Restaurant owners on Friday called on the Senate to approve the relief package that passed the House on Thursday in order to keep their doors open through the winter months.
“Winter is coming. Patios will close,” said Andrew Zimmern, a restaurant owner and host of MSNBC’s What’s Eating America.
Zimmern cautioned that “tens of thousands, if not hundred of thousands of restaurants” would be forced to close this winter if Congress does not provide additional relief.
“Time is running out to save us,” he said.
The food service industry has been rocked by the coronavirus. In March, restaurants closed to slow the spread of the virus, and reopened at reduced capacity. However, many of them circumvented seating limits by taking advantage of the warm weather and offered outdoor dining.
With colder weather here, outdoor dining becomes harder to pull off, if not impossible.
“It’s not happening,” said Bobby Stuckey, who owns restaurants in Colorado, speaking with Zimmern on a press call sponsored by the Independent Restaurant Coalition.
Stuckey said that the state has already experienced its first snowstorm and outdoor dining vanished because of it.
Caroline Styne, a restaurateur and master sommelier in Los Angeles, was forced to close one of her restaurants because of the virus. She said that her industry needs immediate relief.
“This is not talking about far off in the future. We’re talking about right now,” she said.
House Democrats on Thursday approved a $2.2 trillion relief package that provides $120 billion to restaurants. The money would replace revenue losses in 2020 when compared to 2019. Restaurants located at airports would also receive part of the $13.5 billion in economic relief aimed at the travel sector.
The House Democrats’ bill also renews the $600 enhanced unemployment benefit that Republicans contend is too high and stops jobless workers from seeking employment. The legislation is not expected to pass the Republican-controlled Senate, which means it has no chance of becoming law.
