Many restaurants have been forced to shut their doors in San Francisco, and everyone is hoping against hope that they will be able to reopen when the time comes — if and when this storm hopefully passes. For those restaurants that have stayed open as delivery- and takeout-only, today is a day to show solidarity and order from them.
It's called The Great American Takeout (#TheGreatAmericanTakeout), and though it's a promotion that was drummed up by a coalition of corporate restaurant groups — among them Applebee's, Panera Bread, and Chevys Fresh Mex — you can use it as an opportunity to show mass support for your neighborhood businesses.
SFist has this running list of local restaurants open for takeout and delivery, sorted by neighborhood, so feel free to choose one from there or hop on your favorite delivery app and see what's available today for lunch or dinner.
Safety tips: When ordering takeout or delivery, if you want to keep yourself as safe as possible from the coronavirus, toss out the takeout containers immediately, put food on plates, and wash your hands after touching the containers. Also, opt for contact-less delivery.
You can also support restaurants by buying gift cards and certificates for future meals — to help them make rent next month. A site launched this week from Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger called SaveOurFaves that will help you find local restaurants to support in this way.
"This is no longer about the survival of individual restaurants,” says Russ Bendel, CEO of The Habit Burger Grill, in a release about the virtual nationwide event. "It’s about the future of our industry. And time has run out. Together, we must act to support each other and our communities in unprecedented ways."
As part of the awareness campaign, people are being asked to tweet or post to Instagram about their takeout orders using the hashtag #TheGreatAmericanTakeout.
There's also a Twitter account for the event — which could have ongoing impacts — and you can follow that here.
Will you commit to eating at least one delivery/takeout meal on 3/24 to help save our nation’s struggling restaurants?
— #thegreatamericantakeout (@TheGATakeout) March 20, 2020
RT if you’re in! #TheGreatAmericanTakeout pic.twitter.com/K387ee0hUy