But the neighborhood restaurant isn’t just a business, either. In a time in which the coronavirus has forced people apart, we should recognize the role restaurants play in bringing us together. Sitting down and sharing a meal isn’t quite the same on Zoom or FaceTime; in troubled times, sometimes you just need to see a friendly face and ask for another drink.
For all their importance — to our country, our communities, and ourselves — restaurants that have closed or are on the edge of collapse aren’t going to suddenly snap back. Restaurants typically live on razor-thin margins, and when large segments of their customer base are wary or legally unable to dine indoors, it’s going to take time to return to sustainable revenue levels.
Five months ago, when this crisis first started, Congress passed the Paycheck Protection Program to save as many jobs as possible. But because we’ve never effectively stopped the spread of the coronavirus, our industry is nowhere near pre-pandemic levels of business. The Paycheck Protection Program was more a temporary band-aid for those with the connections to access the money than the longer-term fix the restaurant industry needs.
So where does that leave us? This crisis in so many ways has laid bare the inadequacies of the status quo. It has forced upon us the choice to let an industry wither into something unrecognizable — or innovate into something better. We can take away an avenue for new immigrants, like both of our sets of parents, to add to the rich tapestry of America, or we can bring a fractured world closer together through the shared experience of food.
Our dream is not to turn the clock back to February. Instead, there is an opportunity to take the industry into the future and remake it to be stronger, resilient, and more creative. There is a chance to strengthen programs that help restaurants get off the ground, and keep restaurants afloat based on the quality of the food coming out of their kitchen, not the quality of their connection to capital.
They do a good job of *setting the table*, but what are these creative solutions?
Restaurants are much more than places to eat. In a sense they define our culture, our diversity and our desire for social interaction in the most fundamental way, by sharing a meal. To see the smaller family owned restaurants disappear is terribly sad.
What about the music and thearter? Less people= less money= A dying trade!! U sit on UR ASS,S too f long people! Karma,s about 2 knock on your doors! Selfish tests.x
Tk Elon
Let’s hope the future of the restaurant industry includes healthcare for RestaurantWorkers and a livable wage