U.S. Restaurant Diners Disappear With Virus’s Social Distancing

(Bloomberg) -- Cancel their dinner reservations: More American restaurant patrons are staying home as the coronavirus spreads across the country.

Data from OpenTable shows restaurant reservations and walk-ins across the country were down 48% on Sunday night from the same day a year earlier. The company tracks more than 54,000 restaurants on its reservation site. The data do not include deliveries or takeout orders.

The worst hit cities were San Francisco, which saw the number of people dining at OpenTable listed restaurants fall 72% on Sunday night from the same day a year earlier, Boston, which was down 70%, and New York which was down 69%.

Over the weekend, authorities across the country put in place restrictions on restaurant openings and protocols in the face of the virus spreading. Governors from the New York City area direct restaurants to close from 8pm on Monday and do take-out or delivery service only. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted on Sunday night that restaurants should focus on takeout to service customers who are self-isolating. He also encouraged restaurants to maximize social distancing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending people reduce contact with others around them in communities where the virus is spreading.

OpenTable, which is owned by Booking Holdings Inc., says U.S.-wide in-restaurant dining numbers have fallen every day since March 2 but the decline accelerated sharply at the end of last week.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Ludlow in San Francisco at eludlow2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Crayton Harrison at tharrison5@bloomberg.net, Anne Cronin, Jonathan Roeder

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