With all the talk about staffing shortages at restaurants these days, the scene at M’tucci’s Bar Roma on a recent Saturday night was a surprise. A small army of servers gathered in a space just off the entrance for a pre-dinner meeting and pep talk.

Moments later, they were released into the dining room, where they almost outnumbered the patrons. Everyone appeared happy to be there, including our server, who told us how much he preferred the job to his previous gig pouring concrete.