Some area restaurants were already operating on thin margins according to NHPR.org. One local hard-hit New Hampshire restaurant has made the decision to shut down permanently. As of yesterday, the Joinery in Newmarket was serving up chef Brendan Vesey’s southern food in a refurbished mill downtown.

He was just getting by week to week but with the new restrictions on restaurants, like take out only, he knew closing permanently was inevitable.  He felt it wasn’t fair to his staff to try and keep it going. He tells NHPR.com “I felt if we dragged this thing out for a few weeks – if I, deep down, already knew where we were financially – that wasn’t fair to them."

Both Vesey and his employees are planning to file for unemployment, but the state benefits website has been overwhelmed with newly laid-off workers attempting to get benefits. Restaurants all over New England will be feeling the pinch. So instead of hoarding groceries at the store, it might be a good idea to order take out at least a couple of times a week from local restaurants to keep them afloat during this challenging time in our nation’s history.

 

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