Family-Owned Restaurants Fight Uphill Battle During Pandemic
By Jennifer Castaneda and Yasmin Mam
Shalel Arjona, a server at 90 Miles Cuban Cafe, mentioned the differences in her workplace that the COVID-19 pandemic had caused.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Arjona, like many workers, was left to rely on unemployment benefits when the city was closed down for anyone who was not an essential worker.
“I had some money saved up, but it was definitely not enough,” she said. “I just relied on what I had saved up.”
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a city-wide lockdown, having many Chicagoans stay home to prevent the spread of the virus. After Chicago’s COVID-19 cases began to decrease the city moved into phase 4 of Chicago’s recovery plan from the Coronavirus.
This phase allowed for larger gatherings and outdoor dining as businesses enforced social distancing and many businesses required masks for the safety of their employees.
Many businesses remain closed or rely heavily on delivery services such as DoorDash, PostMates, GrubHub, and UberEats. However, businesses that did open offered outdoor dining options for customers.
According to the National Restaurant Association, the restaurant and food service industry will lose more than $80 billion in sales by the end of April. In total by the end of 2020, the industry will sustain a $240 billion loss.
Although many businesses required a mask to enter, employees like Arjona still fear exposure to the virus. Businesses adapted to the city’s COVID-19 prevention policies, but employees also dealt with the fear of how customers would react to newer policies during an on-going pandemic.
“I was really scared,” she said. “Some people would just come in without a mask, some people would just hold up tissue to their face and think that was okay. That’s when I’d have a scare, but now I feel better because now they can’t come in unless they have a mask.”
Many family-owned businesses in Chicago were largely impacted by rising cases. Some businesses in the city even closed permanently due to the pandemic.
In attempts to aid smaller businesses during the pandemic the federal coronavirus stimulus package funded the Business Interpretations Grant. This grant awarded $46 million relief funds to more than 1,200 small businesses in Illinois in which $19.5 million was directed towards restaurants and bars.
This pandemic did not stop other businesses from serving customers. Not only was it important for their businesses to remain open, but it was also important to keep their employees healthy and safe.
During the reopening of restaurant businesses, many businesses took their part in COVID-19 prevention by implementing new health and safety precautions and policies for customers in addition to employees. These policies slowly continued to become more strict as cases raised in the city.
“We do temperature checks now and everyone has to wear a mask,” Arjona said when referring to her workplace’s COVID-19 policies. “We don’t allow people to come in unless they have a mask and we have curtains now that separate and divide the tables.”
With Chicago’s ever-changing weather many businesses do risk the chance of closing down again or closing their dine-in options. As they can no longer rely on their patios for extra space.
This may also cause the business to rely on fewer employees leaving employees like Arjona unemployed once again and uncertain about her employment status.
COVID-19 leaves family-run businesses in the food industry in desperate need of funds and devastating decisions for owners. Aaron Mansilla, manager of Paleteria Esquina Polar, an ice cream shop that serves comfort food located in the Belmont Cragin area of Chicago, said one of the many sacrifices he’s had to make during the pandemic has been laying people off.
“The hardest one [sacrifice] that I would say is letting go of some employees,” he said. “You know, there’s not a lot of business out there so our financial status went down so it was difficult to keep all the employees we once had.”
According to Homebase, the number of hourly employees working in restaurants was down to 48% compared to the previous year and down 56% in Chicago alone since May 13.
Additionally, workers who have been exposed to the virus and tested positive must remain home and quarantine causing some businesses to close down immediately to prevent further spread.
It is also common for employees in deciding not to go back to their original place of employment because of concern for safety and lack of strict regulations.
After the shutdowns began more employees like Ramon Noriega, an employee at Chicago Chop House, are left wondering if they still have a job and whether or not they still want to continue working with the serious concern of their health due to COVID-19.
“After the shutdown, definitely concerned about going back to work and if they were going to open and the not knowing,” he said. “And after they decided to reopen, I decided not to work because I didn’t feel like it was safe.”
In this situation, people looked for other alternatives to keep somewhat financially afloat although it would not be enough and risky. These opportunities range from partaking in driving services to other odd jobs in which people like Noriega does during this pandemic.
“Doing side work [Lyft and Uber] besides unemployment, but that’s about it, trying to stay safe” Noriega explains.
Taking part in driving services may also include food delivery services which have been on the rise due to the pandemic.
As businesses are transitioning and relying on these delivery services during the pandemic to practice social distancing in comparison to dine-in, it is essential to make these job opportunities as safe as they can for employees.
Not all people have the privilege of working remotely because their line of work simply does not provide that kind of alternative service. Unlike other professions in which technological advancements could be used as an alternative such as online therapy or teaching.
Jobs such as bartending, serving, or cooking are part of most people’s livelihoods, and switching careers to accommodate what is currently going on is not as easy or desirable so with Tony Gandara, a server at Chicago Chop House, who has been doing this line of work for years, it’s extremely difficult to find another job during this pandemic.
“The second measure is to get side jobs but I don’t want to switch my career because that’s what I have been doing for so long,” he said. “So I want to wait until everything is good and then come back to that type of line of work.”
Like Noriega, Gandara did not feel like the restaurant that he previously worked at is currently safe. As COVID-19 cases continue to increase in Illinois, outdoor seating is no longer allowed again along with a stay-at-home order starting Nov. 16.
“When they [the restaurant] reopened, they opened 25 percent and then they opened outside so it’s very very not safe to work in those places because the problem is people take their masks off and then you’re in danger of catching this disease.”
Unfortunately, some restaurants continue to hold outdoor and dine-in seating within Illinois which threatens the health and safety for all when regulations are not being followed.
According to an article in the New York Times, family-owned businesses may not survive the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to regular food chain businesses because they lack the resources and finances to keep themselves and their employees stable.
90 Miles Cafe, Chicago Chop House, and Paleteria Esquina Polar are family-owned businesses that have managed to adapt their business and their workers to remain open during the pandemic, but at what costs?
Most unemployed workers that live in the state of Illinois collect bi-weekly checks from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). Those who do not apply for unemployment attempt to find side jobs.
However, taking side jobs may also be a risk to themselves and others. Employees are often stuck with the decision of risking their health for stability. They have to decide: Do they work so that they can live, or do they live so that they can work?
Nowadays, health has been taken extremely seriously as many people continue to catch the virus, so Gandara prefers to wait for the pandemic to end for his own safety.
“I never collected unemployment and I thought it was going to be sufficient which it has been but hopefully it [the pandemic] would be done soon,” he said. “I’m concerned about my health, I’m not concerned about my income, you know, I’m concerned about being healthy, that is my first measure.”
