Bertie’s Hot Chicken took a hiatus in early November. It’s now scheduled to reopen this coming Tuesday.

The restaurant — at 930 Tahoe Blvd., Unit 901, Incline Village — will have slight changes, with a larger focus on sandwiches and burgers instead of larger plates – as well as a new, expanded bar which will include more liquor options.

“Bertie’s was originally supposed to be a pop-up when we first opened it in February of 2020, just a couple of weeks before the shutdown,” owner Rick Boyd said. “Originally, we had planned to put a nicer seafood concept into the space, but we knew it was going to take months and months before we got through… a remodel. So we didn’t want the space sitting empty during that time.”

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He decided instead to put in the concept of Bertie’s Hot Chicken before changing it over to a seafood style restaurant called “Cape House.”

“So we opened up and then the shut down happened and the last two years of COVID we just didn’t really have a chance to change things up,” Boyd said.

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Boyd explained that the purpose of the hiatus was to test the new seafood concept for the restaurant.

After the short trial, it was decided that Incline Village would not be the right location for a seafood concept. Boyd plans to keep Bertie’s running in Incline Village, and is looking to open up a separate seafood restaurant in South Lake Tahoe or Truckee, where there are higher levels of tourism.

Bertie’s, like many other local businesses in the region, struggled to find staff during the pandemic.

“We’ve been running a skeleton crew pretty much since the beginning,” Boyd said.

This is one of the reasons why Cape House did not make the cut, as fresh seafood requires a lot more kitchen staff.

Boyd also used to own the local brewery in Incline Village, Brewforia, but elected not to renew his lease for the spot due to a substantial hike in rates.

“We loved Brewforia. Everybody’s still upset that Brewforia closed, but circumstances were that our lease was up and we just didn’t have a choice to stay,” Boyd said.

Bertie’s is currently hiring for all positions, including a general manager. The pay starts at $15 per hour. After tips the pay averages out to around $35 per hour, according to Boyd.

Bertie’s offers paid time off, vacation, and will soon include a health care plan for its employees.

“We’re excited to see how excited everybody is for Bertie’s to come back. I think they’ll be happy with some of the adjustments,” Boyd said.

Elizabeth White is a staff writer with the Sierra Sun. She can be reached at ewhite@sierrasun.com