Bay Area Starbucks, Chipotle stores closed or shortening hours due to omicron

“Customers always ask questions, like, ‘Why is the wait time so long?’ Because we're so understaffed due to COVID and everyone staying home," a Starbucks employee said.

Even as the omicron variant’s spread is waning, those trying to get their routines “back to normal” are finding it difficult to do so, with reality setting in for some as they walk up to a Starbucks to get their caffeine fix, only to find it closed, sometimes in the morning or middle of the day.

“STORE CLOSED,” a typed sign taped to the door of a Starbucks in Alameda read on a Sunday morning in late January.

Others seeking a quick and easy meal at a Chipotle restaurant after a long day have discovered them to also be shuttered occasionally, because of a lack of staffing.

On a Friday evening in Newark in January, a procession of more than a dozen customers walked up to a normally bustling Chipotle and were surprised at the rattle of the glass doors as they realized it was locked.

“Closed early sorry,” said a message written in black marker on a piece of paper taped to the door. Typed above it: “Due to staffing shortage we are closed early thank you, we will resume normal hours tomorrow.”

The omicron variant has affected nearly every part of daily life for many, bringing on crowded hospitals, and pushing school districts into desperate searches for substitute teachers because of short staffing. Even the most popular food and drink chains, which have helped fuel and feed thousands during the latest pandemic surge, are not exempt.

All over the Bay Area, Starbucks and Chipotle locations are cutting store hours or closing their doors, sometimes for consecutive days at a time, as workers are forced to stay home after a positive COVID-19 test, or an exposure to someone who tested positive.

Some employees and customers said they feel they’re experiencing more closures and hours changes now than in past phases of the pandemic.

“It’s disappointing,” Newark resident Taylor Ingraham said.

Ingraham, a 27-year-old wedding planner, said she’s run into closed Chipotle locations in Newark and San Francisco in recent weeks.

“You’re set on a place, you’re excited to have it, and then you’re disappointed to find out it’s closed,” she said.

“And you hope there’s another one nearby,” she said.

Terri Steinmann, 51, of Capitola, said the pandemic’s recent effect on businesses big and small has caught her by surprise.

“You don’t know when the rug is going to be pulled out again,” Steinmann said.

She was having coffee with her colleague Salvador Benavides, 57, of San Jose, at a Starbucks in Fremont last week.

Benavides said he’s noticed several Starbucks stores near him in San Jose closed recently or open for far fewer hours than normal, but said he’s fine with the inconvenience in the name of safety.

“A cup of coffee is not worth putting someone’s life at risk,” he said.

Some employees at restaurants and shop affected by the spread of the variant said it has made typical rush hours even busier, while crews try to maintain service with fewer people.

“There have been a lot of stores closed,” one Starbucks employee in Livermore who asked not to be identified said last week. Even when the store where she works isn’t closed, when others nearby are, customers “would flood to the one or two open stores,” she said.

“It’s very hectic. We have everybody out on the floor” trying to keep up with the influx of customers, she said.

Stores may close if too many employees are exposed at once, while at other times, only one shift is affected, so a store might open later than usual, or close earlier.

“A lot of the customers are very understanding about it, and we appreciate that,” the employee said. She also noted Starbucks pays employees while they are out due to safety protocols.

Another employee at a Starbucks in San Jose said their store and area have been hit hard by omicron, especially over the last month.

“Customers always ask questions, like, ‘Why is the wait time so long?’ Because we’re so understaffed due to COVID and everyone staying home. So it’s been really hard,” she said.

“It can be stressful, but you know, we work together and work through it,” she said.

Starbucks spokesperson Chris Grismer said in a statement that local Starbucks officials adjust operations based on the impact of COVID-19 on staffing.

“When a store is experiencing a temporary staff shortage, we respond by reducing hours to be mindful that our partners aren’t overworked – prioritizing their health and well-being in our decision making,” Grismer said.

Grismer said customers can use the company’s app or website to check a store’s current hours of operation.

A Starbucks in Pleasanton has signs posted both in the store and at its drive-through entrance warning customers that their wait times might be longer than usual because of a “severe shortage” of staff.

At an East Bay Chipotle that recently had to close about three hours early, a manager said about half of his staff was out that week as a result of possible exposures.

“Due to available labor, we’ve had to make modifications like adjusted hours or digital-only ordering in select restaurants to temporarily accommodate the needs of the business,” a Chipotle spokesperson, Erin Wolford, said in an emailed statement in late January.

Chipotle’s app also updates with current store hours and closures, she said.

Neither Starbucks nor Chipotle representatives responded to questions about how many of their Bay Area stores have had to close or shift hours during the omicron surge.

Jason Mull, of Fremont, said a Chipotle location he sometimes visits was recently closed two days in the same week, and said it’s frustrating when trying to plan meals.

“I was shocked, because it wasn’t an off hour, it was definitely when you wouldn’t have expected it, in the middle of the day,” Mull said.

“I hope that’s not the new normal,” he said.

Since California’s omicron surge peak last month, the state has seen case rates fall 65%, but overall, rates are still at their highest point since the start of the pandemic.

Ingraham, the wedding planner, said she hopes people empathize with workers while omicron forces unexpected changes.

“In the very beginning, everybody I think had a little bit more patience if a place was closed or if they didn’t have staff because everybody was scared and it was new,” she said of the pandemic.

“And now you have vaccines and protocols and things to help,” she said, “so people expect things to be up and running and back to normal.”