Thriving Restaurant Scene Faces Worker Shortage

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Longtime Washingtonians may remember that once upon a time, you could find some French restaurants in the city, some Italian, maybe some Chinese. Then you had steakhouses like Blackey's, and cafeterias like Sholl's.

But fast-forward to the present, and in 2011, the District boasted more than 2,100 eateries, of all culinary stripes. That was nearly a 5 percent increase from 2010. And if you look at this year, in spring alone we saw roughly 50 new restaurants open their doors around town.

"There's been a huge influx of restaurants from established chefs in D.C. as well as an influx of chefs from other parts of the country and other parts of the world," says Omar Hishmeh, general manager of Woodward Table, the 300-seat restaurant that opened near McPherson Square last fall.

"But if you have a finite amount of labor in D.C., it makes it a little bit difficult to kind of spread it out, thin as it is," he adds ... 

Continue reading post from WAMU (American University Community Radio)