‘The struggle is real’: Boise restaurants are closing because they’re so short-staffed

Restaurants across America are struggling to hire employees, and the Treasure Valley is no exception.

208 Pho & Vegan, 808 W. Fort St., closed temporarily last month because of a lack of staff, owner An Nguyen said. He plans to reopen the restaurant June 1, he added.

“It’s so hard to find people right now,” Nguyen said.

Now Luciano’s, an Italian restaurant at 11 N. Orchard St. in Boise, has announced on Facebook that it’s closed for a few days for the same reason.

“The struggle is real,” Luciano’s posted Sunday. “Our back of house crew has been working tirelessly, but we are still so short-staffed that we will sadly be closed today, Sunday, May 23, through Tuesday, May 25, and will reopen Wednesday, May 26. Again, if you or someone you know is interested in joining our kitchen team, please send us a message. We apologize for any inconvenience and truly hope to see you soon!”

A second Luciano’s location — Caffe Luciano’s in Garden City — remains shuttered and is seeking staff. Located along the Boise Greenbelt at 3588 N. Prospect Way, it closed last December to ride out the pandemic. It’s supposed to reopen, but manager Cody Craig told the Idaho Statesman last month that he was having trouble finding kitchen workers.

“We’ve gone the gamut: We’ve done Facebook, Craigslist, word of mouth. I’ve cold-called people,” Craig told the Statesman. “And either I’m not getting any response or they won’t show up for interviews.”

Diners can watch Caffe Luciano’s Facebook page for updates.

The service-industry worker shortage is holding back the opening of a new 208 Pho & Vegan, too.

A second location at 8675 W. Franklin Road is open and “doing pretty well,” Nguyen said. But a third restaurant that he had hoped to debut at 3900 W. Overland Road last month will have to wait until summer.

Nguyen is traveling to California on a recruiting trip this week in hopes of making a hire, he said. “It’s crazy,” he said. “Everybody has a hard time.”

As restaurants have reopened and begun preparing for what is anticipated to be a bounce-back summer, they increasingly are sharing their hiring challenges on social media.

Bacquet’s, a French restaurant in Eagle, made a Facebook plea last month in a hunt for workers.

“HELP US STAY OPEN!” the co-owner wrote. “... It would be tragic to have survived the year of COVID-19, only to shut our doors due to the lack of labor.”

This story was originally published May 24, 2021 at 10:36 AM.