July 2, 2021
Candace J. Dixon
The Small Business Administration announced the closing of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) on July 2, 2021. The program made restaurants and bars eligible for economic aid equal to their pandemic-related revenue loss, with a cap of $10 million per business and $5 million per location. Recipients don't have to repay the funding as long as it is used for eligible expenses, which include payroll and rent, by March 11, 2023.
“The $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund provided desperately needed relief to more than 100,000 restaurants and other food and beverage businesses across the nation with significant funding going to our hardest-hit, underserved businesses,” said SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman. “Restaurants are at the center of our neighborhoods and propel economic activity on Main Streets. As among the first to close in this pandemic and likely the last to reopen, many are still struggling to survive. The SBA will continue to work hard to ensure they get the resources they need to recover, rebuild and be resilient.”
Underserved populations received about $18 billion in grant awards, with a $268,000 average grant awarded to applicants.
If you're wondering if any of the restaurants you were missing over the last year were one of the 100,000 receiving the grant, this page on the SBA site has a database file with the names of all the recipients who received the grant that you can download, created because of a Freedom of Information Act Request from the Independent Restaurant Coalition .
The SBA's COVID-19 relief options page has information on the remaining Economic Relief programs including the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Targeted EIDL Advance.