Just before the dinner rush, El Granjero Mexican Grill is prepping for a busy weekend. Vice President of Catering Paola Mendivil says the restaurant has been an increase of sales and catering orders in recent weeks.
"We are just you know looking forward to get to the back to normal stage," she says."
A complete return to normal is on hold for the restaurant though because of an industry-wide worker shortage. Mendivil says they're sticking with limited capacity in their dining room for now which is a decision they'll revisit in the fall.
"Right now, we're comfortable because we haven't seen the dining room as packed as it used to be," she says. "We'll need to hire more people, more cooks and servers."
Mendivil says it's their recent work with the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that's helped keep them afloat.
"Not only do they accommodate the needs we have in our native language, which is Spanish, it bridges the cultural gap in the sense of making business here in the West Michigan area," she says.
The restaurant and other local businesses took part in several classes earlier this year to prepare for this summer's reopening. The organization's president and CEO Guillermo Cisneros says the mental health workshop was particularly important to him.
"Many of the Latino businesses, and others in the world I think, were with high levels of anxiety, stress and pressure," he says.
Cisneros says getting Latino businesses the tools they need is important so they can thrive.
"Providing these resources to businesses without language barriers, it's helping them break barriers so they become more knowledgeable so they can be successful," he says.
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