Restaurants are closing their doors across San Francisco as inflation, layoffs and other factors cause a "brutal decline" in business, according to a Tuesday report from the San Francisco Chronicle.
"Scores of popular restaurants have closed since the summer," the paper wrote. "San Francisco lost Queens, Automat, Stonemill Matcha, Dumpling Club, Media Noche, Barbacco, Gracias Madre, Hina Yakitori and others. Oakland restaurant Palmetto is shuttering at the end of the month after what one of the owners said was ‘the worst summer that I’ve seen.’"
"They’ve cut staffing. They’ve raised prices. They’ve started cleaning the bathrooms themselves," the report continued. "It may not be enough to stave off more closures. ‘It’s a terrifying industry right now, terrifying,’" restaurant owner Joe Hargrave told The Chronicle.
"Owners point to a confluence of factors for the brutal decline," the outlet wrote. "Widespread tech layoffs mean fewer catering gigs and fewer diners during the workday. San Francisco restaurateurs believe a negative national narrative about the city has contributed to sluggish tourism (which has started to bounce back, but not yet to pre-pandemic levels). Inflation has made dining out more expensive."
"We’re not in a place to be able to turn away anybody,'" restaurant owner Yuka Ioroi said.
"Do you keep raising your prices? Sell more alcohol? Do DoorDash?" another restaurant owner, Clint Tan, asked of how to make a profit in a struggling industry. "Businesses end up being forced to do things they don’t want to … because they have to earn money or target a customer.'"
Dumpling Club owner Cathay Bi said she was concerned about "the next generation of chefs and whether they’re going to have the freedom to be creative and bold and take risks."
"I don’t think the city really rewards you for taking big risks," Bi said.
Popular restaurants like Barbacco and Gracias Madre have also announced that they were shutting down business in San Francisco as some outlets, like CBS News Bay Area, report that the San Francisco "office vacancy rate" is around 30 percent.
Fox News Digital reached out to the office of San Francisco Mayor London Breed for comment. This article will be updated with any reply
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Fox News' Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
