US restaurants see strong recovery as NY eateries still down 30 percent

(Source: nypost.com)

By Will Feuer

June 2, 2021

New York restaurants are still struggling to attract diners, with reservations down more than 30 percent compared to pre-pandemic 2019 — even as much of the nation shows strong signs of recovery, according to new data.

Eateries in several states, including Florida, Texas, Nevada and Virginia, all saw at least a 10 percent increase in bookings on Memorial Day compared to the same day two years prior — while the number of restaurant-goers in New York state remained 34 percent lower, according to data from restaurant booking and monitoring site OpenTable.

Even restaurants in hard-hit California and Florida served more diners Monday than they did on the same day in 2019, the data shows. In Rhode Island, more than double the number of hungry residents snapped up reservations.

The recovery is even worse in the Big Apple, where 53 percent fewer patrons dined out on the public holiday than on the same day two years ago, according to the figures.

The lackluster recovery comes even as more than 57 percent of the Empire State’s adult population is fully vaccinated and daily COVID numbers continue to hit fresh lows. New York’s adult vaccination rate is above the overall US rate of 52 percent, according to CDC figures.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Connecticut and New Jersey, diners flocked back to their favorite spots.

The Nutmeg State saw a welcomed 50 percent more restaurant bookings on Memorial Day this year than on the same day in 2019, while the Garden State saw 29 percent more diners, according to OpenTable.

However, New York State still fared better than Ohio and Wisconsin, where restaurant reservations were down 42 percent and 39 percent, respectively, on pre-pandemic levels.

When it comes to city-specific data, Milwaukee, Seattle and St. Louis all join the Big Apple, as restaurant-goers continue to stay away, according to OpenTable’s data. Traffic was 69 percent lower on Monday in Milwaukee when compared with the same day in 2019, the data showed, and 57 percent lower in Seattle.

Diners also stayed home Monday in Philadelphia, Portland and San Francisco, with bookings in those cities down by 51 percent, 47 percent and 58 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, cities such as Miami, Las Vegas and San Antonio are enjoying more dining traffic than they did before the pandemic, with bookings up in those cities by 72 percent, 50 percent and 70 percent, respectively on Monday.

In addition, Houston, Miami Beach, Naples, San Diego, Tampa and Tucson also saw demand up more than 20 percent compared with pre-pandemic levels on Monday, according to OpenTable. In Fort Lauderdale, the number of diners doubled Monday.

Over the last week nationwide, eateries saw activity pick back up to an average of just 3 percent lower than 2019 levels, according to the data — bolstering the overall view that Americans are emerging from the pandemic ready to spend.

That’s a drastic spike from the same week last year, when restaurants across the country saw 84 percent fewer diners than in pre-pandemic times, according to the data.

OpenTable said the data doesn’t account for changes in the number of restaurants, such as all those that closed during the pandemic.

But even as restaurants see demand beginning to swell, they’re facing a few new challenges. The cost of labor, food and supplies are all rising amid inflationary pressures, spurring many restaurants to raise prices on the menu.

“If we’re getting squeezed there’s only two ways to handle it, either cut costs or raise prices, there’s no alternatives really,” Hakan Swahn, the owner of Midtown’s Aquavit, told The Post Monday.