What Could The Restaurant Industry Look Like After The Coronavirus Pandemic?

As Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to release reopening guidelines for restaurants this week, the industry remains mired in uncertainty.  The California Restaurant Association estimates that before the pandemic there were more than 76,000 establishments and nearly 1.5 million workers in the state, making it one of the state’s largest industries. The rising cost of doing business had already pushed many restaurants to the brink of shuttering. Now with shelter-in-place, the majority of Bay Area restaurants have closed their doors and those that remain open for takeout and delivery have seen their sales plummet. In this hour, we talk about the challenges restaurants are facing and what adaptations could become permanent as California gradually reopens.