Cancellations, Cases And Closures: Omicron Hits California Restaurants
At a time when restaurants typically benefit from holiday groups and last-minute shoppers, businesses across the state are suffering from cancellations and closures as a result of surging coronavirus cases.
In LA, a handful of restaurants are canceling guest reservations or modifying staffing levels to adjust for outbreaks among employees, Eater LA reported.
Popular restaurant group Gjelina reported 28 new Covid-19 cases, according to the Los Angeles Times, and said it planned to operate with a limited team as a result of “the increase in Covid positive cases" according to a post on its Instagram page.
Other restaurants like Bestia and Bavel in the Arts District emailed notices of canceled reservations to guests due to staffers having symptoms or confirmed cases of Covid-19, according to Eater LA.
In San Francisco, anecdotal evidence suggests restaurant reservations have dropped about 30% this week alone, Golden Gate Restaurant Association Executive Director Laurie Thomas told Bisnow.
“Part of that may be weather-related, but I’m sure part of it is concern over omicron,” Thomas wrote.
Still, Thomas hasn’t heard many examples of restaurants closing because of employee outbreaks, which she chalks up to San Francisco’s requirement that indoor diners show proof of vaccination and that workers are masked.
In San Francisco, Covid-19 case rates have doubled over the last five days, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday. In LA County, hospitalizations and case rates have increased sharply over the past two weeks, but are still nowhere near last year's surge, the Los Angeles Times reported.
This increase is being seen across the country as the omicron variant spreads rapidly, accounting for an estimated 73% of all Covid-19 cases nationwide.
Latino Restaurant Association CEO and Executive Director Lilly Rocha told Bisnow on Tuesday that the association’s members have reported many cancellations of reservations over the last 48 hours, but didn’t provide a number. Those cancellations represent a significant setback for restaurant profits, especially in cases where large parties cancelled a reservation.
“They already bought food for those parties,” Rocha said.
Though Rocha has not seen many coronavirus-related closures among member restaurants, with most waiting to see whether further restrictions — or worse, another lockdown — might be on the horizon. Indoor dining was off the table in LA County for much of 2020 and didn’t return until the early spring of 2021, and restaurants are still working to come back from that period.
Hesitancy among consumers to dine out is impacting spontaneous business, especially during a typically busy holiday season. Border Grill and Socalo Chef and co-owner Mary Sue Milliken told The Hollywood Reporter that sales at her Downtown and Santa Monica restaurants were down 20% over the weekend.
“The biggest decline is just in the walk-in business, spur-of-the-moment,” Milliken said. “I think people are feeling more like, ‘Hmm, maybe I should stay home.’”
