‘Praise the Lord.’ Popular Coast restaurant reopens its doors to local fanfare.

For those looking for Vietnamese or Thai food, local favorite Basil’s Cafe has reopened after a near month-long closure because of staffing shortages.

The reopening was announced on Feb. 17 through the restaurant’s Facebook page to much fanfare. Their first day back open was Thursday.

“Praise the Lord, cause I sure have missed my red curry,” one commenter said.

“This made my day,” said another.

The restaurant located at 5130 Beatline Road in Long Beach was named among the Sun Herald’s Top 15 new restaurants in 2021 and boasts a 4.5/5-star rating on Google.

“Basil’s Cafe is hands down, without a shadow if a doubt THE best restaurant I have ever eaten at,” reads one review. “We will definitely be returning for more of this absolutely amazing dining experience.”

Basil’s Cafe was one of many restaurants across the country that has had to grapple with a shortage of service industry workers since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Even as the pandemic has waned in recent months, restaurants have struggled to fill vacancies. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics in November a record-high 1 million restaurant and hotel workers quit their jobs, a reflection of a national trend of U.S workers quitting their jobs. On the last day of December, there was a little over 10.9 million job openings.