“We are nervous. But we are going to go out swinging!!” Seeds owner Kjendal Hicks’ reply to a Monday email surveying local restaurants was the feistiest. She also shared the difficulty decision of laying off most of her staff.

For Cristal Perkins and Belen Arias, co-owners with their mom of Santo Coyote Mexican Kitchen, laying off half their staff Monday was the rough start to their day. Ted Furst, majority owner of Nell Thorn wrote that “the entire hourly staff is laid off,” on “standby” in Employment Security Department terminology. They can collect unemployment for eight we...