But there are budding efforts to give hourly workers in those fields more dependable hours.

The National Restaurant association projects that sales will grow by 4 percent this year. Celebrity chefs and Instagram foodie streams all point to an industry on the upswing. But staffing restaurants isn’t easy these days. Susan Spicer runs three restaurants…

But the data doesn't paint the whole picture.

Worker rights advocates say unpredictable schedules, and dreaded "clopenings," take a toll on employees.

For owners, it's a simple matter of economics.