BOSTON (WHDH) - The Boston restaurant industry has been dealt another blow as the state continues to deal with permanent closures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Stoddard’s Fine Food & Ale in Downtown Crossing and The Kinsale in Government Center announced Tuesday that they have shut their doors for good.
“A lot of the business dried up,” The Kinsale General Manager Victor Carpino said. “Foot traffic isn’t what it used to be and people just aren’t in the area.”
Massachusetts Restaurant Association President Bob Luz reported that about 20 percent of all restaurants in the state have closed or failed to reopen since the pandemic began back in March.
“These are absolutely the worst times the industry has ever seen, it goes without saying,” he said.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley joined a virtual town hall Tuesday to hear concerns from service workers in the state. The vast majority of those workers have been either furloughed or laid off.
Pressley said there has not been enough government support to help these people survive.
“No worker should have to choose between making a living and keeping their family safe, period,” she said. “Our greatest wealth as a nation, as a commonwealth, is the health of our people.”
Restaurant workers in the area said they are not sure how they will make it through this hard time but that they are optimistic the industry will bounce back.
“It’ll take a few years though I believe,” Carpino said. “A lot of new blood has to come through and repopulate these areas that have been decimated.”
The Massachusetts Restaurant Association said the best way to help this struggling industry is with the government’s help through another round of PPE loans; however, that seems to have been put on hold with President Donald Trump’s announcement about stalling relief talks until after the election.
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