For bars and restaurants, it's a time of ka-ching

People drink beer outside a pub at Euljiro, central Seoul, on May 11. [NEWS1]

Alleys with restaurants and bars are bustling again with the lifting of social distancing restrictions, and the pandemic almost feels like a thing of the past.

Mr. Jang, a 30-year-old who runs a wine bar in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, said business recently rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.

“Sales started to rise starting at the end of last year, and really began to jump in March,” said Jang. “My business is doing really well as more people come for hoesik.” Hoesik refers to after-work dinners with coworkers that often feature alcohol.

For a while, hoesik was a kind of forbidden activity with restrictions on restaurant operating hours and the size of private gatherings.

The vaccine pass system was suspended March 1, allowing unvaccinated people to eat with others at restaurants and bars. They were previously only allowed to eat alone or had to present proof of a negative polymerase chain reaction test conducted within 48 hours to eat with others.

Daily Covid-19 cases ranged between 300,000 to 400,000 in March, but that didn't stop people from going out.

“After-work dinners from companies rose a lot,” said Kim Sam-hee, a researcher at the Korea Foodservice Institute. “There was still a huge increase in the number of [Omicron] cases, but restaurants did well due to eased social distancing regulations and more people coming outside due to better weather.”

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, restaurant sales rose to an average 10.2 million won ($8,000) in March, an 18.3 percent increase from February. That figure leaves out sales from takeout orders from delivery applications. However, compared to a year earlier the figure was down 0.8 percent.

Specifically in Seoul, restaurant sales rose 21.8 percent on month and 3.6 percent on year to 18.6 million won.

Sales at bars nationwide rose 26 percent on month and 9 percent on year to average 7.68 million won, benefiting from a one-hour extension of the business curfew to 11 p.m.

April's figures are supposed to be even better due to the lifting of restrictions on restaurant operating hours and private gathering starting April 18.

Based on card payment data compiled by KB Kookmin Card, payments at noraebang (singing rooms), restaurants, theaters and art exhibits between April 18 and May 8 rose 60 percent compared to the period between last December 18 and February 18, when there still was a 9 p.m. business curfew.

Looking at payments made between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. during the same period, payments in Itaewon in Yongsan District, central Seoul rose the most, by 198 percent.

Areas near universities also enjoyed more customers at night.

Pil-dong in Jung District, central Seoul, where Dongguk University is located, saw payments rise 96 percent during the same period. Sageun-dong in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul where Hanyang University is located, saw payments rise 89 percent. At Anam-dong, northern Seoul, where Korea University is, the figure rose 86 percent.

Customers are coming back, and some businesses are eligible for a subsidy.

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration proposed a record 59.4-trillion-won supplementary budget on May 12, which is supposed to finance subsidies of 6 to 10 million won to each small business owner to compensate for their struggles during the pandemic.

“Sales of restaurants in April would have rose about 20 percent compared to early this year and will rise even more in May, although the number could vary by region,” said Kim Young-gap, a professor of restaurant business management at Hanyang Cyber University.

“Sales numbers will make it seem like business owners are recovering from the pandemic, but the increase in food ingredient costs and labor costs could mean they're still struggling.”

BY JEONG JIN-HO [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]