Coronavirus Florida: Who will survive the restaurant shutdown? The creative and adaptable, experts say
- May 21, 2020
- / Liz Balmaseda
- / featured

Before the coronavirus hit, there was a charge of excitement lighting up the local dining world, where fresh, indie restaurants were reshaping the landscape and budding culinary stars were turning Palm Beach County into a foodie destination.
But in the sweep of a mandated shutdown, everything changed.
Is that world gone or is it simply suspended for the time being? Will that emerging indie scene be replaced by a blur of chain restaurants?
“My biggest fear is that we’re going to have a bunch of chains, a Cheesecake Factory on every corner,” says John Brewer, a Delray Beach real estate broker and former restaurant general manager who started The Socially Distanced Supper Club to support neighborhood restaurants via takeout.