Illinois Bars and Restaurants Closing Again
Shut down once more: Is it terminal call for restaurants and confined?
Kevin Boehm has had information technology. The veteran restaurateur, who has opened more than than 30 restaurants over his career and now leads more than a dozen acclaimed Chicago establishments, is facing a new circular of restrictions on eateries in the country as Illinois battles an alarming surge in COVID-xix.
"Only four to six weeks agone we reopened our diner over again. We changed the menu and at present they're shutting us down again," he said, expressing frustration with Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker's renewed — and indefinite — ban on indoor dining and bar service, which took upshot October 30.
Boehm said it's "maddening" to accept to shut down his restaurants a second time, noting the costs and effort of opening and closing on short notice.
"Restaurants aren't similar a hardware store. You don't merely turn on the lights and have inventory," said Boehm, co-founder of the Boka Restaurant Grouping.
The restaurant shutdowns this bound were seen by almost experts as a necessary, if financially painful, style to help flatten the COVID-19 curve. But the latest jump in cases, which comes as temperatures in much of the country drop and make outdoor dining less palatable, could mean a last phone call for many restaurants.
Past now, many eatery owners have already tapped their savings as well as fabricated use of government grants and loans geared to modest businesses. But such lifelines only extend so far, while Congress has to date failed to deliver another round of financial stimulus. That means unemployment benefits are running dry out for thousands of restaurant workers — many of whom could soon lose their jobs if their employers close for good.
"We were asked to close equally an industry in mid-March, and at that betoken nobody knew how long it was going to last. We held out hope for a warm, precipitation-gratuitous summer, with maximum outdoor seating and aid from a Paycheck Protection Program loan," Boehm said, referring to the federal relief initiative geared to pocket-sized businesses. "Now, as the weather dips into the 30s, the PPP has stale upwards and our governor has eliminated indoor dining. That leads u.s.a. down the river with no paddle, no life jacket and 15 holes in the boat."
Noah Sandoval, the chef behind Oriole, a eatery in Chicago with two Michelin stars, is also fretting over the latest shutdown. For 1, he had purchased fish, vegetables and $iii,000 worth of pricey Wagyu beef he wasn't able to sell and serve to his guests last week.
Later on closing during the initial lockdown before this year, Oriole was able to reopen indoors at reduced capacity, but only for a month.
"We were merely trying to go some money into our employees' pockets and into the bank account so nosotros could float everyone'due south insurance for as long as we can — before the inevitable happened" and the virus flared up, Sandoval said. "I think people knew information technology was temporary."
Oriole got a federal Paycheck Protection loan likewise, while besides using profits originally earmarked for quarterly investor payouts.
"We were sitting on that cash and got pretty lucky there," said Sandoval, who is also a partner in and executive chef at Kumiko. a Chicago cocktail bar. "But we don't have that this time around."
Denver is some other urban center where restaurants are facing new restrictions, forcing them to slash their indoor dining chapters from 50% to 25%. For Bobby Stuckey, the disappointing news came on the heels of the city's starting time snowstorm of the year, putting a damper on outdoor dining. He'd also emerged from an unexpected shutdown weeks before at his restaurant, Tavernetta, after two employees tested positive for COVID-19.
Stuckey hopes to go on every bit many of his workers on the payroll as possible, just he acknowledged that "in that location won't be enough shifts to go around.
"I'chiliad a positive thinker, but nosotros don't have a roadmap for this now," said Stuckey, who is rooting for Congress to create a $120 billion relief fund under the proposed Real Economic Support That Acknowledges Unique Eatery Aid Needed To Survive (RESTAURANTS) Human action.
"I don't think I've slept a complete night since March 17," he said. "Nosotros care about our employees. We want to keep our business concern open up. We care about the safety — it'due south just a different playing field than virtually businesses," he said.
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Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shut-down-again-is-it-last-call-for-restaurants/
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