DENVER – Colorado bars and restaurants do more with less.

Consumer spending in the restaurant industry has returned to pre-pandemic levels, despite 25,000 fewer employees.

This data comes from the quarterly budget update that state lawmakers received on Tuesday.

“It looks like restaurants are thriving, and you know there are tables occupied and people are out on sunny terraces in good weather, but the truth is that even though people go out to eat, there is not as many workers, ”the Colorado Restaurant Association said. spokesperson Denise Mickelsen.

Spending at bars and restaurants fell in March 2020.

Based on data collected by the state, Mesa County on the West Slope experienced a decline in restaurant spending in March and April 2020, but rebounded thereafter.

In Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Pueblo and Weld counties, the return to restaurants to pre-pandemic levels did not occur until March 2021.

In Boulder County, it was May 2021.

Denver did not return to pre-pandemic spending in bars and restaurants until June.

“Colorado restaurants alone lost $ 3 billion in 2020, so just because revenue numbers appear to be on the rise right now doesn’t mean they are back to normal,” he said. Mickelsen said.

She said supplies, like gloves, are more expensive for restaurants. And food prices have gone up over the past year.

“When you run a restaurant without the right amount of staff, you are either – and this is what our restaurants do – you are reducing your menu, so your customers get angry. You don’t place all of your tables. , so that the customers in the line get angry. And then the staff that you have are worked so hard that they run out and end up quitting, ”Mickelsen said.

“I go out quite often, not only to show my support for our friends in the industry, but I’m also not a very good cook,” said Kip Wilson, co-host of the Stoned Appetit podcast.

“It’s a podcast that covers restaurants and cannabis companies here across the Front Range and in the mountains,” Wilson said. “Everyone liked [Anthony] Bourdain is growing up, so we’re just trying to do our best Bourdain. “

Wilson continues to eat at restaurants, but tries to avoid restaurants with tables that are too close together.

“I don’t really hate having to wait a few more minutes for a table or, you know, waiting for the bus boy to clear the table,” Wilson said. “I think we’ve all learned a bit more patience throughout the pandemic. “

The Colorado Restaurant Association bought a digital billboard saying, “It’s hard to serve hungry people. It is easy to be patient. Be nice to the restaurant workers.

“I hope Colorado diners will remember that we must always be kind and empathetic to our restaurant workers who are working really, really hard right now,” said Mickelsen.

“I think there is going to be a breaking point for the employees. There is going to be a stopping point for them. They are going to say to themselves: ‘I cannot do a double Friday, Saturday and Sunday night to endure high demand, ”Wilson said. “I don’t think restaurateurs are going to be as necessarily restrictive on the portfolio, as if they prefer to keep their margins higher, than the quality of life of their employees.”

The Colorado Restaurant Association has published a table of jobs specific to food service during the pandemic.

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