PENDLETON — In the wake of two restaurants shutting down in Pendleton, some local dining establishments have managed to hire a few displaced employees.

Within the span of one week, family-style restaurant Denny’s permanently closed Oct. 14. Three days later, Shari’s Cafe & Pies shut down. Together, the closures resulted in 45 employees losing their jobs.

“You never want to hear of another business closing because that affects so many lives,” Hamley general manager Cal Tyer, said. “It’s a very sad thing.”

Amy Madden is the general manager of Roosters Country Kitchen at 1515 Southgate in Pendleton. She said she’s hired five of the former Denny’s and Shari’s employees for her team.

“There is always a market for servers, cooks and dishwashers, but some restaurants are shorthanded in the back of the house,” Madden said. “Finding the skill set of a cook is harder to get.”

Roosters offers country-style comfort meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Madden said the number of customers have increased at her establishment so she was able to bear the expense to add a few cooks and dishwashers to the kitchen staff.

On the other side of Pendleton, customers Tuesday, Oct. 29, were streaming into the Saddle Restaurant & Lounge for breakfast. Without delay, servers escorted each guest to their table, handing them their menus and fetching their drink orders.

The Saddle co-owner Christie Cook said she has hired three employees who worked at either Denny’s or Shari’s. The Saddle has experienced an uptick in consumers, Cook said, so adding three more employees to their roster helped. She added she may possibly review a couple of more applications.

Chris Daugherty is the interim director of Travel Pendleton, the tourism arm of the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce. He said there are 30-45 food and beverage establishments operating in Pendleton, from bars and cafes to fine dining establishments.

Although local restaurants compete with one another, Rainbow Cafe co-owner Tanner Hawkins said he hates seeing businesses such as Denny’s and Shari’s go down the way they did.

He said local restaurants should work as a team.

“High tide floats all boats,” Hawkins said. “Pendleton does a good job with tourism and helping create a better dining experience helps the city.”