Like many industries this year, restaurants have been hit hard by the pandemic and are trying to find their way back in the “new normal.” Photo by Rod Long.
There was once a time when meeting up with friends, going on a date, celebrating a birthday or anniversary, making a business deal, or having a night out on the town with family members was a part of everyday life. Restaurants welcomed their guests with open arms, served food and drinks, and more often than not, provided a memorable experience with smiles all around. The hard work and dedication that goes into being a part of the service industry was not typically something to be dwelled on, but now that it’s all been taken away, it’s hard to ignore the void left in its place.
When the pandemic first hit, followed by mandatory lockdowns, restaurants had to quickly adjust their operations. But “two weeks to slow the spread” turned into a year of uncertainty. Restaurants experienced whiplash with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ever-changing restrictions, going from take-out only, to 50% capacity, to 25%, to having to shut down temporarily, and then attempting to rise from the dead. Every day brought a new set of rules and regulations and the restaurant owners and employees struggled to keep up.
The Los Angeles and South Bay areas in particular are known for their bar scenes and nightlife. The downtown areas are lined with up-and-coming clubs, bars and restaurants, all offering unique experiences for the thousands of guests they served each week. In both Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach, the piers were constantly packed to the brim with locals and tourists in search of food and entertainment. Especially on the weekends. But these once bustling spaces have now turned into ghost towns.
Olivia Walsh, a server at El Gringo Mexican Restaurant in Redondo Beach, has had to adapt to the “new normal” while still working her regular hours. Guests aren’t allowed for dine-in, so her days mainly consist of to-go orders and strenuous sanitizing. The tips she was once accustomed to have substantially dropped and she is struggling to stay on top of her bills.
“Before the pandemic hit, I was finally comfortable and saving money. But now I’ve depleted my savings and am struggling to make ends meet,” Walsh said. “I try to pick up extra shifts but my coworkers are hurting for money right now, too. It just feels like we’re spinning our wheels and not really getting anywhere.”
The CDC’s guidelines for reopening have left many restaurants in a state of limbo, waiting for the announcement that they can go back to regular operations. The service industry relies heavily on its patrons and trying to function while being restricted to either take-out or outdoor dining has left many restaurant owners wondering if they will be able to stay open for much longer.
According to Eater, the restaurant industry was hit the hardest in comparison to other kinds of businesses. As no surprise, companies like Target and Walmart were seeing record sales while restaurant sales were tanking. Forced lockdowns meant people were staying home and making more meals for themselves. Grocery stores were filled with people, buying out the shelves in a panic.
In a panel concerning the state of the industry with Forbes, Paul Brown, CEO of Inspire Brands which owns Sonic, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s and Arby’s, showed concern about the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, and how they were affecting the restaurant industry disproportionately.
“It’s one thing to talk about a pandemic. It’s quite another to talk about the government’s reaction to the pandemic, which is really what is hurting everybody in this industry,” Brown said. “It’s less about the pandemic and more about the uniform global shutdown of the economy, which I don’t think anyone would have predicted.”
The economic downturn immediately caused the service industry to not only lay off thousands of people or close their doors completely, but if they stayed open, would have to rebrand themselves completely to keep up with the deficit. Small business owners took to the internet to set up online retail stores and virtual shopping experiences. But how would restaurants that relied on in person services, alcohol sales, and tips be able to survive the transition?
A photo of Gavin Newsom that surfaced after he had just mandated restaurants in California to halt all indoor and outdoor dining services. Photo taken from the California Globe.
As soon as the dine-in bans took effect, Gov. Newsom was photographed at an indoor dinner party at The French Laundry with a close group of friends. He later apologized, and said he made a “big mistake,” but damage was already done. Restaurants all over the Los Angeles area became enraged, with some defying the restrictions completely. Eat at Joe’s, a popular breakfast spot in Redondo Beach, kept their doors open and replaced their sign with a temporary banner reading “The French Laundry,” taking a stab at the governor and making a statement about the injustice they felt. The governor was able to dish out rules for the rest of his constituents but was not leading by example.
By fall of 2020, outdoor dining was permitted and restaurants began to shell out thousands of dollars to build structures so they could stay in compliance. Downtown Hermosa and Redondo Beach took out front row parking and replaced it with seating areas. Roads were reimagined to accommodate bike lanes and traffic to make way for the new developments. There seemed to be hope among the local restaurant owners and their customers again.
Maintaining strict social distancing and mask regulations during reopening, the ghost towns seemed to be revitalized again. There was a light at the end of the tunnel… or so they thought.
As the holidays rolled around, the governor placed another ban on outdoor dining, another wave of outrage among restaurant owners ensued. They took to social media to express their frustrations and concerns. The amount of money spent to stay within regulations had already put them in binding positions. Barely staying afloat, some of these family-owned restaurants would not make it through another ban.
In a viral video, Angela Marsden, Owner of the Pineapple Hill Grill & Saloon in Los Angeles, vented about how the ever-changing regulations were destroying her business and her life. Forced to shut down outdoor dining soon after she had built an entire infrastructure to stay open, a production company added insult to injury by setting up an outdoor dining area for catering right next door to her restaurant.
A screenshot taken from Angela Marsden’s Instagram story, expressing her grief for the restaurant she has fought to keep alive during the pandemic. Photo taken from ABC 7 Eyewitness News.
“I’m losing everything. Everything I own is being taken away from me, and they set up a movie company right next door to my outdoor patio. They have not given us money and they have shut us down,” Marsden said angrily. “We cannot survive, my staff cannot survive. Look at this, how is this dangerous, but right next to me is a slap in the face. This is safe?”
Failing businesses like Marsden’s are in desperate need of assistance, but government aid programs seemed to be dragging them through the dirt even more. The U.S. CARES Act and its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) aimed to help restaurants pay their employees but did very little for the restaurants themselves. With 75% of the loan proceeds sanctioned for labor costs that made up over 30% of restaurants total costs, the leftover assistance did little to nothing to help restaurants stay afloat.
The service industry has been fighting an uphill battle all year. Local government officials have done very little to keep them in business while they ravaged the economy in the wake of COVID-19. Major corporations like Amazon and Walmart have raked in millions in bailouts this year on top of their soaring profits, while small mom-and-pop operations have been totally devastated.
Fortunately for those who have been able to stay open, Los Angeles county recently re-permitted outdoor dining. With COVID-19 cases dropping drastically, downtown streets are repopulating, with masks and social distancing of course, and restaurants who persevered through the unpredictability this year are finally catching a break.
Since the beginning of the first wave of the virus, cases are shown to be decreasing. With over 28 million people in the US diagnosed with COVID-19 in the last year, and 12% of the population who have received the vaccine, it is hoped the peak of exposure has passed and restaurants are eager to return to business as usual.
The ups and downs of this year have left many restaurants wondering why their industry was ignored or left out of the public conversation. The hard labor and long hours put in to keep people fed and entertained are the backbone of local communities. Their efforts may have not been acknowledged prior to the novel coronavirus, but now that patrons are returning to their favorite restaurants, it might be time to reevaluate their place in the economy and give back to them everything they lost in the name of keeping us safe.
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