Restaurant chains like Ruby Tuesday, T.G.I Fridays, P.F. Changs, and Five Guys were among those who received Payment Protection Plan (PPP) loans designed to help small businesses struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Small Business Administration released information about many of the companies that have received these loans as of Monday, and all of the chains mentioned above were listed on a document of companies that received more than $150,000 in loans. Each were listed as receiving between $5 and $10 million.
"We were hit with a devastating reality with COVID-19. Overnight we had to close our dining rooms and bars and operate only curbside take-out and delivery," T.G.I Friday's said in a statement to Delish:
We were only generating 10-20 percent of sales with the new restaurant regulations. The Payment Protection Program enabled us to invest in new growth layers to protect our business, retain and rehire furloughed employees, continue partial payment to our landlords and provide for our local communities, first responders, essential workers and more. As we continue to fight through these changes, we will be there for our guests, employees, and communities in which we love to serve.
Delish did not immediately hear back after a request for comment from P.F. Chang's, Five Guys, and Ruby Tuesday.
As Restaurant Business Online pointed out, this additional information about the companies that received PPP loans was likely released in part to combat previous criticisms that the loans were also given to big companies. While they are designed to help small businesses stay afloat, as we previously reported, companies like Shake Shack, Ruth's Chris Steak House, and Sweetgreen were also eligible to receive the loans. All of those companies, however, have since returned or repaid the loans following public backlash.
That said, when RBO analyzed the recent data, the roughly $521 billion was given in loans which averaged less than $100,000 each and a majority of loans given to restaurants were to small, independently owned restaurants and small-scale franchisees.
