On March 15, amid a rapidly rising number of COVID-19 cases, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker ordered the closure of all dine-in restaurants in the commonwealth, restricting services to takeout and delivery only. By the time indoor dining was allowed again, three months later, many beloved Boston dining institutions had closed. 

But there were also sparks of creativity and ingenuity from those that remained open. For four BU alums in the industry, the pandemic has meant extraordinary uncertainty, difficult staff layoffs, and tough revenue losses. And yet, the support of regular customers throughout the crisis has given them reason for hope.

“There were definitely some dark times the first few weeks,” says Andrew Holden (SHA’04), who was general manager of Kenmore Square’s Eastern Standard for 13 years before stepping back into the supporting role of operating partner so that he can focus on his own restaurants, Branch Line in Watertown and the new Shy Bird in Kendall Square. “You’ve been working so hard for so long, and suddenly so many people’s lives around you and everything we’ve dreamed of is just getting crushed.”

Ali Fong (CAS’01) is cofounder and executive chef of Bon Me, a fast-casual eatery that began in 2011 as a humble food truck and has since evolved into a restaurant group with 8 brick-and-mortar locations and 16 trucks serving the Boston region. Fong was forced to furlough nearly 100 employees, but has tried to keep tabs on all of them through the shutdown. “That means someone has called every single person or texted them to make sure they’re okay,” she says.

In Holden’s world, with his involvement in three restaurants, the layoffs were closer to 200 people. “Everyone’s heard the numbers about how many people restaurants employ in this country,” he says, “and how important they are to the fabric of our society. Being able to provide those jobs is so important. That’s been without question the hardest part about this.”

Fernanda Tapia (MET’09), until recently the co-owner and executive chef at Comedor, a Chilean-American bistro in Newton Center, isn’t so sure those jobs will ever come back. 

“A lot of restaurant owners are hoping they can scrape by until things return to normal, and no one knows when that’s going to happen,” Tapia says. “So it’s a matter of, can you hold out for two months? Six months? Maybe a year?” Tapia had already been in talks to sell the restaurant before the coronavirus shutdown went into effect, and the sale was finalized in late June, which was a particular relief. “Two months can break you,” she says. “Two months is game over. If you didn’t have the funds in the bank, that’s it, you’re done.”

For now, restaurants are able to reopen for indoor dining as long as they comply with a strict set of guidelines, which includes rules for social distancing that will severely reduce the number of guests allowed at any given time. This will fundamentally affect a restaurant’s bottom line. “You don’t look at a restaurant space and say, ‘Well, if I only had 50 percent of this, I would still sign this lease,’” says Michael Lombardi, co-owner and executive chef of SRV, a busy northern Italian–style restaurant in Boston’s South End. “That would never happen. The whole thing is based on you having 100 percent of it.”

即使食客被允许回来，也不能保证他们会回来。从波士顿到纽约的美食评论家的争议性专栏都表明，即使是以外出就餐为生的人也不一定准备好再回到餐馆。“我认为会有一部分人不想回来，”方说。她已经重新开放了Bon Me的一些门店和卡车，但她表示，生意远没有繁荣起来。“我们的客户数量非常有限。这是我们的黄金季节，但我们只做了平时的15%到20%。”

最后，一个大问题是，有多少地区餐馆能在疫情中幸存下来？《波士顿环球报》正在统计自禁令生效以来永久关闭的餐馆数量，其中包括布鲁克林28岁的O 'Leary 's酒吧，沃尔瑟姆39岁的Il Capriccio酒吧，以及62年前在哈佛广场开业的Cafe Pamplona。塔皮亚认为，即使餐馆能够重新开业，也会有更多的餐馆关闭。“我认为20,30,40%的波士顿的餐厅要在一年内关闭,因为他们无法支付账单,”她说。这种观点得到了马萨诸塞州餐馆协会的回应，该协会警告说，该州大约四分之一的餐馆可能无法在疫情中幸存下来。

但餐馆老板有理由保持乐观。校友们一致认为，来自当地社区的支持帮助他们度过了难关。隆巴迪说：“在疫情爆发前，常客们对他们经常光顾的餐馆非常友好，无论是每周叫外卖，还是给员工留下丰厚的小费。做的事情已经超越。”

霍尔顿回忆说，有一位老顾客从马萨诸塞州的安多弗开车到Shy Bird来。，每周一次叫外卖。他说：“正是在那些时候，社区里的人在正确的时刻出现了，就在你需要一点提振的时候，每家餐馆都度过了难关。”

在地平线上的变化是波士顿的餐馆吗?

霍尔顿说：“我认为所有地方都将发生变化。“我们需要在前门放洗手液。我们要在客人面前大声打扫，让他们注意到我们。”隆巴迪担心，让波士顿餐饮业如此特别的那种热情好客和服务可能会在新规定中消失。他说：“当你与客人的互动受到限制时，从人们的角度来看，你就不太可能留下持久的影响。”“客人们几乎是在单独用餐，即使他们在餐厅里。我觉得这让我失去了一些乐趣。”

对霍尔顿来说，回到过去的生活方式来得越快越好。他说：“除了在餐馆工作，出去吃饭是我最喜欢做的事情。”“去一个挤满人的下东区小酒馆，离一个完全陌生的人只有几英寸远的想法——我渴望这样。这是我们必须回归的。”