To think that those of us who work in the restaurant trade are finished?

[WeAreAllDoomedITellYa]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8286345/UKs-work-blueprint-Hot-desking-banned-no-sharing-pens-canteens-closed.html?offset=52&max=100&jumpTo=comment-542862327#comment-542862327

It's the Daily Fail, I know.

But if true very bad news for those of us in the restaurant trade.

It feels like a long drawn out death to me.

@OutwardBound2016

I am employed by a restaurant myself, and I desperately need my job and am very very worried. So kindly don't have a go at me, as I am very much impacted by the question myself.

I read that before coronavirus about 25% of our food intake was meals eaten out or takeaways. It looked as if that was a trend that was increasing too so I really feel for people in the restaurant trade. I am really sorry Borlotti for you and everyone else when things are so uncertain. It’s not just eating out either. Where I work, there are (were) loads of cafes and takeaways where people bought lunch or even breakfast. Even if they were allowed to open tomorrow, with so many people working at home, I don’t think they could make a profit. I think the problem is worse in urban areas where property companies have been used to making huge profits and where non food shops other than big chains have been squeezed out.

For me, a lot would depend on how spacious the venue is. Tables are really close together in so many places. If they can space them out and still be profitable then that’s fine. I’d happily go to a place where you could eat outside or not be too close to other diners but that is not sustainable for a lot of places. Even before lockdown, a lot of pubs were closing. Large Victorian pubs and pubs with beer gardens might be better placed to survive but a lot of other food outlets will not.

I sympathise, and am worried about my own relatives who work in catering and hospitality.

We can do a bit to help at present, by supporting local small businesses. DH and I are saving loads of money not going out. So we are buying takeaways from pubs and cafes we used to visit. We’re sending gifts to family members from local shops that have gone online to try to survive the crisis.

In the longer term, I’m hoping people will rush back to their old entertainments as soon as they’re open again. I know I will.

Someone said to me “take always are so busy, they will do really well out of this”

Is anyone actually speaking to the owners though? They may seem busier because but are they actually making more money?

I don’t believe for a second people will stay loyal to these small businesses after either.

We have two chineses open in our Town atm out of a possible 10 or more. The two that are open seem busy but when the rest open and there is more choice again, these “busy” takeaways will see the true effects of lots of customers staying away.
At the moment there are far less customers using 20 ish open food establishments in this Town.

Once over 100 food establishments open back up, then the shit will hit the fan and many will fold imo.

Lieln re the music industry, I love live music and will miss gigs so much. I read about another country having a drive in concert the other day! Bit like a drive in movie.

Hardly ideal, but we have to find ways to adapt.

Outdoor eating is great on a summer's evening, for example, but unlike those warm countries in the Med we live in a country that has wet weather and harsh winters.

My parents own and run a hotel - they have worked so very hard for the last 20 years and were just about to sell and retire. I'm so sad for them. It's not bloody fair.

Wearealldoomed, I’m not having a go at you I’m offering some positivity that people and businesses will come through this which I think we are all hoping for.

As well as the restaurant industry, travel etc, I worry also about the entertainment industry. Our daughter is training in Technical Theatre and always wanted to work backstage for live events etc. I suspect it will be a very long time before the West End shows are up & running again and concerts etc. Just as she's starting out in her training it has all stopped. We all love going to shows and concerts and I really hope we can enjoy all these things again.

I don't think I will have a job come December. My role is funded by a large charity that will have lost huge amounts of revenue. We are funded because clients want a face to face service but if we can't offer that then the charity will just say their phone lines can provide it.

Yes I'm worried. My DH works as a software developer for a company that primarily deals with pubs and restaurants. Hes furloughed at the moment but if they don't at least partially re-open them I think he'll be made redundant. Not great as I'm almost 4 months pregnant.

The minute my gym opens again, I'll be back there. I think many people will. The same for salons, I'm waiting for them to re-open and I'm a regular.

For restaurants, I think OP, that chefs may well be ok. People don't always want to cook so if a restaurant diversifies into takeaway, they'll still need chefs. I do feel sorry for waiting staff though, their jobs have all but gone. I can't see customers sitting in restaurants recovering to the degree it would need to to support that industry.

I am unconvinced that take away will save the industry though. I go to restaurants/ cafes/ bars for the social experience to catch up with friends and family. It’s not really about the “food” I can cook perfectly well at home. I would have thought I was quite common in that and while the novalty of being able to get “take away” from a pub you are missing may be fun and popular in the short term I am unconvinced that such options will remain popular longer term, particularly as incomes across the economy shrink (we are not getting take away in lock down because I am at home so can cook and am worried about my future finances, I would be surprised if we were alone)

Possibly better quality takeaways and chef made ready meals might be a way forward. Companies such as Cook and donald russell are doing really well at the moment with online ready meals frozen. A local option, at comparable prices and they are not cheap, would be good and I'd use it. I don't want to cook every night but I don't want to return to eating out just yet.
Pre virus I think I ate out 2-4 times a week, once in a department store cafe, once in supermarket, then a nice rural pub and either a take away curry or eat in the restaurant. So I'd easily buy 4 ready meals a week . Wouldn't help stop all the job loses but would help the chefs and kitchen staff.
I think lots of people will go back to eating out though as its a leisure activity for many including the over 70s.

