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The state of the restaurant industry

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Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#191

Post by mech1234 »

slg wrote: post #160
mech1234 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spreading the problem out over a long period of time keeps the company in business. It's a no-brainer good idea for the SBA to do this. Not sure what you would prefer instead.

It is like CPR. It is better than doing absolutely nothing and gives extra time for more extreme measures, but on its own it is just delaying the inevitable.

It is not delaying the inevitable. There will be many profitable restaurant businesses who find their business lacking liquid cash over the next few months. Being thrown a credit lifeline means that they can make it through this period of time and come out on the other side as a profitable business again. Paying down the debt is a common business practice that people do all the time.

Throwing out a credit lifeline can be a practice that benefits everyone in times of crisis.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#193

Post by jborichevskiy »

neltnerb wrote: post #137

I'm always a little surprised that so many people never picked up the ability to even do basic cooking. Of course, as recently as Sunday people like Nunes were telling people it was important to support their local businesses by eating out as if it were their patriotic duty. It might be different now that even Fox and Trump are saying the same thing as the CDC finally. Maybe not if people literally cannot feed themse…

As someone who can somewhat cook, and has been holed up for a week plus with another person who used to be a chef: ordering delivery once every few days definitely breaks things up nicely and gives us something to look forward to with everything else being both monotonous + stressful.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#194

Post by save_ferris »

neltnerb wrote: post #137

I'm always a little surprised that so many people never picked up the ability to even do basic cooking. Of course, as recently as Sunday people like Nunes were telling people it was important to support their local businesses by eating out as if it were their patriotic duty. It might be different now that even Fox and Trump are saying the same thing as the CDC finally. Maybe not if people literally cannot feed themse…

> I'm always a little surprised that so many people never picked up the ability to even do basic cooking.

I'm not, unfortunately. For years now, cooking has been marketed as a waste of time and effort like hand-washing clothes (think fast food advertising).

Just like anything else, cooking takes time, patience and structure to learn, which many people don't ever have naturally. I was lucky to grow up in a household that enjoyed cooking and I learned when I was kid and boy does it pay off in adulthood, but I also see why so many of my peers don't do it. Everything in our world is optimized for time now, and cooking takes time.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#195

Post by zdragnar »

neltnerb wrote: post #137

I'm always a little surprised that so many people never picked up the ability to even do basic cooking. Of course, as recently as Sunday people like Nunes were telling people it was important to support their local businesses by eating out as if it were their patriotic duty. It might be different now that even Fox and Trump are saying the same thing as the CDC finally. Maybe not if people literally cannot feed themse…

I cook a fair amount, but enjoy a variety of foods whose ingredients I don't use often enough, and lack sufficient storage space for, to make on my own. Eating out / take out foods are a great way to get a little something different now and then, especially if a dish requires long prep times to be done "properly".

That being said, I am also not in a position where i would go hungry or eat poorly if restaurants near me completely closed down... I do recall someone in college asking me how to boil water for spaghetti noodles, so I have no doubt plenty will be learning how to cook the hard way soon enough

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#196

Post by vharuck »

acid__ wrote: post #172
Ensorceled wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For restaurant owner running on 3-5% margins, when salaries are a significant expense, it would be suicide to take a loan to make payroll; your business would probably never be profitable again. Better to let the business die and reinvent yourself in June/July.

Yes, better from a personal standpoint, but jeez, from a humanitarian perspective, can you really blame any restaurant owner from wanting to make payroll at any cost so that their employees can continue to feed themselves, pay rent, and take care of their loved ones?

The employees should be able to apply for unemployment payments from the state. Which can a problem on its own, to be sure, but an employer doesn't have to bear the weight of lives all by him or herself.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#197

Post by magduf »

zaroth wrote: post #36
magduf wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see how it's low-risk to have an infected person preparing your food in the kitchen. At least with a grocery store, you can wash off the produce before you use it. With a restaurant, there's nothing covering the food at all. And remember, the chefs in the kitchen are paid peanuts, and have no safety net whatsoever, so there's zero incentive for them to get tested or to stay out of work if they get sick. This…

Take out and delivery is still allowed. So I don’t see how this is a valid critique of why dining rooms are closed.

Where did I critique why dining rooms are closed? I didn't address that at all; I only addressed eating food prepared in a restaurant by low-wage cooks who could be infected.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#198

Post by enraged_camel »

milesskorpen wrote: post #192
KptMarchewa wrote: post #9

I can't understand why would somebody think that putting latest data on the left is a good idea.

We did it because we've got quite a few days in there, and would prefer not to have people scroll when we update the data on a daily basis.

Thanks, I always open this on my mobile phone or vertical monitor, and on the previous version (the google sheet direct link), always had to scroll right, which was annoying.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#199

Post by magduf »

mdavidn wrote: post #169
magduf wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see how it's low-risk to have an infected person preparing your food in the kitchen. At least with a grocery store, you can wash off the produce before you use it. With a restaurant, there's nothing covering the food at all. And remember, the chefs in the kitchen are paid peanuts, and have no safety net whatsoever, so there's zero incentive for them to get tested or to stay out of work if they get sick. This…

A large number of unknown people from the general public have been in contact with the dine-in table. Only a handful of kitchen staff are in contact with surfaces involved in preparing takeout. Eating at home is still a better idea for the reasons you state, but takeout is an acceptable if less-ideal alternative.

I'm not disputing the fact about unknown people from the general public being in contact with the table. That's enough of a reason to not dine-in. I'm just pointing out that I have no trust at all that the cooks aren't infected, and they're coming into intimate contact with your food.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#200

Post by starpilot »

milesskorpen wrote: post #192
KptMarchewa wrote: post #9

I can't understand why would somebody think that putting latest data on the left is a good idea.

We did it because we've got quite a few days in there, and would prefer not to have people scroll when we update the data on a daily basis.

Have it by default show the rightmost portion, so that people can scroll to the left if they want? This is how Yahoo Finance shows a stock chart.
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