Two beloved Orlando restaurants close due to labor shortage
In Orlando, in Audubon Park, two beloved businesses are closing their doors as of Wednesday.
At the popular P is for Pie Bake Shop on Corrine Drive, the cooler that would normally be packed with pastries had two lonely pies. And they already had someone’s name on them.
The shop is making pies no more. The kitchen is closed forever. Customers were stunned.
"It was a shock when we saw it on Facebook,” customer Ashley Badano said. "They catered my wedding and my daughter's first birthday. They were the best."
P is for Pie is not closing down for lack of customers. It’s a familiar theme; they’re closing down because of a lack of staff.
"And we have just unfortunate circumstances where three of our bakers were all leaving at the same time and not for any particular reason, just life changes,” owner Stacey Tomljenovich said.
"It didn't give us enough time to bounce back," Tomljenovich said.
Sadly, another great restaurant right now the street is closing for the same reasons: Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux. Foodies are heartbroken.
Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux has been in business for 15 years. It was a favorite hangout for cyclists.
"You know really they have done a marvelous job. I'm a runner you know and now they're gone,” customer Gary Kane said.
So on the day before Thanksgiving, the last day in business for both places, there was not much more grateful customers could do but give hugs and presents which often gave way to tears.
"It feels like we're losing a piece of our neighborhood so it's sad,” customer Melissa Lee said.
It's sad to lose two food icons in Orlando that went into business to feed a community and ended up nourishing it.