Now that the spring semester is over, many University of Tennessee students will leave Knoxville for the summer. Local restaurants on the Cumberland Strip prepare for the lack of students and their spending habits.

Not only do restaurants on the Strip face the loss of employees, but also the loss of customers.

However, each restaurant has its own way of coping.

Shannon Hopkins, manager of The Sunspot restaurant said they experience a 15 to 20 percent drop in sales during the summer months.

"Things like Sundown in the City and other events help us out for the most part," she said.

Hopkins said that she deals with the changes by reducing the number of people in the kitchen and on the floor, along with their shifts.

At the Copper Cellar restaurant, established in 1982, manager Aaron Smith said that while they have a solid clientele base, they also experience about a 15 percent decrease in sales.  

"We definitely notice a decrease in customers, especially on our discount burger days on Wednesday and Saturday," Smith said.

Smith said that while 15 percent doesn't seem like much, it can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars during the span of three months. The restaurant deals with the loss by decreasing their employee's shifts as well.

However, for some restaurants, not as much effort is needed.

"Fortunately, almost all of the staff we hire are undergraduate students. When most students leave, so do they," Firehouse Subs manager Rhyan Pathan said.

Not only does the absence of a student body affect the managers and owners of local restaurants, but it also places strain on those who work as waiters and servers.

Meghan McFarlan, a junior at UT who has worked at Sunspot for more than four years, said that during the summer she earns about half the amount she does during the school year.

"Sometimes, it gets to the point where during the hours between 5 and 7 p.m., I sometimes don't get any tables. I usually pick up another job during the summer because of the opportunity cost," McFarlan said.

While many student waiters find it necessary to pick up a second job during the summer, others who stay in Knoxville are not so fortunate.

Jeff Tithof, a sophomore majoring in physics at UT, said that it is hard enough to get one job, let alone two.

"I've been looking for a job on the strip because it's close to where I live, but no one's hiring," he said.