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After months of adapting to the “new normal,” restaurants continue to be one of the hardest hit industries by COVID-19 and as restaurateurs roll with the punches, a recent report shows that many are losing hope.
In late August, 53% of restaurant operators told the National Restaurant Association that they expect to see lower sales in the next six months. Another 35% added that they expect economic conditions to worsen.
Since mid-March, the National Restaurant Association revealed that more than 100,000 restaurants across the country have closed in a report released mid-July. The organization has since tapped Congress to take action as the restaurant industry is expected to lose more than $240 billion by the end of 2020.
ALSO: If you caught COVID-19, you likely ate at a restaurant, CDC report finds
“Despite losing more jobs and revenue than any other industry in this country, Congress has chosen not to advance a recovery package that is tailored for the unique challenges of a restaurant on the cusp of bankruptcy,” Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of Public Affairs for the National Restaurant Association, said in a statement.
The organization has released a restaurant recovery blueprint in which it hopes Congress will focus on three areas that include: a short-term relief by creating a recovery fund, aiding the stability of the U.S. food supply chain, and helping restaurants support at-risk communities.
“The restaurant industry continues to be among the most impacted with an increasing number of closures,” Yelp reported in a recent study.
Based on its findings, Yelp found that brunch restaurants, burger joints, sandwich shops, dessert shops, and Mexican restaurants were among the most affected between March 1 through Aug. 31. It added that restaurants that sold food items that were better suited for takeout saw a lower closure rate.
ALSO: 54% of San Francisco storefronts have closed due to COVID-19, chamber of commerce study says
At the local level, San Francisco had a staggering amount of restaurant and non-food industry business closures. Yelp found that between March 1 through Aug. 31, the city had 2,900 permanent business closures and about 3,300 temporary closures — an increase from its July findings.
Yelp also ranked cities across the U.S. with the most amount of business closures and found that San Francisco placed third, just behind New York and Los Angeles. But when it came to the cities with the highest rate of closures, San Francisco was second behind Honolulu. In that evaluation, Yelp found that for every 1,000 businesses, 10 had permanently closed.
Recent San Francisco business closures include Southern Pacific Brewing and Dosa, which both closed this week.
Susana Guerrero is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: [email protected] | Twitter: @SusyGuerrero3
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