On many weeknights last year, in the depths of the recession, Tursi’s Latin King restaurant in Des Moines closed one of its three dining rooms and pared its kitchen to a skeleton crew.
Now, all three rooms are open on most nights, and the kitchen is busy again.
“These last couple of months are a lot better than they were last year,” said Robert James Tursi, whose family owns the restaurant, an upscale establishment that specializes in steaks and Italian food. Food sales were about 10 percent higher in February and March than they were during the same months a year ago, he said.
Restaurants all over the country are beginning to see signs of a potential recovery after a dismal 2009. Sales at some restaurants have risen in the last few months, and the industry has hired thousands of additional workers.
“There’s no question about this,” said Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group, a market research firm that tracks sales at 47 restaurant chains with a total of 103,000 outlets. “There’s a recovery going on.”
