Corby Kummer: The Restaurateur Dilemma During Coronavirus

Coronavirus Pandemic Causes Climate Of Anxiety And Changing Routines In America — A sign at the Asian Garden Chinese food restaurant notes that the store is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 31, 2020 in Merrick, New York.

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 03, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

Food writer Corby Kummer spoke with Boston Public Radio on Friday about whether the restaurant industry will survive the coronavirus crisis.

"I've been talking this week to a lot of restaurateurs. Most of them are saying they have so little operating capital left, even if they've tried to stay open to do takeout or help feed front line health workers," he said.

Restaurant owners have had to make tough choices about whether to remain opened or closed during this time, Kummer added.

"The ones who are heroically staying open — all their legal advice is, 'Do not stay open, it's going to be less complicated to reopen if you're shut down tight,'" he said. "All of the legal liability is much easier and less complicated if restaurants have shut down, so what a choice these restaurant owners have been facing."

Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic, an award-winning food writer, and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy.