Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant industry in the United States

[5][6] It indirectly employed close to another 10 percent when dependent businesses such as food producers, trucking, and delivery services were factored in, according to Ohio restaurateur Britney Ruby Miller.

[15] On Sunday, March 15, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Health Department director Amy Acton ordered the closure of all bars and restaurants to help slow the spread of the virus, saying the government "encouraged restaurants to offer carryout or delivery service, but they would not be allowed to have people congregating in the businesses.

[23] In other states, major cities had closed bars and restaurants to sit-down diners and limited to takeout orders and delivery.

[4] Impact on the greater economy was as of March 17 expected to be large as Americans have in recent years spent more at restaurants than at grocery stores.

[4] Lester Jones, chief economist of the National Beer Wholesalers Association, said “This is a very significant and traumatic event for the restaurants, bars, taverns and the industry in general.

It makes me depressed to even think about it.”The New York Times on March 20 reported that industry analysts were predicting that two thirds of restaurants would not survive, and as many as 75 percent of independents.

[38] Union Square Hospitality Group, which the New York Post described as "largely seen as the gold standard for employment practices in the industry," laid off 2000 employees March 13.

[40] Souplantation, a soup and salad buffet chain, closed all restaurants and laid of all staff permanently as a result of the COVID pandemic, including all Arizona and California stores.

[45] Wayne Kent Taylor, the CEO of Texas Roadhouse, died by suicide in March 2021 while struggling with COVID-19 symptoms including severe tinnitus.

[49][50] The New York Times characterized the closures as affecting "all strata of the industry, from the owners and their celebrity chefs to the waiters and waitresses, bar-backs and busboys, who effectively are facing layoffs and may be unable to pay their rent.

[54][55] Groups of restaurateurs in New York City, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Seattle called on governments to provide help to the nation's small and independent restaurants.

[7][2] On March 19 the New York group called for state governments to issue orders for rent abatements, suspension of sales and payroll taxes, and a full shutdown so that business interruption insurance coverage would be triggered.

[59] Gabrielle Hamilton, writing in the New York Times on April 23, described being turned down for an emergency line of credit, having her insurance claim rejected, and learning her laid-off employees hadn't been able to file for unemployment.

[60] With only carry-out and delivery services operating in many states, laid-off servers and bartenders were prompted to create "virtual tip jars" across 23 U.S.

[61] In Cincinnati fans of rival basketball teams Xavier and University of Cincinnati competed to leave bigger tips for restaurant workers in a "Crosstown tipoff", a nod to the annual Crosstown Shootout, starting with a tip of $1000 on a $54 carryout order at Zip's Cafe in early January 2021 and accompanied by a note reading "Go Xavier!

[63][64][65] As a result of a lack of demand from restaurants, schools, businesses and hotels, many farms had to destroy millions of pounds of eggs, vegetables, milk and other goods which were overproduced.

In early April, while grocery stores were experiencing shortages of dairy products, farmers whose main customers were in the food service supply chain were dumping their milk because of lack of demand.

[70] It contains a provision preventing Trump, his family, other top government officials and members of Congress from benefiting from programs and creates an oversight board and inspector general position.

[70] Restaurateur and chef Tom Colicchio, who had been active in asking for a government rescue of the industry, later that day said he was feeling "optimistic" about the package.

The proposed SNAP CARRY Act includes provisions to expand access to the restaurant program during emergencies like the pandemic.