It's been a little over a week since Governor Abbott officially re-opened Texas. By the way, did you happen to notice that all of the blue states like California who severely criticized Texas all followed within days?
So how are our local restaurants doing? Jonathan Horowitz, former president of the greater Houston restaurant association told KTRH, "Locally, we're seeing a pretty decent increase in activity. People obviously have been waiting for awhile for the opportunity to get back out and to enjoy going out to restaurants again."
Great news, but sadly Horowitz says they estimate 15 - 20% of restaurants didn't make it, and were forced to shut down due to the pandemic.
And for the ones that did? Horowitz says it will likely take a couple of years for them to recover. "I think what we're going to see is kind of a slow gradual increase. I don't think it's like flipping a switch and all of the sudden it's packed everywhere all at once."
But Saenz says it is definitely "the light at the end of the tunnel" for many local restaurants, and some have actually really adapted well to our new Covid world.
One big issue right now according to Saenz, is staffing. Many restaurant workers moved on to find other jobs. "They've been through so much over the past year. So just seeing now a bit of an increase, is a positive sign."