MILWAUKEE — The restaurant industry is continuing to deal with challenges in the post-pandemic world.
About 45% of restaurant operators say they need more employees to meet customer demand, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2024 State of the Restaurant Industry report. Costs are up too; over 90% cited higher food costs.
Nas Musa is the co-owner of Casablanca in Milwaukee’s Brady Street neighborhood. He said revenue is down due to higher food costs. However, he said he remains hopeful because business is picking up at his Middle Eastern restaurant.
“It can’t get any worse. I mean, we have experienced so much in the last two years. I just feel like everything is getting more stabilized. I feel like food costs are going down. I feel like we are adjusting to the food costs, and we are anticipating more with the RNC coming this year,” said Musa.
Musa said food costs are up about 10-20% right now. He said despite that, the restaurant hasn’t raised its prices.
“We did keep our prices the same. We definitely don’t want to lose business and we did incorporate some happy hours just to bring in some more traffic. We are making less for sure, but most importantly is to get our customers through the doors,” said Musa.
Abed Kurdi has been a chef at Casablanca for the past six years. He said the restaurant is committed to high quality fresh ingredients amid the higher prices.
“We try to make the best we can. This is our policy. Food has to be very good, very good taste, to keep the customer around, to keep the business around. If we don’t do that, we lose the business,” said Kurdi.
Musa said he believes business will bounce back later this year, along with profits.
“Our sales are down and that’s across the board, but we now are feeling an increase, and it’s sort of like 2019, before COVID hit, so as long as we get back to 2019 flow, I think we should be safe,” said Musa.