Restaurants in the U.S. are reeling from city and state-wide initiatives that shut down many restaurant dining rooms essentially overnight. As Americans stay inside and refrain from going out to eat, small and independently owned restaurants are facing massive uncertainty, and they are doing their best to accommodate accordingly. In the interim, the National Restaurant Association estimates that 3 million industry employees have already lost their jobs, and restaurants nationwide will take a $225 billion sales hit through May 2020. Even with some help from the $2 trillion federal stimulus package, restaurant owners may not be able to keep their staff employed, or even keep the doors open throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
