APOPKA, Fla. — According to a sign on the door, a long-time Central Florida restaurant is shutting down one of its locations due to issues stemming from the ongoing pandemic.
What You Need To Know
- Longtime Central Florida BBQ staple, Bubbalou's Bodacious Barbecue, had to close its Apopka location this week
- Officials with the chain said the decision was made because of staffing shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
- The chain's original Winter Park location had to shut down in September, also because of the pandemic
Customers were still showing up to Bubbalou's Bodacious Barbecue in Apopka even after the owner closed the store this week.
A sign on the door says after 17 years they just couldn’t overcome the staffing shortages from the pandemic.
But at the Bubbalou’s location in Altamonte Springs, staff were busy trying to keep up with the lunch rush.
Manager Bucky Weston has worked for the Central Florida barbecue staple for 35 years.
And he’s earned some loyal customers, like Mark Devasto.
“Been coming here since the day he opened this place, getting unbelievable food, that’s why I’m always back,” he said.
Weston started at their original Winter Park location shortly after it opened in 1986.
But after 35 years, the owners said they had to close that restaurant in September due to the pandemic.
“It’s very very sad, very, very sad that we had to close the original location,” Weston said.
Weston said this week's closure of the Apopka location was not due to a lack of business, but a lack of healthy staff.
They are the same issues the business is facing at the Altamonte Springs location, as well.
“We require them to get tested before coming back to work, we have to," Weston said. "I’ve got four people out sick right now, I’ve been working 7 days a week, open to close, open to close."
And with the spike in cases in Central Florida, Weston worries that the staffing issues they’re facing will only continue.
But he’s confident that if more people take the pandemic seriously, and if testing is made more widely available, they’ll be able to keep their last two locations open.
“If the public was getting testing, then our staff would be improving and we wouldn’t have the complication,” he said.
Weston said in addition to the safety measures, they’re paying employees well above minimum wage and offering overtime to attract more employees and keep the ones they have.
