COVID-19: Why Danny Meyer hasn't reopened his restaurants for indoor dining

Brian Sozzi
·Executive Editor
·3 min read

Restaurant pioneer and founder of Union Square Hospitality Group Danny Meyer says he is taking an extra cautious approach to re-opening his restaurants for indoor dining as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on.

"We have opted not to return to indoor dining just yet," Meyer told Yahoo Finance Live.

On Friday, indoor dining in New York City expanded to 35% capacity. That's up from 25% capacity when indoor dining resumed in the city on Feb. 12. With COVID-19 infections and deaths back on the rise at the start of winter, Gov. Andrew Cuomo shut down indoor dining down on December 11, 2020, just three months after opening indoor dining at 25% capacity. Prior indoor dining had been prohibited since March 16, 2020.

"We're going to wait until it gets just a little safer out there, until more and more of our team members have been vaccinated and I think also until the weather is warmer to add outdoor dining to the equation," Meyer explained. "It's just not a great recipe at this moment, but soon it will be, and we are really excited about where it's going to go."

Meyer operates 19 restaurants in New York City, including landmark names such as Gramercy Tavern and Blue Smoke.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 23: Danny Meyer attends the Time 100 Gala 2019 at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 23, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 23: Danny Meyer attends the Time 100 Gala 2019 at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 23, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Patrick McMullan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

Meyer — also the founder of Shake Shack — wasted no time last year to address the new realities of his business amid the pandemic. In mid-March 2020 with minimal revenue coming into the business and concerns about worker safety, Meyer was among the first in the restaurant space to lay off workers. That included some 2,000 people in total between restaurants and the corporate office.

When Yahoo Finance last talked with Meyer, on Oct. 9, 2020, he said he had reopened iconic New York City eateries Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Cafe and Blue Smoke for indoor dining (capped at the 25% capacity level) after indoor dining first briefly re-opened on Sept. 30. Meyer mentioned he installed new air filtration systems at the restaurants.

Alongside his tireless efforts to ensure his restaurants come out the other side of the pandemic, Meyer has opted to join the SPAC frenzy.

Meyer has tag-teamed with the likes of Adam Sokoloff (Asgard Capital Partners managing partner) and Tiffany Daniele (Union Square Hospitality Group CFO) to launch USHG Acquisition. The SPAC raised $250 million and is on the hunt for businesses that reflect Meyer's enlightened hospitality business philosophy.

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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