Because we're all about studies and stats around here, here's one from
Fortune magazine.
I'll highlight a few parts for the TLDR coverage:
It should come as no surprise then that many restaurants were forced to shutter in 2020, but the numbers are still shocking. More than 110,000 eating and drinking establishments in the United States closed for business—temporarily or permanently—last year, with nearly 2.5 million jobs erased from pre-pandemic levels, according to the
National Restaurant Association. And restaurant and foodservice industry sales fell by $240 billion in 2020 from an expected level of $899 billion.
Of restaurants that closed permanently in 2020, the majority were established businesses and fixtures in their communities; these eateries had been in business, on average, for 16 years, and 16% had been open for at least 30 years. Within this subgroup, these restaurants employed an average of 32 people; and 17% employed at least 50 people before they closed.
I'm sure the number would have been higher than 110k, that quite a few others did make it through, but it's not like every one of them had that ability.