CLEVELAND — Across Ohio, about 800 of the state's 23,000 restaurants have closed for good during the pandemic, according to the Ohio Restaurant Association.
Some restaurants are looking ahead to fall and winter and are worried about how they'll survive when they lose outdoor seating.
John Barker, president and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant Association, said it's been a difficult time for the industry.
"In the restaurant business since March, a long-term plan is one day," Barker said. "You just have to kind of stay current on all the news and what are the new regulations? And sometimes it's statewide, sometimes it's city, county, things like that. You have different health departments."
With so many new guidelines, and profits down for many, Barker said restaurants that can attain even 50% of their former profits are "losing money every day that they open."
"And so then they're looking forward and say, 'Well, how long can I do this? Can I actually survive this?'" Barker said.
With money running out from the Paycheck Protection Program, restaurants will have to find ways to get creative in colder weather, Barker said.
"Are we going to try to set up tents, are we gonna set up places where we have some sort of cover and some sort of heat, so at least if the temperature is above freezing, up to, say, 40 degrees or something like that, people dress a certain way and they can still go out and dine," Barker said. "But you might have to have a space heater, you might have to have those kerosene heaters, things like that."
While pizza shops and quick-serve restaurants may be doing better than others, that isn't the case for "independent, the sit-down, the fine dining" restaurants, Barker noted.
"Everybody that I'm talking to that's in that independent restaurant space, that smaller restaurateur, their dream is to just make it to the other side," Barker said.
Barker said many restaurants and associations are hoping Congress will pass another relief bill, with another round of PPP money to help small businesses, but at the moment, the bill is "kind of stalled."
"If we don't know about that, then businesses have to start making some decisions. You know, 'do I just go out to a certain time of the year and then shut it down again?' and that’s really hard," Barker said.
Barker said he expects unemployment to go back up in general, as well as in the restaurant industry, during the colder months.
"You got to have a lot of perseverance to be in this business, to begin with, the restaurant business, and now you're going to really need to have it," Barker said.
At Pickwick & Frolic Restaurant & Club, home to Hilarities 4th Street Theatre, owner Nick Kostis is making the best out of the hand he's been dealt, though he said business is less than 20% of what it was prior to the pandemic. He said reduced capacities have affected everyone.
"We can't get 50% capacity with spacing requirements," Kostis said. "And even with shielding tables and chairs in between, we can hardly get to 50% capacity."
His business is still promoting shows and trying to make it work with reduced capacities, complying with and exceeding safety rules and requirements. Kostis said they do electrostatic disinfection between and after every show and have a ventilation system with continuous positive airflow that does not recirculate indoor or dormant air.
"We have touchless sinks. We do touchless pay systems," Kostis said. "If you come and see us, we stay pure and clean, as one can possibly be."
But, he said, no business can survive without customers, and the restaurant industry is massive.
"Without the restaurants coming back, there is no economy," Kostis said.
He added, "Downtown core urban communities are really getting hit because so few people are working in those in the facilities and offices around us. So many people are still at home. And no events. We’re a downtown destination for this region with no sporting events or theatrical events or concerts."
With news of closures and layoffs from other businesses downtown, Kostis said he feels "it's a very ominous time for us as well."
"We have been more fortunate than most. But everyone is facing a tall challenge coming back," Kostis said. "Forget about sustaining business. Getting back to any former levels is a long, long haul."
Kostis said he goes to church each Sunday and prays that "everyone is safe and comes out of this as well as we can possibly hope for. I am concerned about my staff and the people who come to visit us."
As for what his plans are for this winter, Kostis said he's currently just "trying to get through September," adding, "Everything is day to day at this point, as it is for most of my counterparts in this business."
Kostis, who is running a venue in addition to a restaurant, said, "It's a challenge every way around. Our only saving grace will be if we can attract people for something that we do here as opposed to simply being a restaurant. We have to create our own event. We have to be our own event."
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