To all who are leaving that something extra with the gratuity, I’m sure your generosity is appreciated. For those who may not have it in their budget, I’d like to point out that the Governor has Expanded unemployment benefits to restaurant workers, even if they continue to work. Those who are working in a “for tip environment” can apply for unemployment benefits to offset the decline in their earnings. If they were making $400 a week in tips last March and they are only making $100 a week in tips this March, the recently announced alterations will make up for the difference.
A word of caution to those who are purchasing gift cards. I certainly wish no harm on any restaurant however reality is that all will not survive this. In some cases being open and doing a small percentage of sales will be more harmful than to shut down. At full operation my restaurant requires about $1000 a day to break even. Going to a take out only model reduce operating expenses however not a fair ratio against lost revenue. If I were to do $500 a day in take out (that would ba a lot) I would still be experiencing about $200 a day in losses. Shutting things down is only costing me about $75 per day. It would be nice if they gave us rebate on our License Fees for the days they’ve denied us use.
I think the best thing we all can do for our favorite restaurants is behave as if we have the virus and do all we can not to spread it. The sooner the curve is flat, the sooner the restaurant scene will get back to normal.
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