WELLS, Maine — Business is booming at the Maine Diner in Wells. The line stretches out the door.
But, with big business comes a big problem.
Owner Jim MacNeill began closing his restaurant on Wednesdays recently. The diner had changed hands and names since the early 1940s, but it was the first time he could remember it not being open seven days a week.
Why close when the customers, and their wallets, seem to be endless?
"I've gotta give these guys a break," MacNeill exhaled with a smirk. "We're all killing ourselves."
The staff is stretched thin. MacNeill said he went into Memorial Day in 2019 with 75 employees. This year: only 43.
Despite a sign on busy Route 1 reading "employment opportunities," MacNeil doesn't greet many people who are hungry for a job.
"I've not gotten an application from anyone over 15 in six months," MacNeill said. "So, I don't know where everybody is."
MacNeill is far from alone. The Facebook account for Mike's Clam Shack across town in Wells posted that it closed for the day on Monday, June 27.
The post said there was a continued staffing crisis, and that kitchen staff had been working increasing hours each week.
"To thank them for all their hard work and dedication, we have decided to close this Monday," the post read. "... To give them all a short but needed break before the 4th of July weekend officially kicks off the busy summer season."
Ramona's, a popular sandwich shop in Portland, posted to its Facebook page Monday morning that it would be creating "temporary summer hours," including closing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
"We will be open 5 days a week until we have a full kitchen staff," the post concluded.
If businesses can keep up with demand, money is flooding into Maine this summer.
During the first five months of 2022, the U.S. Travel Association estimates tourism spending in Maine jumped 25 percent compared to the same stretch in 2019. That's the best in the country, according to the organization.
Steve Lyons directs the Maine Office of Tourism and says the cashflow should continue, as he met for a virtual interview on Monday not two weeks into July.
People are spending money in Maine more than anywhere else, he believed, because they're choosing to vacation in places to where they can drive to.
"Maine is in such close proximity to all these major population centers in the northeastern United States that it's a fairly easy drive for people to get up here and it's not going to cost more than another $20, $30 on their gas bill to get up here," Lyons explained.
The Maine Diner is trying to adapt.
MacNeill said he shipped his food during pandemic lockdowns -- a practice he did only casually a few years prior -- and he's petitioning to the town to allow him to park a newly bought food truck in his parking lot to help with takeout orders.
But until more applicants come through the front door, MacNeill and his staff will keep hustling in the kitchen.
"This staff is the best on the planet," MacNeill said. "This is why we're able to do what we do. We just need 30 more of them so we can do it longer, throughout the day."