ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WKRG)– Businesses along the Gulf Coast expect thousands of people to walk through their doors Memorial Day weekend and they say there is a lot of preparation that goes into getting ready for the large crowds.

The unofficial start to summer will have restaurants packed. Loraine Ostema, general manager of Live Bait in Orange Beach, is ready for the rush of tourists and locals.

“So we have prepped for about a week and a half now, just to get ready and make sure the experience is great for every customer,” said Ostema. “We’ve been taking care of our liquor order, we are taking care of our to-go orders, silverware, to-go boxes, making sure we have enough napkins and even down to having enough toilet paper.’

One popular beach spot, the Flora-Bama, has added extra staff. Marketing Director, Jennifer Parnell says they have had to hire as many people as they can for the summer.

“We have been staffing up, we have had some job fairs throughout the last few months,” said Parnell. “We feel like we are in a good spot so now we are just getting everyone excited to hopefully have a good and busy weekend.”

Restaurant managers are not just worried about having enough food to feed hungry visitors. They are also concerned about the quality of what they serve. 

“All of the food has been prepared to the best of our ability, making sure we have enough oysters, enough seafood,  making sure all of that is covered and our soda,” said Ostema. “Coke has been out here. We have had Co2 tanks filled up and ready to go so we don’t have any flat sodas.”