WISCONSIN — A new report this week from the National Restaurant Association highlighted the uphill fight many restaurant owners across Wisconsin continue to be in post-pandemic.

"The economy has impacted consumers and it's impacted restaurant owners as well," said Kristine Hillmer, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association. "We're seeing that in increased prices and limited hours, and restaurants still want to provide that great dining experience, but they're also having to do it on a shoestring budget."

In addition to dealing with higher costs and wages, many restaurant owners are also struggling with having a big enough workforce with many potential workers able to take jobs elsewhere for any number of reasons.

"It becomes incumbent on that restaurant owner to really have a culture in which they retain their staff, to not only bring them in but they'll want to stay," Hillmer said. "In Wisconsin, we have such a vibrant restaurant scene. We have over 250,000 restaurant employees within our state [and] 9% of our employment is within the hospitality industry."

Watch the full interview above.