Even as many chains recover from the depths of the pandemic, independent restaurants continue to struggle to survive. On Thursday, thousands of them called on Congress to replenish a massive aid package to extend them a lifeline.
More than 3,300 restaurants and bars signed off on a letter spearheaded by the Independent Restaurant Coalition, stating they are in danger of permanent closure if Congress does not refill the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF). That’s the $28.6 billion pool of assistance for restaurants established earlier this year that ran out in about three weeks after being expected to last much longer.
Sara Lund, owner of Bodega and The Rest in Salt Lake City, is one of the independent operators who signed the letter. Lund said in a statement that she started the pandemic debt-free and now owes more than $100,000 in business and personal debt. She said her business will not survive without money from the RRF.
“After not receiving the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, I had to drain all of my personal savings and put that into the business to keep it afloat and keep my staff employed,” she said. “Our government asked us to close our doors and help our communities be safe—we all did that. We closed our doors, we changed the way we operated our businesses.”
Half of all restaurants surveyed by the James Beard Foundation expressed “no to moderate confidence” they will remain in business throughout the winter, according to survey results released by the organization this week.
Restaurants cited major staffing issues, supply chain disruptions, higher overall operational costs and depressed revenue as the reasons for their dire situation, the Foundation said.
“COVID-19 has forever changed the restaurant industry,” Anne McBride, vice president of programs for the James Beard Foundation, said in a statement. “Our survey results clearly show that restaurants will continue to face a myriad of hurdles for the foreseeable future. However, it is our hope that diners will take the necessary steps to continue to support suffering restaurants, further aiding in the U.S. restaurant industry recovery.”
More than 90,000 restaurants and bars have closed since the pandemic began in March 2020, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Last spring, thousands of operators were approved for RRF grants only to have them denied later, often attributed to three court cases that successfully challenged the legality of awarding preference to underrepresented groups for the funding. By July 1, the U.S. Small Business Administrator, the fund’s administrator, officially shut down the program.
The Independent Restaurant Coalition and others are pressing for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act, which would provide an additional $60 billion in targeted aid.
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