Hard-Hit Philly Restaurants Can Grab Up to $15K in City Funds to Stay Afloat

Starting this week, pandemic-stricken restaurants and gyms in Philly can apply for a piece of a $12 million pie to help weather the rest of the winter and stay open.

Eligible businesses can apply online starting at 11 a.m. on Thursday, January 28, through the end of the day on Tuesday, February 9. The grant relief program, a collaboration between the city and PIDC, will dish out up to $15,000 to each chosen establishment.

The funds aim to help two industries slammed by the latest round of COVID-19 restrictions, which included a two-month pause on indoor dining in November. This month, restaurants resumed indoor service at 25-percent capacity and gyms reopened with five people allowed per 1,000 square feet.

“Small, neighborhood-based restaurants and gyms have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic,” says Councilmember Quiñones Sánchez, in a statement. “They need assistance quite literally to remain afloat.”

Funds are designed to be used for rent payments or payroll, as well as winterize outdoor spaces and cover personal protective equipment (PPE) expenses. Eligibility is limited to operational, independent restaurants that offer indoor dining; reported $2 million max in annual sales (pre-pandemic); and suffered a 25-percent dip or more in year-over-year revenue last quarter.

With the latest round of funds, City of Philadelphia has issued more than $120 million to small businesses and nonprofits. Other pandemic-era lifelines for Philly restaurants have come in the form of $10,000 in winterization grants from Grubhub and $5,000 from DoorDash.

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