This week on Nation’s Restaurant News, the top stories had one theme: the COVID pandemic’s current spike in the United States, and its impact on the restaurant industry. The top story was about a virtual roundtable with President-elect Joe Biden, who voiced support for restaurant guarantees over loans.
Also this week, the National Restaurant Association said that 10,000 restaurants have closed permanently or long-term in the United States over the past three months due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, in California, a regional stay-at-home order meant restaurants there had to revert back to off-premise only models. This followed a lawsuit in Los Angeles
protesting an outdoor-dining ban, which led a judge to say officials had to show evidence to support the ban.
Outside of COVID, there was still plenty of news. Focus Brands announced that its COO and President Kat Cole would leave the company at the end of the year. The Cheesecake Factory paid a fine over SEC disclosure charges. And McDonald’s changed franchise fees to redeploy millions toward employee support.
Get all that news and more, plus see 20 new restaurant-chain prototypes introduced in 2020, in this week’s roundup of the top news on NRN.com.