Your Restaurant Rally orders will now send 100% of sales back to the business

As restaurants across the state prepared to shut their dining rooms completely for the second time this year, those participating in Pierce County’s Restaurant Rally can look forward to one small consolation: 10 days worth of sales reimbursements.

The Pierce County Council voted Tuesday to update the 10-day promotional program that gave customers a 30 percent discount of their total bill, including takeout but excluding alcohol and orders placed through third-party delivery, at about 300 full-service restaurants.

Under the original emergency ordinance, adopted before cases of COVID-19 took a sharp turn in western Washington, restaurants were slated to be reimbursed for 50 percent of their total sales over those 10 days.

Now, they will see a 100 percent kickback.

The extra money will help restaurants offset the costs involved with Gov. Jay Inslee’s order to close dining rooms for at least four weeks, according to County Council member Dave Morell, who proposed the original initiative.

“A number of restaurants have ordered supplies, have food on hand and have incurred expenses for in-person dining that this ordinance helps mitigate as they prepare to roll back service, or in some cases temporarily shut down,” he said in a release.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the council discussed this change as a “pivot” in light of a “crushing blow to our restaurant industry.”

The program was set to run from Nov. 8-12 and Nov. 15-19. Because of the forced shutter of indoor dining, most participating restaurants are offering takeout only for the final two days.

They were asked to submit receipts to the county for review at the end of the first week and then again after the second. Based on those numbers, the council determined that the original $7.5 million of CARES Act funding was enough to cover a 100 percent reimbursement.

The council also left open the possibility of increasing the minimum a restaurant would receive, upon review of all 10 days’ worth of receipts. Currently, each participating business will get at least $5,000. Council member Marty Campbell pushed Tuesday to increase that minimum to $10,000.

About a third of restaurants so far had not reached that $5,000 minimum, which, said Campbell, illustrates just how much some of the county’s smallest restaurants are struggling.

“They’ve been hit harder than most businesses when it comes to this pandemic,” he said. “This could really be the lifeline that could save these micro-businesses.”

No member seconded his motion to adjust that cap. Morell countered that it was best to move forward with “a simple formula,” and chair Douglas Richardson said he would be “fully supportive” of further changes if the final tallies leave room to pay for it.

Pierce County Restaurant Rally continues through Thursday, Nov. 19. Only outdoor dining, where applicable, with up to five household members per table, and takeout will be available.

This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 5:20 AM.