Restaurant · Guide Updated August 2026

How Restaurants Can Survive and Thrive During COVID-19

More than 60 percent of restaurants that closed because of COVID never came back. That is not a slow decline, that is an industry getting cut in half in months. The 40 percent still operating split into two groups: those struggling to hold on, and those actually thriving. This guide is about the second group and exactly what they did differently.

Why Dine-In Alone Will Not Save You

COVID comes in waves. Governments ease restrictions, then tighten them again. Los Angeles was a clear example, moving back into full lockdown just when operators thought the worst was over. If your entire revenue model depends on customers sitting inside your four walls, you are one government order away from zero income.

That is not a scare tactic. It is the operating reality, and accepting it is the first step to building something that lasts.

How Do You Diversify Revenue as a Restaurant?

Diversification means adding income streams that do not require a customer to sit at your table. Concrete options include delivery, curbside pickup, meal prep kits, online courses, and private events. Each one can run in parallel with your existing service.

The most powerful version of this is productizing what you already make. Several operators I work with took their signature sauces, packaged them, and started selling online. That single move created a revenue stream completely separate from dining. It did not require new kitchen skills or a bigger team. It required treating the restaurant like a product business, not just a service business.

None of this happens without deciding to do it first. The instinct is to wait until dine-in recovers. Do not wait.

Should You Transform Your Menu for Delivery?

Yes, and the reason is simple: quality control. After 30 minutes inside a delivery box, fries are soggy. Soggy fries are not a minor inconvenience, they are a brand problem. A customer who receives a disappointing meal does not blame the driver or the box. They blame your restaurant.

The menu items worth keeping and building around are ones that travel well, hold their texture, and feel comforting. That last point matters right now. With political unrest and ongoing health anxiety, people are not ordering food to be adventurous. They want to feel taken care of. Comfort food delivers that emotionally, not just literally.

My friend Mark runs one of the top fine dining restaurants in Seattle. Pre-COVID, his entire identity was elevated, formal dining. He made the call to transform that into comfort delivery food. The result was more business than he was doing before. A fine dining operator pivoting to comfort delivery is not a step backward. It is reading the room.

The right menu for this environment has three qualities: it travels well, it has strong margins, and it feels comforting to the person ordering it. Build around those three criteria and cut the rest.

What Technology Does a Restaurant Actually Need Right Now?

Two things immediately: a digital menu and an e-commerce capability on your website.

A digital menu means customers can pull up your full offering on their phone. QR codes on every table make this frictionless. No physical menus passing between hands, no printing costs, and no lag time when you update a price or add an item. Customers scan, they browse, they order. Your staff spend less time handing out menus and more time delivering food.

The e-commerce piece connects directly back to diversification. Your website should be a selling platform, not just a contact page. If you have a sauce, a spice blend, a meal kit, or any packaged product worth selling, your website can move it 24 hours a day without any additional labor. That is real money sitting untouched for most operators.

I know technology feels like a detour from the work of running a restaurant. It is not a detour. In this environment it is core infrastructure.

How Do You Use Safety Protocols to Actually Win More Customers?

Safety is not just compliance. It is marketing.

When a customer walks past your restaurant and glances in, they are making a decision in seconds. Visible protocols, masked staff, spaced tables, a clear one-way flow through the room, these signals tell a customer that you are serious before they even open the door. A restaurant that looks safe earns the visit. One that looks careless loses it.

Specific protocols worth prioritizing: limit seating capacity, install plexiglass at the cashier, check temperatures at entry, ensure tables are at least six feet apart, require masks and gloves for all staff, and minimize hand-to-hand contact at the table by placing utensils where customers can pick them up themselves.

I had a business meeting in downtown a few weeks ago. The restaurant had one-way traffic, every staff member was masked and gloved, and the tables were far apart. They left food and utensils at the edge of the table for me to grab myself. That experience was so clean and considered that I booked my anniversary dinner there. I spent significantly more than I would have at a random spot. All because they earned my trust before I sat down.

That trust also travels. When people talk to friends now, restaurant recommendations come with a safety report. Either the place took it seriously, or it did not. A bad safety impression spreads fast. A great one does too.

What Are the Big Chains Telling You About Where This Is Going?

Pay attention to where large operators are putting real money. Chipotle committed to drive-through formats for more than 60 percent of their new restaurants. Starbucks began remodeling existing locations to include drive-in service. These companies spend millions on market research before making capital decisions. When they both move in the same direction at the same time, that direction is not a short-term adjustment. It is a structural shift in how food gets sold.

Drive-through and delivery as primary formats is where the industry is heading. Dine-in will return, but it will not return to being the dominant channel. Build your operation with that assumption and you will not get caught flat-footed.

The Bottom Line

The restaurants that are thriving right now did not get lucky. They diversified before they were forced to, rebuilt their menus around what actually travels and comforts, used technology to sell beyond four walls, and made safety something customers could see. The operators who kept waiting for things to return to normal fell into the 60 percent. The ones who accepted the new conditions and adapted are growing. Do not manage for the restaurant industry that existed in 2019. Manage for the one that exists right now.

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