Outdoor dining ban hits California restaurants hard

Owners and employees brace themselves for possible closure - NBC's Gordon Tokumatsu reports

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KYMA, KECY/NBC News) - All outdoor dining across most of Los Angeles County is now shutdown for at least three weeks.

Many restaurant owners worry, they'll be forced to close for good. Their employees are trying to figure out where their next paycheck will come from.

The pain of the closure order will be felt most acutely in the part of the restaurant most of us never see. In the kitchen, at West Hollywood's The Abbey we found cooks, table bussers, and dishwashers all busily preparing the restaurant's annual fixed-menu Thanksgiving Dinner.

Once an estimated 300 customers pick up their meals Thursday, the folks will have to be laid off. Owner David Cooley said he simply can't stay open serving only take-out.

"That's what the scary part is. So many small businesses won't make it." said Cooley.

For months, The Abbey managed to stay open. Plenty of outdoor space made that possible. Cooley's staff strictly adhered to COVID protocols even as their paychecks shrank.

"Cut in half. But it was something. But it was something, yes." said server Jaime Taylor.

Servers, like Taylor, managed to hang on, even after the 10 p.m. curfew was announced. It meant few tips and fewer tables. But when the Health Department brings all outdoor dining to an end...

"Now, it's nothing." said Taylor.

"It's time to pull out the credit cards again." said bartender Tamara Malais.

Malais has a 12-year-old son at home. She wonders what the holidays will look like, now that her income has disappeared completely.

"I mean, it just feels like we've been hit with a board, right now." she said.

"This is a scenario that is playing out across the county, as long-time establishments, just like this one, are facing the very real possibility: They may have to close down…for good." said NBC's Gordon Tokymatsu.

The very thought of this caused Cooley to choke up.

"We know this will extend through New Year's …and it'll probably put me out of business. Forever." he said.

Cooley headlined a news conference at his business Wednesday morning. A coalition of business owners, just like him, begged and pleaded for the health department, the governor, anyone who would listen, to reconsider the outdoor dining ban before it's too late.