After a long year of staying home and not celebrating much of anything like we're accustomed to, many people are looking forward to Mother's Day at their favorite restaurants.

As owners are expecting large crowds, wait times may be longer than usual.


"Our phones ring off the hook as is, on the weekend like I said and short staffing makes that an issue. So we're kind of just asking people to be a little more patient, understand what's going on," said Matt Savon, Co-owner of the Landmark Restaurant and Bakery. "And and that we're working our best obviously to make sure you're in and out within a timely manner," he said.


Restaurants all over the Valley are being affected by staffing shortages. So to make their process smoother, The Landmark isn't accepting any reservations for the holiday.


"It just..it helps to be fair to all the customers that come in. so if, you know, one person comes in and there's a party of six and not everyone's here," said Raphe Neapolitan, co owner of The Landmark Restaurant and Bakery. "It's not fair to, for other people that are ready to eat to wait behind them," he said.


At other restaurants like The Mocha House, they're welcoming reservations as that little heads up will help them to maneuver through the crowd a little bit better.


"You have to work efficiently, I've realized even with the short staff. It's been a little bit of an issue the past couple of months, especially through the pandemic," said Kalli Georgalls, part owner of The Mocha House in Downtown Youngstown. "But like I said just working efficiently and communicating seems to get us through that issue so, we hope everything goes smoothly," she said.

 
Owners tell 21 News they aren't sure how long the short staffing issue will go on for, but they're hopeful that things will get better soon.