HOUSTON — Restaurants in the Houston area are still feeling the economic strain from the pandemic.
Some have already closed. And in order to stay afloat, others have consolidated.
Business is still tough for many restaurants in the Bayou City and across the state. Even though they can open at 75 percent capacity, some have needed to make changes in order to keep their businesses going.
The small Local Foods chain had to consolidate to help keep their business going.
"We had a restaurant downtown that temporarily closed, at least until downtown becomes more alive," said Kerry Pauly with Local Foods. "A lot of restaurants refocused their efforts.
H-Town Restaurant Group did the same thing. They recently just opened one of their locations downtown.
"We were closed for 6-and-a-half months downtown. Because nobody's down there, there's no conventions, no concerts, no ballgames -- all things we we depended on for business," said Tracy Vauhgt ,owner of H-town Restaurant Group.
But even after reopening, they haven’t been able to bring back their entire staff.
"We have left behind a lot of people," Vaught said.
In the meantime, restaurants are hoping that the government will provide some kind of relief to help them keep their doors open and get through the pandemic.
"We are experiencing closures every single day, and closures are beating the openings way more," said Anna Tauzin with Texas Restaurant Association "We anticipate a 15 percent of restaurants will close during this pandemic."