Restaurant Revitalization Fund is closed, portal will be disabled July 14

The RRF received more than 370,000 applications, but it's $28.6 billion only covered 105,000 operators, or less than one-third of applications. The program has been a lifeline for many small business, however — the agency reports that 3,777 restaurants with gross receipts of less than $50,000 in 2019 received RRF grants.

Still, the IRC says this funding isn't enough to revive the struggling industry.

"When the IRC formed last year, we asked for $120 billion in relief because we knew the crisis facing independent restaurants was that dire," Erika Polmar, IRC's executive director, said in a statement. "The initial $28.6 billion in the Restaurant Revitalization Fund was always meant to be, as Majority Leader Schumer says, a ‘downpayment’ on a larger program that could ensure everyone who needs help can get it."

The NRA is also urging Congress to infuse more cash into the fund to prevent further restaurant closures.

"Many [restaurants] are in the ironic position of seeing indoor dining resume but are taking in less revenue amidst rising food prices and inadequate staffing to fully open. These operators have made all of the cuts and changes they can to stay open for the last year and are once again worried they won't make it another month," Sean Kennedy, NRA's executive vice president of public affairs, said in a statement. "We need Congress to act on the RRF Replenishment Act to provide the SBA with the funds they need to complete this important mission.”

So far, 177 members of the House of Representatives support the Restaurant Revitalization Replenishment Act, as well as 13 members of the Senate.