As coronavirus keeps Texans home, restaurant association urges to-go, delivery orders
Nehme Elbitar has never had to close down his restaurant before, but since he operates mostly with a buffet, he knew it was time.
“It’s not easy, but we have to weather through it somehow,” he said.
Elbitar, who is the owner and chef of Chadra Mezza, is one of dozens of Fort Worth restaurant owners that have made the decision to either close their establishments or operate differently due to concerns about spreading the COVID-19 virus.
The governors of California, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington have closed bars, restaurants and wineries. Mayors in major cities across the country have enacted similar policies in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus. Texas has not taken similar steps as of noon Monday.
To limit infections, Fort Worth, Arlington and Tarrant County have banned gatherings of 250 people and urged businesses to limit large gatherings inside or in confined spaces outside. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday recommended against gatherings of 50 or more people for the next eight weeks.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price on Twitter offered ideas for how to continue supporting local eateries who are affected by the coronavirus such as purchasing a gift card, placing orders to-go, or using food delivery apps.
Arlington and Fort Worth officials did not intermediately respond to a request for information about how the cities can assist businesses. Spokespersons in both cities said information may be available later.
Visit Fort Worth, the city’s tourism bureau, compiled a list of restaurants offering curbside and delivery on its website.
Right now, Elbitar is accepting to-go orders, but he believes he’ll have to soon shut down completely.
Strain on restaurant employees
Despite the hardship of having to close his doors, Elbitar remains positive about Chadra Mezza’s future. He supports other restaurants taking similar measures.
“If we don’t get together as a community, we’ll never get over this,” he said. “This is the time to prove if we are good or bad.”
Though Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a statewide health disaster last week, Texas has not closed bars, restaurants and businesses.
The Texas Restaurant Association is urging the use of take-out and drive-throughs.
“We are seeing the initial economic impact to the Texas restaurant industry as COVID-19, now a pandemic, impacts tourism, events, and dining out,” the Texas Restaurant Association said in a statement.
J Gilligan’s Bar and Grill, the Arlington restaurant famous for it’s large St. Patrick’s Day celebration, will postpone the event, owner Randy Ford said late Monday morning. He said he is following the 50-person guideline and seating people at every other table to maintain a large distance between customers. The restaurant also has extra hand sanitizer.
He said he hopes to keep the restaurant open for his employees’ sake.
“Life happens,” he said. “We’ll be OK for at least a couple of weeks.”
Paying service industry workers is a concern for restaurant owners, as most of them rely almost solely on tips.
Immy Khan, the owner of The Black Rooster and The Lunch Box, said in a statement that he will pay all employees full wages through April 5.
Both of his restaurants are closed temporarily.
Chris Piekarski, co-owner of Buffalo West, said closing down was a hard decision, but the right one.
“I think everybody should be worried about everyone’s health,” he said. “That needs to be the number one priority. I have no doubt we’ll come back stronger and even better from what we learn from all of this.”
He said he’s trying to find ways to support his employees for the next couple of weeks.
“I’m talking to other restaurant owners, we’re trying to see if the State of Texas will offer any assistance,” he said.
While other cities and states have mandated that restaurants close, the Texas Restaurant Association is asking that officials keep them open for limited-contact service such as delivery or take-out.
“More than 50% of food consumed by Texans comes from restaurants,” said the statement from the restaurant association. “With grocery store shelves already bare, where would people go?”
This past weekend the U.S. House passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which would enable businesses to provide paid sick leave to employees. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill this week, but in a letter to Congress Sunday, the National Restaurant Association said the bill didn’t go far enough protect restaurants.
The bill requires small business owners cover the cost of the paid leave and recover the money later through a federal tax credit. That puts financial pressure on owners, the association said.
Among remedies, the National Restaurant Association urged Congress to allow owners to defer mortgage, lease and loan obligations, provide tax credits for businesses retaining employees, open grants that would go directly to businesses, allow businesses to delay, defer, or forgo tax obligations and expanded access to effective, efficient and affordable federal and conventional loans.
Local help
At least one crowd source donation drive has started to aide local service industry employees. A gofundme drive gained $5,065 worth of donations as of 1:30 p.m. Monday. The fund, called Fort Worth Artist & Service Worker Relief Fund, was started Friday with a plan to provide $200 to those who applied.
However, by Sunday, the interest in assistance had outpaced donations, according to a post on the gofundme page.
The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce will host a series of virtual events to assist chamber members with obstacles related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series will be posted on the chamber’s Facebook page and feature a number of industry experts.
“This has been a difficult time for a lot of our smaller businesses,” Brandom Gengelbach, President of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement “Our goal with this is to provide some guidance on current business challenges and help local employers in any way that we can.”
The first session, scheduled for Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. will feature a panel with experts from Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County and the Small Business Administration. They’re expected to answer questions related to emergency funding, unemployment benefits and existing government programs.
The second session, scheduled for Thursday at 2 p.m. will focus on how to set up a virtual office and help employers determine what technology is necessary.
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 12:37 PM.
