Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants continue to feel the pressure of the economic downturn that has left many in the industry struggling to survive.
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"It is damn near impossible to run a restaurant these days at anything that resembles a profit margin," Chef David Nayfeld, the owner of San Francisco Italian restaurant Che Fico, told KCBS Radio's "Bay Current" on Wednesday. "I don't even mean a large profit margin, but just enough to stay afloat."
Last March, Congress provided more than $28 billion to independent restaurants as a component of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF). This year the omicron variant surge has caused staffing shortages, prompting restaurant owners to ask Congress for additional financial support.
On Tuesday, restaurant owners, including Nayfeld, took part in a National Day of Action calling on people to contact their representatives and request additional federal aid for the restaurant industry.
"Senator Chuck Schumer knew that this was a down payment on something that they knew needed to be refilled," Nayfeld added. "In the past year, it has been out of sight and out of mind. They have been running the narrative that things are getting better, but restaurants haven't been able to move on. We have been impacted the worst."
KCBS Radio reporter Kathy Novak said that the campaign has been a way for restaurants to draw attention to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and to demand that Congress provides additional financial assistance.
"Nearly 300,000 restaurants applied for the grants, and only 100,00 got them. The industry association has found that those who received the grants in the first round are more likely to survive," Novak said. "We are seeing this in the Bay Area where restaurants that have been here for years, are starting to close their doors because of the continuing pandemic."
The Independent Restaurant Coalition, which helped create the National Day of Action, estimates that the campaign generated over 5,000 calls to members of Congress.
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