May 7, 2025 — U.S. tariffs are putting “enormous pressure” on independent restaurants, food producers, and the entire food supply chain, according to Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) Executive Director Erika Polmar.
“Unless something changes, the entire food supply chain – from field to kitchen to table – is at risk,” she said in a recent update to the coalition’s members.
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December 8, 2021 — The U.S. restaurant industry is once again asking for more government funding as it faces the COVID-19 omicron variant, along with vaccine mandates and high labor and food costs.
More than 90,000 restaurants and bars have closed since the start of the pandemic, and more than 86 percent of restaurant and bar owners said they are concerned they will close without another round of grants via the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, the Independent Restaurant Coalition, an industry trade group, said in a press release.
July 27, 2021 — Through the past year-and-a-half, the U.S. government issued hundreds of billions of dollars in rescue funding for companies facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But its efforts have come under criticism from those who feel their businesses were unfairly excluded from the rescue programs and from entities that received less funding than their competitors.
In the latest round of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund passed by U.S. Congress and administered by the Small Business Administration, many large U.S. restaurant groups received grants of more than USD 1 million (EUR 845,000). New York City’s Momofuku Restaurant Group received USD 6.8 million (EUR 5.7 million) and Peter Luger Steakhouse took in USD 5 million (EUR 4.2 million). An analysis by The Counter, an independent and nonprofit news outlet, found 5 percent of RRF awardees received 40 percent of the program’s funding total.
July 14, 2021 — Many small independent restaurants were left out of the most recent round of United States government funding via the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, according to the Independent Restaurant Coalition. Instead, the group claims many non-food-focused businesses such as management companies, hotel chains, and recreational facilities obtained funding they shouldn’t have.
Sixty-seven businesses received a USD 10 million (EUR 8.5 million) RRF grant –the most money a business entity could receive. They included Lucky Strike Entertainment, a 16-unit bowling alley chain; Windsor Hospitality, a Marriott/Embassy Suites hotel management company; the foodservice establishments within the France pavilion at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida; Sweet Hospitality Group, a concessions company for Broadway theater; franchisees of McDonald’s, Jimmy John’s, Panera Bread, Dunkin, and Golden Corral; and eight airport and sports venue concessions companies, Nation’s Restaurant News reported.
June 10, 2021 — U.S. foodservice industry organizations praised the introduction of federal legislation on 10 June that would provide USD 60 billion (EUR 49 billion) in additional funding to restaurants that ran into financial distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act, introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate, would effectively replenish the USD 60 billion (EUR 49 billion) Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF).
October 21, 2020 — The restaurant industry and small business organizations in the United States are voicing their displeasure with a proposed second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) legislation.
“The Paycheck Protection Program didn’t work for restaurants in March and it won’t work now,” the Independent Restaurant Coalition said in a press release. “Since the program began, one in six restaurants has closed, 2.3 million people are no longer on the payroll, and USD 220 billion [EUR 185 billion] in revenue was lost in just the second quarter.”
October 14, 2020 — Increased dining room restrictions in certain COVID-19 hotspots across the U.S. are further hampering restaurant sales across the country.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently released a plan to shut down non-essential businesses like restaurants in parts of the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, where spikes in COVID-19 cases have occurred, Eater New York reported.
September 29, 2020 — Even as some U.S. municipalities and states are expanding capacity for indoor dining, restaurants are pressing Congress to pass the RESTAURANTS Act.
The U.S. House of Representatives included the RESTAURANTS Act in its most recent COVID-19 relief proposal, and the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC) is urging the Senate to follow suit.
August 6, 2020 — The economic crush of the coronavirus pandemic is continuing to take a serious toll on U.S. restaurants and bars, and many expect they will have to close permanently unless they receive government funding quickly, according to a new survey.
Just 66 percent of operators of independent bars and restaurants across the United States recently surveyed by the James Beard Foundation and the Independent Restaurant Coalition had confidence they could stay operational through October without government help
June 17, 2020 — The COVID-19 pandemic could force a staggering 85% of independent U.S. restaurants to shutter by the end of the year, according to a new report commissioned by recently formed trade group the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC).
Conducted by Compass Lexecon, a Chicago-based consulting firm, the report predicts a grim future for roughly 500,000 Main Street restaurants unless a more robust financial assistance program is established.
According to IRC, privately owned restaurants with fewer than 20 establishments — including fine dining spots, neighborhood joints, pizza parlors, bistros and food trucks, among other types of businesses — make up 76% of the industry and directly employ 11 million people across the country.
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