CLEVELAND — Grappled by the ongoing employee shortage, Winking Lizard is temporarily shuttering one of its downtown Cleveland locations while reducing menu options at other stores.

The company announced earlier this week that it’s 811 Huron Road location will be closed after Sunday, likely through the rest of the year. Winking Lizard said that employees at the Gateway location will be offered jobs at its other stores. 

Winking Lizard said that its 150 employees shy of being fully staffed. A private Facebook group was among former employees and family, who are ready to help fill open shifts. 

“This is not an easy decision, but the current volume of business and the continuing challenges staffing our taverns, has made this unavoidable,” Winking Lizard’s management wrote to customers. 

After the Gateway location closes, Winking Lizard will operate 14 restaurants in northeast Ohio and two others in the Columbus area. The remaining 16 locations will operate with a reduced menu due to “labor and supply issues.” 

“I’d love to tell you we are ready to expand the menu and do our legendary seasonal offerings, but we can’t physically do it right now,” the managers said. “We have an amazing group of employees on our team that are working long days to help fill in holes on our schedules.  We are doing our very best to take care of our guests as quickly as possible.  We know wait times have increased for take out and dine in, and hope you understand and treat our staff with patience and kindness.”

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the hospitality industry in Ohio continues its rebound after coronavirus-related shutdowns forced the industry to scale back. Although there were nearly 22,000 more hospitality industry workers in July compared to January, 70,000 fewer employees are in the industry compared to two years ago in the state.