Being in the restaurant business is tough when employees are demanding more money and inflation is driving the cost of food and supplies up.

But, many Hoosier restaurants are having a tough time for other reasons, said Patrick Tamm, president of the Indiana Restaurant and Lodging Association.

“People are like, hey, how do I continue to pay people? How do I continue to fund my operations?” said Tamm, on Inside Indiana Business.

He said some restaurants were able to benefit from the $29 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund, while others did not. What you may not know about the fund, is that not every restaurant could get that federal money.

“There’s some restaurants that recovered some of their losses, versus others may have only received a fourth of what they were approved for or none of what they were approved for,” said Tamm. “Not everyone qualified. Not every restaurant even attempted to apply because they knew what the rules were and now we’re experiencing more of this cash crunch.”

Some restaurants qualified for special tax credits. But, they’re being taxed on those credits, some even before they received it.

A January survey of Indiana restaurants by the association says that half of the restaurants surveyed are behind on bills and six in ten are less profitable than before the pandemic.

And, the pandemic isn’t over.

“Restaurants, specifically those exposed to catering, have seen even here in the most recent variant issue, they were experiencing a great December and all of the sudden consumer behavior immediately changed,” said Tamm.

He said the association is asking both senators Braun and Young to co-sponsor a bill that would boost the Revitalization fund by about $50 billion, allowing more restaurants everywhere to benefit from more federal money.