NRA Says 20% of US Restaurants Face Closure

The National Restaurant Association today sent a letter to Congressional leadership pleading for passage of Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) Replenishment.

In the letter, the NRA describes the hardships facing the US restaurant industry, and while many other sectors are rebounding quickly from the pandemic, hospitality, which was the hardest hit of all, is still in peril. Restaurant industry job growth in the first quarter of 2022 was the smallest since 2020, while real sales at restaurants in January were lower than in each of the 10 months leading up to the pandemic.

“With the looming threat of another variant and growing challenges of inflation for both operators and consumers, the economic boost RRF could provide for those 177,000 restaurants would reach far into our communities,” said Sean Kennedy, executive vice president of public affairs for the National Restaurant Association. “This should be the driving factor in bipartisan support for replenishing the RRF. These restaurants fighting for survival cannot go it alone any longer and should not be treated as a spot in the rear-view mirror of Congress.”

A survey conducted by the NRA found that 96% of RRF recipients said the grant made it more likely that they would be able to stay in business; 92% said the grant helped them pay expenses or debt that had accumulated because of the pandemic.

The survey also found that as much as half (50%) of restaurant operators feel that they will not be able to stay in business beyond the pandemic unless they receive funding, while 94% said that a grant would enable them to retain or hire back employees.

Read the full letter to Congressional leaders and find more data about the impact the original round of RRF funding had on the industry.