Hilary Russ & Danielle Kaye

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Starbucks customers who arrived to collect their mobile drinks orders from the cafes have discovered that they are closed and drivers must wait longer for the delivery driver to deliver some McDonald’s Big Macs.

U.S. restaurants have seen a slowdown in service due to Omicron, the latest COVID-19 variation. Omicron sickens and scares others. Many businesses are left without enough staff.

Starbucks Corp Customers (NASDAQ:), complained last week on Twitter (NYSE:), about temporary closures at certain locations in the US, such as Pennsylvania, Ohio. Georgia. California. New Jersey. Florida.

William Clarke, a lawyer, told Reuters that he had placed a phone order to purchase coffee from a Starbucks in Hoboken (New Jersey) at 9:00 AM one morning. The store hadn’t opened when Clarke arrived so he was forced to ask for a reimbursement. He said that the store has been closing on certain days and opening later since December.

He stated, “I understand the staff shortage right now and can understand why they have to alter their work hours.”

Zmer Andranigian arrived at Glendale’s Starbucks in California on January 1st to place an order through the app. However, the store was closed at that time. According to him, he was able return the following day to pick up his beverages.

According to one DoorDash Inc driver, he was waiting in line for 30 minutes at drive-thru counters of fast-food restaurants since December. In response to the labor shortages, he said that chains like McDonald’s Corp (NYSE :), Yum Brands Inc’s Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s began posting signs warning customers about long wait times.

Reggie Borges from Starbucks said that some of its approximately 9,000 U.S. cafés changed their operating hours during the pandemic.

He said that some locations are only available for carryout, such as the 20 located in Buffalo, New York.

McDonald’s announced that they were closely watching the impacts of COVID-19 variants. They also stated that customers would still be served at approximately 91% of their U.S. outlets during the epidemic.

Chick-fil A spokesperson stated that Omicron is causing business problems at Chick-filA, however that 99% of the restaurants remain open. Taco Bell has not responded to our requests for comment.

GAP RESTAURANT JOBS

January 3rd saw nearly one million coronavirus cases in the United States, nearly twice the number reported by the United Kingdom.

Omicron had already shown that the restaurant business was still reeling from the loss of all jobs in the aftermath of the pandemic. Meanwhile, people are leaving at astronomical rates.

Employment https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ECONOMY/lgvdwjoadpo/chart.png at foodservice and drinking places as of December was also nearly 653,000 jobs – or about 5.3% – below pre-pandemic levels in February 2020, according to federal labor data released Friday.

There are other factors that can complicate matters, such as bad weather throughout the country and employees staying home for fear of contracting COVID.

Independent restaurants in New York City have had to reduce their services.

Six staff were missing from John’s Pizza of Bleecker St. in Manhattan last week. Kevin Jackson, manager of John’s Pizza in Manhattan said the staff shortage has caused delays and created longer wait times.

Jackson said that “we’re likely losing customers because of it.” He had to deliver 10 pizzas by himself on New Year’s Eve weekend as couriers using delivery apps weren’t showing up.