BOSTON — The hits keep coming for the Massachusetts restaurant industry, and the number of establishments throwing in the towel for the winter is growing by the day. At least a dozen restaurants across the state just announced this weekend that they’ll be joining the hundreds of others temporarily closing for the winter.
That includes Burro Bar in Boston’s South End. One of the owners told Boston 25 News that capacity being reduced to 25% on Saturday was the final straw.
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“It’s not hibernation. That makes it sound like something cute and natural,” said Marty Bloom, co-owner of Burro Bar. “It’s death by a thousand cuts.”
Marty Bloom said Burro Bar’s South End location employs dozens of people and that the decision to take a pause for winter was an emotional one.
“I already got people who are almost homeless and now shut them off for two months or more,” Bloom said. “It’s horrible. It’s the last thing I want to do.”
Other restaurants remaining open in Boston continue to lose money by staying open.
“We are not staying open as a for-profit entity. I personally, as a restauranteur, am staying open for the people. I’m staying open for my team and to provide jobs,” said Chris Coombs, chef and co-owner of Boston Urban Hospitality.
Coombs is the chef and co-owner of four restaurants in the city of Boston. Three remain open: Deuxave in the Back Bay, Boston Chops in the South End and dbar in Dorchester.
As of now, Coombs said he has no plans to temporarily shutter any of his locations.
“We hope to be able to make it through the winter,” Coombs explained. “It keeps me up a lot of nights, and there’s no amount of pivoting or planning you can do to get through this.”
Coombs said he is frustrated by the federal pandemic relief package that doesn’t clearly offer adequate aid to the battered restaurant industry. He also questioned some of the added restrictions being applied to restaurants when the numbers continue to link most of the state’s transmission to household gatherings.
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“If I for any reason at any time thought we couldn’t offer our guests a safe environment, I would close the doors tomorrow,” Coombs said. “You’re talking about 26,000 contact-traced cases and only 103 are known to be transmitted in restaurant settings, according to the latest state data.”
About 4,000 restaurants in Massachusetts have closed during the pandemic. That’s approximately 25% of the state’s restaurants. The Massachusetts Restaurant Association fears that percentage could climb to 40-50% in the coming months.
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