Paycheck Protection Program

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants and retail stores across the country sat empty as customers stayed home to avoid contagion. In recent months, as pandemic restrictions have eased up across California, many businesses aim to achieve pre-pandemic levels of enterprise. 

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, local businesses in Berkeley struggled to adapt to ever-changing regulations and customer influxes as they continued to seek external support. 

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Berkeley restaurant owners expressed hope and caution after the California Department of Public Health lifted the regional stay-at-home order across the state Monday. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Flacos, a vegan Mexican restaurant in Berkeley, has felt the effects of COVID-19 but remains resilient.

In 2015, 1951 Coffee Company burst onto the cafe scene with its barista training program for refugees, but it is now facing tough times.

Before March, local restaurant and sandwich shop Cheese n’ Stuff was a “zoo” making upward of 500 sandwiches daily for its loyal customers. Now, the once lively shop is barely making 50 sandwiches a day and is missing its usual rush of hungry students.

On Monday, the federal Small Business Administration and Treasury Department released loan data from the Paycheck Protection Program.

First started as an after-school enrichment class, the Berkeley Chess School has since grown into a Bay Area institution, serving 125 schools and more than 7,000 students yearly — but is now financially struggling due to the coronavirus.