El Paso restaurants do bustling business for Mother’s Day

EL PASO, Texas -- The moms were fed as the restaurants in El Paso on Sunday saw one of their busiest days since the beginning of the pandemic. 

"It is very nice,” Eugene Kang, manager of Koze Teppan Grill, said. “It feels a lot more normal.”

Last Mother's Day, Koze was still busy but they were mainly limited to takeout orders. This time around they were able to fill the restaurant.

"It isn't as insane as it used to be but compared to last year it is so many times better,” Kang said.

Koze wasn’t the only restaurant bustling this Mother’s Day.

Mi Piaci also had a good turnout but they had to turn some reservations down because they didn’t have the staff to meet the customer demand.

"This past week I limit 60% or more, where I don't have enough employees to open a full restaurant,” Cosimo Battagli, owner of Mi Piaci, said.

Koze also have similar employee woes but they were able to call in backup to accommodate everyone on Mother’s Day.

"We are understaffed,” Kang said. “It is actually very hard to maintain a staff we are constantly trying to hire new people, luckily we've had a lot of ex employees who have been willing to help out."