May 14, 2020 - Health

OpenTable forecasts 25% of U.S. restaurants to shutter permanently

Orion Rummler

In this image, a man wears a mask and stands in front of a sign that reads "Open curbside delivery" — A man in Alexandria, Virginia, on May 11. Photo: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

OpenTable expects that one in four U.S. restaurants will go out of business due to closures enforced by stay-at-home orders and customers skittish in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg reports.

The big picture: Restaurants that do reopen will look different than they did before the crisis, with limited menus, more space per diner and scarcer reservations, Axios' Felix Salmon reports.

What they're saying: Online and phone reservations along with walk-ins at OpenTable restaurants in the U.S. have dropped 95% from this time last year, per the company's latest data report.

"Restaurants are complicated beasts," Steve Hafner, CEO of Booking Holdings' OpenTable and Kayak, told Bloomberg. "You have to order food and supplies. You have to make sure you've prepped the kitchen and service areas to be easily disinfected."

Go deeper: The plight of restaurants and retail in the face of coronavirus

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OpenTable forecasts 25% of U.S. restaurants to shutter permanently

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