Customers are back at restaurants and bars, but workers have moved on

Like many servers and bartenders around the country, Ashley Roshitsh, 32 years old, used to love her job—until the pandemic. She had worked in hospitality since she was 14, eventually bartending at a craft cocktail bar in Birmingham, Ala. But after being furloughed in March 2020, she took stock of the toll that the long hours and late nights had taken on her. “Why do I have arthritis? Years and years of bartending will do that to you,” she says.

Many restaurants are also turning to contactless menus that use QR codes to help cut down on costs and offer customers a safer, cleaner alternative to reusable menus.