First, we would like to send out a Thank You to all of you that have been so supportive of our restaurant the past 10 years.  We truly appreciate all your loyalty over the last decade and especially with all we have gone through in the last year or so.  That is why we have had to make a difficult decision, but strange times call for drastic measures.  Unfortunately, we must close the restaurant for Wednesday lunch as well as Sunday night dinner.  This decision is not easy, but it is necessary. Let me be clear, we need to close during these hours because we are no longer able to staff our restaurant with enough employees to keep up the standards to which you have all become accustomed. Believe me when I say, the amount of business we are seeing is NOT the problem! The PROBLEM is we can’t find anyone to work! I have tried for months on various websites; nothing seems to work.

The other side of that coin is I have incredible employees that have gone over and above for this restaurant in the past year to help us survive.  I cannot and will not burn them out by asking them to continue to work at the frenetic pace they have been for the past 3-4 months. We are heading into the Summer season and, as I’m sure most of you are aware, this is when we are busiest.  I’m continuing to work toward fully staffing this restaurant so we can go back to our regular hours. Please be patient and kind to our employees. This situation has created a lot of stress on them as well.  10- to 12-hour shifts, 3 or 4 days in a row and working 5, 6 and sometimes 7 days per week for months is not acceptable to me for those that work here. Being closed on the 2 shifts I have chosen, will prevent that from happening. The issue of not being able to find enough workers is not limited to our restaurant or even our industry. All our vendors, without exception, are dealing with the same challenge.  There are times when we may not have an item available on the menu. It’s not because we forgot to make it or order the ingredients for it, but rather, the food or beverage distributor simply has run out. They have run out because, in many cases, there are not enough workers to produce or transport that product on a local, regional or even national level.  Until, we have enough people able and willing to work, I’m not sure when this will change. I really hope it’s soon. Until then, as I stated at the beginning…Thank you for your support.

New Hours for Wednesday: 4pm to 8pm

New Hours for Sunday: 10am to 3pm

Mike Stoner

Milwaukee Ale House-Grafton

If you know if anyone looking for work, we need servers, bartenders, and cooks! While we can train someone that’s never worked in this industry and are more than willing to do that, those with some experience, would be preferred.