The economic toll of the coronavirus continues to pile up. A new report estimates thousands of businesses in the Bay Area, from bowling alleys to restaurants, have closed their doors and will never reopen.
For eight years, the Nopalito location in the inner Sunset of San Francisco has been a mexican food favorite. It's one of the latest spots to fall victim to coronavirus dining restrictions and shut downs.
“Financially we couldn't survive,” said Gonzalo Guzman, Nopalito. “We tried different ways to still be open, but couldn't figure out a way.”
There is some good news for devoted customers. Another take out only spot near Dolores Park will soon be coming online, and the original location on Broderick will remain open.
But many other business owners have not been so lucky.
According to an new report from Yelp, the Bay Area is among the top three regions in the country to see widespread business closures. They estimate more than 2,000 spots will not reopen.
Cloverleaf Family Bowl has been open in Fremont for more than 60 years. On Friday afternoon, the owner and operator Mike Hillman posted a short video on the company Facebook page.
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“I must share the news that, tragic news, Cloverleaf Family Bowl will not be reopening for business,” said owner Mike Hillman.
Hillman says the expense of rent, insurance and other expenses, without any income, became too much to bear.
For those that are still open, city governments have increasingly been allowing businesses to use shared public spaces like sidewalks or parking lots.
“We're trying to think of every creative thing to keep them going during this period,” said Supervisor Hillary Ronen’s aide Amy Beinart.
