COVID-19 Outbreak (Update: More than 2.9M cases and 132,313 deaths in US)

St. Widge said
That makes sense to me. I know that restaurants run on very low profit margins for food. They really make most of their money on the markup on liquor sales. Working at 25% of capacity likely isn't enough customers to not lose money. They are probably making more money right now with cut down or no staff with only take out and delivery.

The takeout, while technically profitable, is nothing compared to actually running your restaurant. The numbers just aren't there. If you have a nice restaurant in a nice building, there's no way you can continue to make your financial obligations to your lease etc. One large restaurant I know who has kept up with take out is only doing it to keep appearances and keep a few people employed, specifically 5. They normally employ 100. This is not to mention the lack of alcohol sales and the supporting industry around that. A restaurant like that typically deals with 12-15 vendors for that alone. So that's another industry that is out of work.

Another more casual spot I keep communication with translates very easily to takeout as that was part of the business model anyway. The numbers aren't there either. It's only a fraction of usual without having a room full of people eating and drinking.

Unless you're chick fil a, the scale of take out compared to actually operating is not in any way similar. So no, with possible few exceptions, they aren't making more money. But you're right, 25% capacity is not likely to cut it for most places either.