SAN DIEGO — Todd Brown doesn’t hold back when he talks about the impact Coronavirus restrictions have made on his bottom line.
“It’s been basically devastating to us,” he said.
Brown owns multiple restaurants in San Diego - including Bub’s in Pacific Beach. This past Fourth of July weekend was not what he was hoping for.
“With the holiday weekend, our numbers, they were tremendously disappointing,” Brown said.
It's going to get worse before it gets better.
That's because Brown is going to have to shut down his indoor service for three weeks,
Along with a variety of other business owners in the county.
The county made the Governor’s monitoring list for three days in a row, meaning restrictions are going into effect at restaurants, tasting rooms, breweries, entertainment centers, zoos, theaters and card rooms for the next three weeks.
“I say we are going back instead of forward,” said Patrizia Branchi, who owns Operacaffe downtown.
Branchi said business has really suffered during the pandemic - with sales down to 35 percent.
These new restrictions still allow her to serve customers outside - but with social distancing rules, her patio only holds six people.
“I don’t want to think about closing because to me that means my family is going to have a problem,” Branchi said. “I have me and my daughter, and the other partner, which is with us since ever. What do we do?"
And to make matters more difficult, Brown and Branchi both say they have all but exhausted their Paycheck Protection Program funds - meaning they won't have any stimulus money to get them and their workers through this new round of closure.