Restaurants Need to Work Harder at Survival

For some consumers, dining in is not an option this fall/winter, so establishments must come up with more enticing solutions to get their business.

I spent almost two hours Sunday night trying to convince my mother that dining in restaurants right now is a necessity if they are to survive. I failed. She simply refuses to enter a restaurant during this pandemic unless she’s there to pick up her dinner. She just doesn’t feel comfortable taking off her mask in enclosed spaces.

She’s not alone. According to the Illinois Restaurant Association’s president Sam Toia, "restaurant sales are down 50 percent to 80 percent" from 2019. He adds that “if we go into shelter in place again, it’s gonna be the death blow to the industry here in the state of Illinois."

That will be devastating. Further, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot warns that if the city reaches an 8 percent positive rate of COVID-19 cases, she will not hesitate to return to the shelter-in-place order, which will close restaurants for indoor dining. As it stands, the positivity rate is at 7.5 percent.

So, what should restaurants do to survive? They need to tap into what customers want and need. They need to connect with their customers on social media and actually listen to them. They need to figure out how to successfully extend their brands beyond the four walls of their businesses. And they need to do all this while keeping employees and customers safe.

I can think of several key cases of restaurants executing successful plans to stay in business. Virtue, in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, is finally doing delivery because demand is so high for it. One Off Hospitality, the restaurant group behind avec, Big Star, Publican and others, is taking its show to the North Shore with a series of pop-up experiences. And several establishments are collaborating with other entities to cross-promote their brands, thereby reaching new audiences.

At this point, nothing is off the table, however, as restrictions get tighter, consumers will stay as close to home as possible. The goal of restaurateurs is to reach them. While the North Shore is getting a lot of attention, I’d like to see local restaurateurs reach out to the south suburbs with the same zeal. You’d be surprised at the response.

[My mother and I at Chicago’s Virtue Restaurant in September. Photo by Matthew Lowell]