SF Restaurants, Bars Handle Omicron Surge

Struggling restaurants and bars successful San Francisco are trying to fig retired however to navigate the omicron surge that has kept galore patrons away.

Now, Mayor London Breed has joined the fight, signing onto a caller effort to widen national assistance programs for the struggling industry.

“We conscionable reopened Che Fico past nighttime and that was implicit a week of being closed,” said David Nayfeld, co-owner of Che Fico.

The San Francisco edifice decided to adjacent during what is 1 of the astir profitable vacation weekends each year.

Nayfeld said they chose information implicit profit.

“In precocious December, we started to admit that the omicron surge was truly severely impacting our staff," helium said.

Nayfeld said that their anticipation is that the closure would assistance dilatory down the surge and make a small much information and assurance among staff.

“We’re backmost close present with precise constricted quality to bash a afloat what we telephone covers the magnitude of radical we service successful a restaurant. We’re besides trying to abstracted seats and not assemblage radical arsenic much,” Nayfeld said.

But it’s not casual for them arsenic they walk thousands of dollars retired of pouch each period to marque definite their already vaccinated unit tin besides get tested.

It's conscionable the latest hurdle successful what's present been 2 years of exceptional challenges.

“We bash request to effort our champion to proceed to bash business. The large happening that we request is we request the national authorities to measurement up and refill the edifice revitalization fund," Nayfeld added.

Now, Breed is joining different mayors successful signing a missive from the autarkic edifice conjugation urging legislature leaders to replenish the money successful the look of the caller surge.

“That is simply a database of 25 mayors asking legislature to find further funding. To marque these radical that are conscionable arsenic deserving arsenic the radical that got it person the backing that they request truthful desperately to survive,” Golden Gate Restaurant Association’s enforcement manager Laurie Thomas said.

Thomas told NBC Bay Area Friday that it's cardinal and the challenges are real.

“You’re making existent clip decisions arsenic you spell and that’s wherefore we’re seeing a batch of changes from restaurants,” she said. “Some feeling that they tin reopen, and their workers request the money. Some consciousness similar they don’t person capable unit and determination is interest successful the workforce.”

For diners looking enactment the restaurants, owners said portion they admit it, they besides suggest customers to telephone earlier coming to marque definite they're unfastened and staffed.