Pop-up restaurants may stick around as COVID sees resurgence

By MAE ANDERSON
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Pop-up restaurants, many started as stopgap measures by struggling chefs and owners, may have staying power as consumers continue to embrace takeout and delivery and the delta variant threatens to make dining in less of an option. Cheaper to operate than regular restaurants because they have less overhead and staffing costs, pop-ups let chefs and owners keep working during the pandemic when dining rooms were closed and the economy was teetering. Now, as re-openings across the country are threatened by a rise in COVID-19 cases due to the delta variant, pop-up creators and hosts are asking, “What next?”