For 3 of the last 4 nights, I’ve been out to dinner around our neighborhood and unquestionably, it is busier. Outdoor seating and closed streets have added to capacity and for the first time since this started, I would surmise that restaurants are constrained now by capacity not patrons. It’s still easy to get and move reservations but the energy in the restaurant is higher, full of talking and story telling and friends.

What unquestionably has also happened is that the service levels are far worse than they were. You can tell that the fewer servers and cooks they have working just to try to break even is leading to lower service levels, longer wait times, lower table turnover and lower margins. The restaurant business is barely 10% margins when they are 100% full and ultimately the corners cut to survive will lead to more failures over the coming months.

I’ve also flown 4 times in the last 6 weeks, and the difference is noticeable. Though with closed terminals and far fewer flights, the concourse feels almost normal (though security is still 0 wait time). The planes are packed shoulder to shoulder with people and normal service has resumed.

Asking the obvious question: if planes are absolutely packed, why are there still restrictions on restaurants?

#hottakeoftheday