Shirley Leung: The Future of Boston's Restaurants Is Worrisome

Boston's Restuarants — Boston's restaurants will have a hard time returning to normal once the coronavirus pandemic passes.

Hannah Uebele is a producer for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and previously worked as associate producer for Boston Public Radio. She graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in English and Environmental Studies. She's a proud Delawarean but has found herself saying "wicked" more and more often, so the Bostonian metamorphosis is well underway.Contact: hannah_uebele@wgbh.org

April 10, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung spoke with Boston Public Radio on Friday about the future of Boston restaurants.

"Restaurants were really at the forefront of the economic shock of the COVID-19-induced shutdown," she said. "Starting March 17, Governor Baker had said restaurants had to transition to delivery or takeout only, and one estimate is that 80 percent of restaurants chose to close instead of remain open."

The restaurant industry will have the longest road back in terms of recovery, Leung noted. "Even when Gov. Baker gives the green light for people to go back out to eat in restaurants again, a lot of restaurateurs are bracing for a very different environment," she said. "Not everybody's going to come back all at once."