Restaurant casualties of COVID-19

[panamaniac]

Or do rents need to come down?

I have no idea what the economics look like...

Rents go down? Wholesale prices go down? Wages go down? Yes, all of these would help the economics. But the prices are the only thing that the restaurants are in control of. And even in the best of times most restaurants are low-margin businesses.

I propose that all the area restaurants apply a "COVID survival fee" of, say, 5% or 10%, to their final bills. It's not going to reduce business significantly and it can help the restaurants survive.

I’ve been a bit surprised that we haven’t been seeing more covid-related surcharges.  So far, I’ve only seen it at my dentist ($18) and hair stylist ($5).  Perhaps competition makes this more difficult for restaurants.  I don’t feel they’ve been able to raise their prices enough to cover their covid-related expenses.