Restaurants warn they might not survive winter without new federal relief

[Sherman A1]

WASHINGTON (TND) — Nearly seven months after a program set up by Congress to aid dining establishments struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic ran out of money, restaurant operators are imploring lawmakers to provide further assistance before the end of the year.

“Two-thirds of restaurants that applied for assistance have not received it,” said Erika Polmar, executive director of the Independent Restaurant Coalition.

Polmar’s organization released a letter Thursday signed by over 3,300 bars and restaurants calling on congressional leaders to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which provided $28.6 billion in relief under the American Rescue Plan. More than 278,000 restaurants sought over $72 billion when the application portal opened, and only about 101,000 received funds before the program was exhausted.

The restaurant industry was hit harder than most by the pandemic and related business restrictions. Layoffs during lockdowns were steep, rehiring has been sluggish, and many cities were slow to lift limits on indoor dining once the initial wave of infections faded. Supply chain delays and surging inflation have created additional strains on restaurants that survived the shutdowns.

https://krcgtv.com/news/nation-world/this-cant-wait-any-longer-restaurant-groups-press-congress-for-more-aid

[Lovie777]

1. Turn to the obstructionist in congress, ie GQP . . ..

and the two extremely conservative/want a be GQP from AZ and WV.

They don't give a shit about the USA.

[abqtommy]

4. +100 Ya got that right! nt

[3Hotdogs]

2. But its not just the federal money that's gonna affect restaurants' ability to survive. Yesterday,

took the grandkids to a restaurant.... been there several times over the years.

The waitress spent time and time explaining to customers and us, "We're out of that."

Straws for drinks - (No big deal).
Seafood Bisque.
Belgium waffles.
Scallops.

Then we were also hearing her tell people at two nearby tables, "We're out of......" We couldn't hear what else they were out of. Then our orders came.... or three of the five orders came. The other two came, somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes later. Did you ever sit with a 5 year old while he's watching his brothers eat and him with nothing?



Then there are the restaurants in our town. Take out orders fucked up. How to you take the fixin's of a falafel sandwich to make a falafel sandwich when the fixin's don't include the falafel? (Filafal is the bread part for those who don't live in or near New York.)

Then, there's the attempt to install online ordering. Several of the local restaurants (Suburban N.J.) have installed programs for online orders. Two of them are really impossible to use.

One restaurant installed table screens to bypass the waiter's taking your order. Wanna see your blood pressure increase? Try ordering from that?

[Sherman A1]

3. We only do carryout from the local ones here

in North St. Louis County and there were a few teething problems with online ordering with one of them at the start of the pandemic. The other we frequent, does a great job getting our order together and ready in just about the time it takes us to drive there.

[happybird]

5. The price on scallops, crab (snow and king), and lobster has gone through the roof

Last edited Sat Dec 11, 2021, 03:08 PM - Edit history (1)

and keeps rising. We didn’t carry blue crabs this season because they were so expensive. We are selling single clusters of snow crab for $25 apiece and only making $1 on them. Being mainly a seafood restaurant, we want to keep them in stock and we do have customers willing to pay that much, but it’s crazy. We’ve stopped carrying the king crab and all lobster items, but are still getting sea scallops. We get them delivered twice a week, and the price per lb. has been going up $1- $3 on every new invoice. It’s insane.

The items we haven’t been able to get (out of stock, for weeks now) are frozen items: onion rings, popcorn shrimp, french fries (waffle fries, in particular– we now order any shape available), corn fritters (now making them from scratch) ... those sorts of things.

It’s been a challenge to help customers navigate the menu. I hate telling folks we are out of stuff, and it’s bummer when someone is really craving a lobster roll or a big crab leg combo platter and we cannot provide it. Also, we’ve been selling more shrimp as a result and I have been peeling and deveining several lbs more than usual when doing prep. Ugh. It’s my least favorite task. Fried shrimp is always popular in cold weather but, damn, people! It’s gonna be a long, shrimp poop covered winter for me. Seriously, though, I’m just glad we are still doing okay. Many are not. We are very fortunate.

[3Hotdogs]

7. Yeah, I know its a shit show for restaurant owners and other businesses.

We NEVER honk on the restaurant or the staff.


My point about the online ordering programs.... a program only as good as the person who wrote it. Two in our town really suck. I guess the restaurant owners either bought the programs from a sales rep who came in the door or from an advert in a trade magazine.

[mitch96]

6. "might not survive without new federal relief".. Hand outs? SOCIALISM I SAY!!!

THIS IS A CAPITALISTIC COUNTRY..no handouts. You have the right to make a profit from your labor and you also have the possibility to fail. Anything else is SOCIALISM! m

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[Farmer-Rick]

8. Soooo why can't capitalism handel it?

Why do corporations and businesses need handouts? Doesn't the market take care of everything? Why doesn't free trade come through to untangle the supply chain issues?

Something is seriously wrong with an economy that keeps crashing every time something doesn't go right.