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Coronavirus & Curfews: South Florida Restaurant Owners 'Fighting For Our Livelihood'

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – These are uncertain times for restaurant owners. First the shutdowns over the coronavirus crisis, then protests leading to mandatory curfews.

For Chef Cesar Zapata, owner of Phuc Yea, a Miami eatery with a Vietnamese-inspired menu, this season was starting out on a high note.

"Starting in November, it was amazing. And yes, January and February were great. February was one of our biggest months ever in history," Zapata said.

After initially laying off 50 percent of his employees, Zapata was able to bring some employees back for takeout service.

"At the end of the day, we're not making money. It helps us to continue having our brand out there and to support our employees," he said.

Zapata plans to open dine-in these later this week, which he expects will be a huge boost. He said the curfews have been tough for restaurants like his because of the inconsistencies around them.

"The inconsistency. One day it was 8 o'clock and the next day they'll tell us it's 9 o'clock. So it's very hard for us to plan not only for ourselves but for our employees but also our guests," Zapata explained. "We don't have any issues following because at the end the day it's not for ourselves as for employee safety to make sure they're safe."

On Saturday night in Coconut Grove, Ariete chef and owner Michael Beltran, who has three eateries within the same block, was frustrated by the shutdown due to the curfews.

"Right now we're fighting for our livelihood and we're being told, in a very unconstitutional fashion, that we need to close at 9 p.m. It's an effort to silence the community and right now the community is trying come back to life," Beltran said.

Over in Fort Lauderdale at American Social, one of four restaurants under the brand, which includes Brickell, Tampa and Orlando, has seen a steady flow of customers as Broward county did not enforce curfews in recent days.

"We're trying to run things as we were pre-COVID. We still have entertainment, live music, the DJs , some of the specials that we run," Paul Greenberg said.

And all of the owners said despite all that's going on they're still very optimistic that their restaurants will come back big once again.

"You have to go in with a positive mind. At the end of the day we have learned so many different things," Zapata said.

"We're going to forge ahead and we're going to get past COVID, and we're going to get back to a normalcy. Being together is something that restaurants do for everybody and we just love being a part of it," said Greenberg.

Keeping a positive attitude to make sure guests feel relaxed and safe is the goal to getting these tops spots back to where they once were.

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