Looking at the queues outside two of the takeaways that have opened up by us, I'd have to say YABU for them, sit down cafe/restaurants might be different as they couldn't get enough covers to make it worthwhile financially I think so YANBU - although there are ones locally who have moved to delivering takeaways. Takeaway shops that have reopened have been very busy here.

I've got a relative in the cafe/restaurant trade so I appreciate the situation, just having to close on the spot and dispose of the stock. No idea when they will open up again

The hospitality industry has been badly hit. But is a huge economic factor they will open in Spain they have only been allowed to exercise from this week and from next week restaurants and bars are able to reopen with a 50% capacity. They have a no menu policy , tables distanced , no condiments on the table etc.
It's an important sector. And the first thing I want to do when we come out is go out for a meal. Hang in there

I will be first in the queue for my favourite restaurants, we risk our lives every time we get out of bed in the morning. This really isn’t going to be any different for most healthy people.

I would definitely go back to my favourite restaurants. My husband can cook Chinese food, but there are some dishes that are difficult and time consuming. I also don't know how to make sushi and sashimi. Indian curries take time.

We rarely eat out however this current situation is making us rethink our habits and we want to help support the local economy more, Our shopping habits for food are already changing and we plan on supporting our local coffee shop and bistro more once they reopen. It is going to be hard going forward but we will do what we can to help the economy bounce back and that means not hiding away but getting out there and spending what we can.

Purely my own opinion but would think that restaurants would be far more likely to be able to open as opposed to say bars. I wouldn't be too concerned visiting a restaurant, especially if they ran at slightly reduced capacity to maintain distances. I wouldn't want to be in a busy bar.

I am treating Covid patients daily though so maybe my risk assessment is slightly off! Plus a restaurant making a profit depends on people being willing to visit, I think there are plenty that will though. In fact I think there are plenty of people who would pack shoulder to shoulder into a busy venue at a moments notice

If social distancing is enforced it should help more restaurants stay open as people are forced to use the ones with space. So places with a half decent ambience or a good food or good value could take advantage rather than everyone trying to cram into the “ good place” every weekend.

Also I think some places should do loyalty scheme. A table every Friday for good customers. Guaranteed numbers. Chancers like me will have to shop around.

I have had 2 e mails from restaurant groups who are seeking what will bring you back to restaurants when they open - they are all thinking about it .I believe it will get there but slowly - after all we are all flying again after 9/11 ...well we were .

The truth is, none of us know when and how this will start to lift. I'm avoiding press speculation as it is just that - speculation - and I think it is dangerous and damaging to focus too much on what is published in the papers.

My feeling is that hospitality will a chance to recover sooner rather than later, but of course not every cafe, bar and restaurant with be able to weather the storm. It's desperately sad for the independent businesses that have poured their skills, time and love into their success. At the moment, my family is supporting the local outlets by using them for takeaway. It's been uplifting to see the way they have adapted, so I have no doubt that as things unfold they - and many more - will be able to keep adapting to survive. Things like spacing out tables, not allowing walk ins, table service only etc. I would like to think that when the time comes and they reopen, we'll be able to keep supporting them in person, however we have a shielded DS so can't say for sure.

I work in the travel sector, and I think this industry is going to take a lot longer to recover than hospitality - if all areas of it will recover at all. Having the opportunity to go and spend £50 on dinner and a couple of drinks in a place you trust is a very different financial and emotional investment than going on holiday. I'm not saying that to diminish how shit it is for anyone in hospitality at all - rather to suggest that maybe there is more hope for those in bars and restaurants?

Ultimately - and back to my first point - who knows? We can but watch and hope.

I think the impact on restaurants will be short term. We felt really sad that we couldn’t eat out on our wedding anniversary - yes, I know, world’s tiniest violin and all that. But eating out is so enmeshed with celebration and marking life’s occasions I think it will come back. It’s going to take time though and it’s going to be really tough for the industry in the interim.

We were talking about this as we walked past one of our local pubs with an absolutely enormous beer garden. If the weather is good this summer it's easy to see how they could reopen with just the beer garden in operation. They do food and it's pretty decent, if not amazing, so I can see it working OK for them although there are questions of course over toilets, ordering and whether drinks would be limited, and if so how. But they have another pub in the same chain which is a grown up style city centre pub with just a couple of tables essentially on the pavement. Not sure how they would be able to reopen easily. And of course once the weather changes again outdoor eating and drinking will be unappealing.

We also have a fab cafe at the end of our street which is small with tables crammed in so no hope of reopening soon I wouldn't have thought. They have a good reputation for gluten free food though, so possibly could make takeaway work, though I don't know if it would be enough.

I don't think it's the end of the industry overall but I think there will be huge changes and yes, sadly some job losses. We are trying to support some small local places via takeaways but I doubt it's financially viable as is for them long term.

I'm hoping that the restaurants that aren't currently offering take aways will start to,we have several near us that offered it before the lockdown but have since stopped,I know the owners and people that work within them are really worried about catching this awful virus but lots of them(friends of mine) are even more worried about not having jobs to go back to.

I think if they did that that would at least keep those within the kitchen still employed and maybe some of the usual waiting staff would be able to take orders that came in over the phone and some may be happy to do non contact deliveries.

Another thing they could think of offering is gift cards/vouchers that could be bought online and could be used once the restaurants are re open that way the businesses would have some income coming from the gifts cards/vouchers to keep the business afloat now and then once they're allowed to reopen they'd still get money incoming from all of the walk ins.