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

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.

Yeah, I didn't say that take out was enough for them to make a profit or even really stay in business, it's just that it's likely more money, or less lost money, on take out than opening at 25% capacity because of the increased staff and consumables cost of actually serving customers in the restaurant. I mean if it's a small restaurant the chef and his/her family can probably run the take out stuff by themselves and keep the menu limited.

And, honestly, the problem for restaurants is that even if they were open at full capacity, they are going to see very reduced numbers of customers because a majority of the population is taking this seriously and isn't going to be likely to want to sit in a crowded restaurant any time soon.

I saw the guy who runs the World Central Kitchen charity, Jose Andreas, on the Daily Social Distancing Show a couple days ago and he was talking about how restaurants are going to have to adjust in this new reality, including maybe selling the things they source from their contacts to the public to make money. Of course, that doesn't help restaurant staffs.

Edit: Maybe the confusion was in my wording. I wasn't saying that they make more money just doing take out than they normally do. I was saying that they probably make more money doing take out alone than they would operating at 25% capacity.

And based on what the Governor said last week, that is likely what he will allow in Phase One.