‘Long time to really recover’: El Paso restaurant leader says struggles remain despite re-opening
EL PASO, Texas -- It's been almost a week since Texas reached Phase 3 of reopening, allowing restaurants to open at 75 percent capacity, however not every restaurant in El Paso is able to do so.
According to the Texas Restaurant Association, there's a long way to go to help restaurants fully recover. The association told ABC-7 they're estimating 25 to 30 percent of restaurants in the state could close their doors for good due to Covid-19. And 60 percent of their members say it’s unlikely their restaurant will be profitable within the next 6 months. According to their most recent member survey, 12 percent of restaurant owners remained closed out of 518 responses.
"When you’re closed two months, it’s very difficult to regain that funding,” said Texas Restaurant Association Vice President Leo Duran. Duran who also owns L&J's Mexican Restaurant in central El Paso, told ABC-7 his restaurant is only dining in a 50 percent capacity. “It’s going to take a long, long time to really recover.”
With Phase 3 expanding capacity limits, restaurants can serve groups of up to 10 people and reduce the distance between tables to four feet but with partitions in between. The problem is, not all restaurants have the room to do that.
“Space becomes obviously a constraint," said Chef Raul "Rulis" Gonzalez, owner of Rulis International Kitchen in west El Paso. "Yeah you can open up at 50 or 75 percent but you still have to observe social distancing.”
Gonzalez said his restaurant typically has 26 tables. Now they're open for dine-in with 8 tables inside, just about 30 percent of their capacity.
According to a survey by the El Paso Chamber of Commerce, out of more than 200 responses, business owners here in El Paso remain hopefull: 15 percent expect their business to return to normal by this quarter, another 15 percent by the end of this year.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re at capacity," Gonzalez said. "Our customers will ultimately tell us when they're ready... and I hope little by little I hope people feel safer and come out more.”
