A few weeks ago my wife and I visited a local Red Robin restaurant with friends. Been there before, but this time was different.
Place was virtually empty, but still had to wait almost 40 minutes. Server was very nice, but nothing happened in a timely fashion.
After the food was brought, the waitress checked on us. She explained she would be away from us for a while. She had to go help the cook prepare the food. As far as we could determine, there were only 3 employees working that evening. The greeter/seater, our server, and apparently one cook.
We were talking to the waitress as we got ready to leave. She said earlier she was serving a group who had left without paying. She claimed the restaurant's policy is she would have to pay. The look on her face made us believe her.
Things are rough everywhere, it seems.