Business in the evenings and on weekends helps, but their bread and butter comes from the day-to-day foot traffic of workers over the noon hour, said Greg Edwards, CEO of Catch Des Moines. And that has yet to return in a substantial way.
To see the stark effect of the pandemic, visit Local Bites on a weekday at lunch. At its peak, the counter-service food court at 700 Locust St. saw 1,200 people come through each day, patronizing vendors offering options ranging from Chinese to Mexican to burgers.
Today, it s lucky to see 120, said Jesse Bunney, director of operations. It s abysmal, he said.
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