry, Like I said, the sandwich didn't taste bad, just unexpected.

So what can you do to help out local restaurants right now?

• First and foremost, be patient. Expect things to take a bit longer than normal. Between training the front-of-the-house staff, along with the kitchen staff, training takes time.
• Be kind to your servers. Odds are there are fewer servers on than normal as well. So this is a little of the 'much needed patience' and a dose of kindness as well.
• Order take-out, but order it from them directly. Restaurants have had great success with third-party places like Uber Eats, Grubhub, etc, but they have to pay a lot of money to use them as well, which cuts into their bottom line, in a time when they are already making very little because of the rising costs of absolutely everything.
• Buy gift certificates, and then wait a month to use them. Making a purchase like this, gives your favorite restaurant (business) a little increase in cash, which everyone needs when they are trying to cover their increasing costs.
• Visit them on their 'slower days' so they can see that you are still doing your best to support them, and while you're at it, bring a friend with you.

The above might seem a bit silly, but kindness and patience, go a long way.