For most restaurants in the D.C. region, the pandemic has been devastating. And businesses that were thriving before the coronavirus crisis are now barely getting by.
Thirty-eight percent of restaurants have closed their doors, according to the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. For the close to 70% of restaurants that remain open, revenue is down substantially from levels seen before the stay-at-home orders went into effect.
“You know you’re really lucky if you are bringing in maybe 20 some percent,” said association president Kathy Hollinger.
In a teleconference on how the restaurant and beverage industries are coping, hosted by the DowntownDC Business Improvement District, Hollinger said it has not been easy for many restaurants to make the move from a full-service restaurant to a takeout and delivery-only business model.
Tim Ma, of Eaton Workshop and executive chef at American Son, said many restaurants at the start of the crisis found themselves trying to handle the logistics of getting signed up with delivery services, such as Grubhub, Uber Eats and others, all while preparing for an expected slump in business.
Many food truck operators are facing the same struggle.
“The market dropped out beneath us,” said Zack Graybill, head of the DMV Food Truck Association.
Graybill said that while some have turned to delivery services, food trucks have experienced difficulty because they don’t have a set location, which many of the services require.
At Union Kitchen, business has also seen a decline, according to CEO and founder Cullen Gilchrist. He said what is selling has also changed.
Pasta, beans, beer and wine are selling the most, but the opposite is true for prepared foods, similar to what you’d get at a sandwich shop or restaurant.
“People aren’t buying those sorts right now,” Gilchrist said.
As restaurants changed their business models, another difficult move to make was downsizing. Hollinger said 25,000 restaurant workers have been furloughed or laid off.
While many restaurants try to get by and apply for help both federally and locally, Hollinger said more relief will be needed to help the industry recover, because even the restaurants managing to remain open with pickup and delivery will need help.
“It’s not a sustainable model,” Hollinger said.
The Small Business Administration said Thursday that it reached the $349 billion lending limit for the program, and thousands of small business owners whose loans have not yet been processed must now look to Congress to approve a Trump administration request for another $250 billion for the program, The Associated Press reported.
Many agreed they don’t know what life will look like once the stay-at-home orders are lifted.
Ma said one thing he expects is restaurants will have to be more transparent about sanitization and other steps being taken to keep patrons safe.
For Gilchrist, he said those in the industry will have to anticipate that a reopening doesn’t mean things will get back to the way they were before the pandemic.
“The reality is that reopening won’t come with the same level of sales and revenues that we had previously,” Gilchrist said.
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