The restaurant revitalization fund has the potential to drive recovery in the restaurant sector after a full year of severe dislocation—and it will likely provide better support than the PPP could. That's because the fund comes with narrow guidelines about the restaurants that can access the money—focusing on small operations that have a clear path to recovery—and how they can use the money. Namely, advance rent and debt payments aren't on the list.

"The fund is not intended to save anyone that is not going to make it," Marbet Lewis, founding partner at Spiritus Law, tells GlobeSt.com. "The eligibility requirements prevent the business from being permanently closed. So, it is not intended to get anyone out of debt. It is really geared toward businesses that made it out of the pandemic and now need a little boost to help them get back to a position where they are starting to make a profit. This fund comes at a perfect time for this industry."

In many ways this new fund will also help to offset costs that restaurant owners incurred as a result of the pandemic. "Last year, a lot of restaurants' costs increased dramatically during the pandemic, and I think a lot of people didn't realize that," adds Lewis. "They had to invest in PPE; they had to invest in redesigning their floor plans; they had to invest in online technology. Those businesses that are coming out of the pandemic made those investments to survive."