EDITORIAL: Nevada restaurants will eventually reopen — but how many?

Some states have begun to loosen coronavirus restrictions on restaurants, allowing patrons — with limitations — to again enjoy in-person dining. Nevada will likely soon follow. But this much is certain: Many customers who venture out will find their favorite eateries shuttered for good.

The restaurant and bar business has been among the hardest hit as the economic devastation of a two-month freeze takes an increasingly massive toll in Nevada and across the country. A great many establishments won’t survive. Last week, for instance, the owner of Ricardo’s — which has served Mexican fare for almost 40 years at the corner of Decatur and Flamingo — said he’s preparing to shut his doors even though the establishment has offered takeout every day since the lockdowns began.

“But that’s really a Band-Aid,” owner Bob Ansara said. “We’ll be here, ironically, until the governor opens up. We’re going to close the day he opens the city. I don’t see reopening making any sense.”

Ricardo’s normally employs 67 people, he said, but that has been slashed to just four. Curbside service generates only 20 percent of normal sales volume. It will take time for many residents to again be comfortable in certain settings, and time is one thing Mr. Ansara and many of his fellow restaurateurs doesn’t have.

“I just don’t see a clear path forward,” he explained. “When you take into consideration the hurt of the last two months and what it’s going to take to regenerate the businesses, and when I look ahead to the next 18 months and see what those months will be … “

In addition, the restrictions that will be imposed on restaurants during any gradual recovery — limited capacity and perhaps even the reconfiguration of long-established designs — will exacerbate the struggle.

“In many cases, those restrictions will be worse than being closed,” Mr. Ansara said. “While I think they’re well-intentioned, I think they pretty much spell disaster for small business.”

Even federal aid won’t be sufficient for many entrepreneurs. The Paycheck Protection Package mandates that 75 percent of the money received go to employee salaries, ignoring other costs now burdening smaller restaurants and bars, including rent payments. “That is proving to be a deal breaker for many” such establishments, The Wall Street Journal reported last weekend.

Even during good times, the low-margin restaurant business is extremely competitive and closures are common. But the virus coma has put even long-running, successful eateries such as Ricardo’s at great risk. As the Nevada economy slowly awakens in the coming weeks, Mr. Ansara’s predicament will, sadly, be anything but atypical.