One Restaurant’s Story Shows How Recession Spreads

For nearly a generation, Larry La never even turned off the lights at his popular Chinese restaurant in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just a few miles from the White House. Politicians like former President Bill Clinton were regulars.

Now La is hoping he doesn't have to turn off the lights for good. He's already had to lay off three dozen workers and defer his rent.

La, who is Chinese by way of Vietnam, likens fighting the coronavirus to fighting a foreign enemy.

“I was born and grew up in a war zone," he told Bloomberg News. "This is a totally different war zone."

This is a story about one restaurant struggling to survive. It's also the story of what happens when even one restaurant closes and the ripple effects down the line, from the workers to the growers to the truck drivers.

Read the full story here.