PHOENIX — Tourists have already begun to arrive in the Valley for the Super Bowl and WM Phoenix Open.
While the local restaurant industry has been preparing for months, some still ask for patience knowing how many people they'll be serving this week.
'It is crazy'
After surviving the pandemic, inflation and labor shortages, Valley restaurants are excited about the crowds the week's events will bring.
"It is crazy," Steve Chucri, President and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association said.
The Super Bowl is expected to bring millions in economic impact to Arizona, and the people and their spending have already started to trickle in.
"We've been through a few Super Bowls now, right? In the past 20 years, I will tell you, this one is the most 'super' so far. And what I mean by that, is we have restaurants up 20 to 25%," Chucri said. "You factor in the Waste Management Open, and those numbers increase as a whole."
An influx from large events is a welcome sight after the past few years restaurants have endured.
"It's a huge deal for us as a small business," Megan Greenwood, Founder of Greenwood Brewing said. "This could make our year."
Staffing up
With the additional people they'll be serving, restaurants, bars and breweries have been preparing for months to handle the additional people.
"We built out our schedules two months ago, to get a cursory glance as like, 'Okay, what's our staffing look like? How many more people do we need to hire?'," Frank Gervasi, General Manager of AZ Wilderness, said.
AZ Wilderness didn't have to hire too many more people, but have more of their staff working more hours this week.
Pedal Haus Brewery also has been preparing for months too to get people served quickly.
Julian Wright, CEO and Founder of Pedal Haus, said staff was brought in from their Tempe location to help out in Downtown Phoenix.
"We're adding two extra bars, one on our mezzanine rooftop and then one just below it kind of near our front entrance. We've staffed up, we've hired extra security, we've got some fencing," Wright said.
Greenwood Brewing down the street on Roosevelt Row is also doubling up evening and some daytime staff as they prepare for NFL Experience goers.
"We just hired some new staff over the weekend just for this week," Greenwood said. "We realized that we just didn't have enough people eyet and so we wanted to be really prepared," Greenwood said.
Staffing challenges
Micah Wyzlic, Executive Chef and Managing Partner at Phoenix City Grille also added at least another six employees to his staff.
However, hiring hasn't been easy.
"The job pool, if you will, is definitely not what it used to be," Wyzlic said. "I mean, I've been managing 30 years, and it's the toughest I've ever seen."
During the pandemic, the restaurant industry lost much of its workforce and have struggled to get it back.
"We're getting fuller teams, which is wonderful. It's not as bad, but it's still we're not at pre-COVID levels," Chucri said.
With that in mind, some in the industry are asking for patience this week.
"We really do strive for perfection here, and we do our best to hit that mark. And sometimes we miss it a little bit. And so, just give us an opportunity to make it right, if nothing else," Wyzlic said.
"I just hope that people have a good time and respect our local community and our staff and realize how hard we've all been working to prepare," Wright said.
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