NEW THREATS AHEAD But even for the independent restaurants that made it through the pandemic, there are many changes and potential threats ahead. Michael Roper, founder-owner of Chica- go’s Belgian gastropub the Hopleaf Bar, calls the situation “a very new normal.” People have stopped staying out late, Roper said, and so his restaurant is now open 21 fewer hours a week than it was before COVID. (But lunch is booming and the for - mer “dead zone” between 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. is often one of the busiest part of the day, he said.) And restaurants have a fierce new com - petitor. “People made their homes into entertain- ment and pleasure paradises,” Roper said. “And so we don’t really feel we compete so much against other bars and restaurants as much as we compete against people’s couch- es.” Plus, the ripple effects of the pandemic continue to echo around cities like Chicago, where many storefront theaters did not sur- vive the shutdown. “People made their homes into entertainment and pleasure paradises... ...we compete so much against other bars and restaurants as much as we compete against people’s couches.” —Michael Roper, owner-founder, Hopleaf Bar “These things were scattered all over the city and they provided a great feeder for bars, restaurants and cafes,” he said. “We miss them.” Amid these consumer changes, restau- rants have also navigated major staffing is - sues and historic inflation coming out of the pandemic. Now, there are new concerns, like the Trump administration’s proposed tariffs and the possibility of a new pandemic. “I’m getting a little nervous about the bird flu,” Roper said. “We know that if there’s an - other pandemic, it could be that disastrous again. I’m wary of future pandemics. I don’t think I could do it again.”
SWAN HOUSE FARM, WHICH IS AFFILIATED WITH SAN FERMO RESTAURANT IN SEATTLE, HOSTS REGULAR FARM DINNERS. PHOTO COURTESY OF SWAN HOUSE FARM
realized that Fusian had the good fortune of operating a sushi restaurant in the Midwest. It’s a cuisine that travels well for delivery and is not something most people make at home. “Persistence certainly was a lesson that arose from COVID,” Harman said. ELLEN SLEDGE, OWNER- FOUNDER, PENNY LICK ICE CREAM, WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK When we spoke with Ellen Sledge in March 2020, she was running her Penny Lick Ice Cream business out of one retail store and had recently opened a small factory for wholesale production. When the pandemic hit, her once-boom- ing events business and wholesale operation selling to aquariums and zoos evaporated.
She shrunk her operation from 12 employ- ees to three. But her retail business kept chugging along, as quarantined folks sought solace in Penny Lick pints. She closed the factory, but now operates three retail locations. “It’s actually been good growth for us, slow and steady,” Sledge said, adding that she continues to pay off the Economic Inju- ry Disaster Loan (EIDL) that helped her stay afloat . Deciding to close the factory, which she was invested in financially and emotionally, was a tough blow, she said. “I was in love with the idea of it. And I’d spent money on it. And I’d spent time on it,” she said. “But I think one of the things I learned is to just take all emotion out of deci- sion making. I love my business, but I should never be in love with it.”
“One of the things I learned is to just take all emotion out of decision making. I love my business, but I should never be in love with it.” —Ellen Sledge, owner-founder, Penny Lick Ice Cream
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS APRIL 2025
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