This is a multi-fold problem, and some of it is inherently political. And some is just basic economics.
I have some friends that own a local eatery - mid-scale, local gathering place, decent food and a good bar, and they've thrown in the towel. When we last spoke, they were describing the out of pocket costs just to reopen including restocking the food supply, hiring and paying staff with very limited receipts at first startup - they decided they didn't want to go back into debt for this. The $ involved really surprised me, and they weren't exaggerating.
The restaurant industry was already on the verge of collapse, pre-COVID. COVID just sped up Restaurant Darwinism with respect to quite a number of places that won't reopen.
Staff that might want to work in restaurants just can't afford to. Between limited service hours and limited capacity, the net take home pay might not even cover basic expenses. In places with the tipped minimum wage, it is probably even worse. In the SF Bay Area, public transit remains severely curtailed - frequency and hours. Many restaurant workers commute from substantial distances - and now can't even work a dinner shift and take BART home. And then there's a child care component for some.
And the restaurants, for the most part, don't have another dime to contribute to wages. I hope the credit that ... mentions above makes a substantial dent in keeping some of the industry afloat during this recovery period.