Restaurant survival hopes pick up as $28.6B in grants begin

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of restaurants and bars decimated by the COVID-19 outbreak have a better chance at survival as the government begins handing out $28.6 billion in grants ¬— money to help these small businesses stay afloat while they wait for customers to return.

Laurie Thomas is applying for grants for her two San Francisco restaurants that have closed and reopened several times as coronavirus cases surged and declined; she’s still at just 50% of capacity. Rose’s Cafe and Terzo are operating at a loss but grant money will help them stay open.

“This allows you to go back to February 2020 and apply these funds to help pay down debt, catch up on past due rent, etc.,” she says.

The Small Business Administration is accepting applications for grants from the Restaurant Revitalization Fund as of Monday. For the first three weeks only applications from restaurants that are majority-owned by women, veterans and “socially and economically disadvantaged” applicants will be processed and paid out, although any restaurant can apply. After that, grants will be funded in the order that they’ve been approved by the SBA.

The grants, up to a maximum of $10 million, are aimed at replacing lost revenue at restaurant companies with up to 20 locations. Businesses with more than one restaurant can get up to $5 million per location, but each applicant is limited to a total of $10 million in funds.

Grant money is in addition to Paycheck Protection Program loans that have helped Thomas and other restaurant owners pay their staffers.

“They have been a huge savior for us but it’s not enough to ensure we’re going to survive,” Thomas says of her two PPP loans.

The restaurant industry has been among the hardest hit by the pandemic. The National Restaurant Association estimates the...