More than 11% of restaurants could remain closed after pandemic

More than 11% of restaurants could remain closed after pandemic

When it comes to victims of the covid-19 pandemic restaurants here in louisiana and across the country have been hit pretty hard.news 1's cassie schirm looks at this how this pandemic could affect the future of the industry and restaurants here in acadiana.

3 food and restaurants are huge staple here in acadiana but with many restaurants closed down and others only offering to go some restaurant owners fear some of those restaurants may not open back up after this pandemic."unfortunately i do feel like tha's definitely a threat."randy daniel a restaurant owner and the president of the acadiana chapter of the louisiana restaurant association says the numbers look rough for businesses trying to stay afloat during this p andemic."as of right now ther's about an 85 to 75% layoff in the industry."

According to a recent survey from the national resturant association more than 8 million restaurant employees were laid off or furloughed the first week of the outbreak and two out of three restaurant employees have lost their jobs."restaurants ca't afford to have them if we do't have any income coming in the front door."nearly half of all restaurants closed temporarily because of covid 19 restrictions ..3% of restaurants are permanently closed and 11% anticipate closing permanently in the next coming weeks.daniel says those numbers accurately represent wha's happening here in acadiana.

Daniel"if we do't get the restaurants open soon there will be i think now more than 11% close and not reopen ," smith"everybody is struggling.

" for craig smith owner of smitt's wings h's putting all he has into his restaurant to not be in that 11 percent.

"'m using some of the savings i had saved up.

Mutual funds 'm selling.

I applied for the ppe i applied for the disaster loan 've applied for everything "just trying to make it day by day right now."

With a lot at stake."i's my business i's my baby i wanna make sure it crawls."those numbers seem scary but it could become worse with time.

"we are on a ticking time bomb" "the longer we go the harder the higher tha's gonna happen the higher i's going to get."cassie schirm daniel says him and other restaurant owners are anxiously waiting to hear when they can finally have the customers come back inside to eat their meals in lafayette cassie schirm and news