By Annie Matica, Hongyu Liu, Diti Kohli
The onset of the pandemic wrought havoc on Massachusetts restaurants, who were suddenly forbidden from serving dine-in customers and operating full-scale kitchens when the COVID-19 pandemic began. In the months that followed, thousands of spots shut down after failing to maintain revenue, make rent, and keep on staff.
Around 23 percent, or 3,400 restaurants have closed statewide since March, according to the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. And with each day, that number grows.
“It’s unfortunate,” MRA president and CEO Bob Luz said in a phone interview. “The effect it’s had on the industry is upsetting.”
Luz said the MRA calculated the number of closures by contacting broadline foodservice distributors — the wholesale sellers responsible for providing restaurants with meat, seafood, cheese, milk, and more. But because no agency runs a database of closed restaurants, the statistic is never exactly accurate.
“There’s no scientific method to this, but it’s the best we can do,” Luz explained. “Restaurants don’t have to call someone when they close to let them know.”
Popular closures have been documented by reporters and food writers at The Boston Globe, Eater, and Hidden Boston who have compiled the announcements in lists, blogs, and social media updates for months. Still, no list is comprehensive. One public relations expert said in an email that the complete closure’s data is “virtually impossible to track.”
A manually compiled, independent evaluation of closures found that at least 160 spots have permanently shut their doors in the Greater Boston area since March 17. That’s when Gov. Charlie Baker ordered restaurants to stop operating immediately to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Since that fateful spring day, city and state governments have held restaurants to a string of always-evolving guidelines. Outdoor dining returned in mid-June, and indoor dining was allowed again shortly after. Tables must be spread six feet apart; masks should be worn except for when eating; and menus cannot be reused. Several restaurant owners installed new air ventilation systems, purchased umbrellas or space heaters, and ordered custom-logo masks to keep up with the times.
Even then, these restaurants operate at a limited capacity, raking in far less profit than before. “It’s not the same,” Luz said.
Boston has been hit the hardest, Luz said. Most of these shuttered spots are clustered around the urban area — zip codes that are home to a greater number of licenses and popular tourist attractions in pre-pandemic times.
“We lost all of the traffic drivers that normally bring people into the city,” he said. “All the typical factors — the workers, business travel, education, sports, culture, all of that — [are] missing. So the Greater Boston area has been far more adversely impacted as a result.”
This month’s rapidly skyrocketing case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths nationwide has posed another obstacle for restaurants. The state started enforcing a 9:30 closing time for eateries a few weeks ago, and outdoor dining season officially ended on Nov. 30.
A few lucky spots have gotten help from the state and federal government via the Paycheck Protection Program. Those low-interest loans were a saving grace but mostly went to a small number of companies, according to data from the Small Business Association.
“What we really need is help from Washington D.C,” Luz said.
Note: This story was a group project. I was in charge of reaching out to the interviewees and creating the interactive map.
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