Restaurants and the COVID Pandemic: Re-shaping the Industry

 By Camden Clark

 Restaurant owner Matthew Teller is grateful. The Texas Roadhouse franchise he runs in Brockton survived the coronavirus pandemic and his livelihood stayed intact, unlike many other restaurant owners who were forced to close their doors for good.

       “We actually were lucky because we’re a national chain and while we all operate as independent franchises we had more support than other independent restaurants did, but even though we technically compete with other restaurants it was still sad to see so many livelihoods go under. It wasn’t fair,” said Teller.

        In early 2020, the arrival of COVID-19 completely altered the landscape of the United States and businesses entered uncharted waters when approaching how to survive. Restaurants shut their doors to indoor dining, laid off staff, and in many cases closed their doors for good. Programs such as PPP loans helped but weren’t enough to keep the doors open for good for many restaurants globally. In Massachusetts alone, over 20 percent of the restaurants in the state closed their doors for good in 2020, and over 90,000 closed across the U.S., according to the National Restaurant Association.

       In order for restaurants to survive these dire times, creative solutions and hard decisions were necessary to keep revenue coming in. Restaurants were more reliant on take out business than ever, and owners had to blend innovative solutions with smart business practices in order to maintain their livelihood.

       “It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced as a business owner in the 17 years I’ve done this, we thankfully made it but it was very hard on both me and my staff,” said Teller, the local franchise owner of the Texas Roadhouse in Brockton.

       Each Texas Roadhouse operates as an individual franchise under a national structure. Texas Roadhouse founder Kent Taylor even donated his base salary to help restaurant employees in 2020, before succumbing to COVID in March of 2021. Overall, the franchise made it out much better than most restaurants, but there were many individual challenges, including furloughing and laying off staff.

     “I had to cut back almost half my staff, whether temporarily or permanently. I hated doing it, but with the restaurant either being closed or very limited capacity there just wasn’t enough business to support that many employees, said Teller.

       Many restaurants in Massachusetts were decimated by COVID’s impact, and many didn’t make it through the pandemic. The Massachusetts Restaurant Association reported in 2021 that more than 4,000 restaurants were forced to close permanently.

                Christine Johnson, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said that some restaurants were losing as much as $15,000 a week during the pandemic.

       “There was really no chance for a lot of these restaurants to survive unfortunately with numbers like that. We tried our best to come together and find solutions to keep restaurants open but in the end there was only so much we could do given the circumstances,” said Johnson.

       While restaurants statewide were all affected, those in Boston took the biggest hit due to COVID restrictions that restricted restaurants’ ability to operate in the busiest city in the state.

       “In Boston, we saw COVID policies remain in place longer than some municipalities and were often stricter than others. You also have to factor in that it’s normally more expensive to run a restaurant in the city than others and without the possibility of revenue there’s no way many of these restaurant owners could keep the doors open,” said Johnson.

       While business owners took the biggest hit, restaurant workers were also affected greatly, with many scrambling to find another source of income. The MRA said that over 200,000 restaurant workers in Massachusetts were either furloughed or laid off, many never returning to the industry.

Server Kameron Davis at the Brockton Texas Roadhouse said he was glad to be back, but there were many struggles during 2020 and 2021 with the restaurant closed.

      “I had to take a job at UPS which was fine, but I can make $250 a night here at full capacity. I wasn’t seeing close to that money delivering packages. Luckily, I don’t have kids or have to worry about rent but without the restaurant I definitely didn’t have as much purchasing power with my income,”

         Those who had families to feed, such as server Nichole Simmons said she worried about money.

         “I have two kids and I was worried about how I would take care of them. Along with here my full-time job was on pause too so I had to do odd jobs and stuff to keep money coming in. The restaurant gave me some money thanks to the CEO donating his salary but it wasn’t enough to give me financial security.”

        Insecurity is always a theme in the restaurant industry, but the COVID pandemic accelerated that sentiment for many restaurants and workers that were affected by the world pausing and business coming to a halt.

        Today, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic are waning and restaurants are back to full capacity, with Teller saying his restaurant has returned to pre-pandemic foot traffic. However, the period of time where the pandemic had its grip on the industry will be one everyone working in restaurants will remember vividly, he said.

       “I’m very grateful that things are getting back to normal, but as a restaurant owner I’ll never forget the lessons I learned during those times, if we survived that we can survive anything,” said Teller.

Restaurants and Covid