Espita ran through its stock of guacamole on Saturday. Even though the Mexican restaurant was closed to in-house guests, orders flowed through Caviar, and customers lined up outside ready to take away food and cocktails. Still, co-owner Kelly Phillips says the day’s revenue was around $3,400, down sharply from the $20,000 the restaurant would expect on a typical Saturday.

“We don’t know if we’ll be able to pay ourselves on next payroll,” says Phillips, who laid off 47 people last week after D.C. restaurants were limited to takeout and delivery orders in an effort to tame the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She now has six people in the restaurant (most on salary) pumping orders as quickly—and as safely—as possible. “We don’t want to draw this large crowd of people that we can’t safely take care of,” she says.

Espita is just one of many D.C. restaurants that have been forced to adapt for survival over the past week.

At Seven Reasons, owner Ezequiel Vázquez-Ger had to quickly pivot away from the fine-dining model to try and stay afloat. He says a steady growth in orders has allowed the restaurant to go from five employees last week to 11 people working a combination of full- and part-time, including doing their own delivery instead of using a third-party vendor. If the trend continues, he hopes to be able to double that number within a few days. (Before the pandemic struck, Seven Reasons had 42 employees.)

It’s not just full-service restaurants that are feeling the strain. Fast-casual outlets are mixing up their offerings, too, even though most of them are already acclimated to takeout and delivery.

Navy Yard’s Rasa has committed to offering free meals to hospital staff and school children, all while operating on a lean staff. Community support has been strong, says co-founder Sahlil Rahman. Still, it’s not enough to make up for the losses.

“What is not working is that we are giving away 20-30 percent of each delivery sale in commission to our third-party delivery partners, which hits already tight margins, and creates a lot of pressure on restaurants,” says Rahman. The restaurant has decided to close on weekly on Mondays for the time being in order to let staff regroup. Sales will run Tuesday through Sunday.

At Chaia Tacos, the employee roster has dropped from 30 to three, and the vegetarian shop is doing everything it can to be creative and make money.

Yesterday, Chaia announced a new enchilada supper, serving meals for two or six for pick-up on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Customers can also take advantage of an expanded marketplace of bulk tortillas, rice, beans, and hot sauce.

“Let’s take the things we’re already making and repackage them in different ways so people can take them home,” says co-founder Bettina Stern.

As restaurants get accustomed to a whole new way of doing business, there have been some hurdles. Arepa Zone wrote in an email to customers that the Venezuelan eatery has “had to reinvent our logistics in order to get every single order out the door in a timely manner … Cooking is easy. Logistics have proven a little more challenging.”

Still other establishments have decided the equation of low profits, high effort, and very real health concerns weren’t worth the risk. Kith/Kin, Tail Up Goat, and Bad Saint are among the businesses choosing to forgo the potential of delivery and take-out business, per Eater DC.

Another challenge: even with advanced planning, businesses fear that circumstances could change at any moment—rumors swirl about more restrictive measures like a shelter-in-place.

“It’s a new world daily for us,” says chef and restaurateur Victor Albisu, who operates Poca Madre and five locations of Taco Bamba. He’s aiming to offer up some familiarity in uncertain times with build-your-own taco kits and other favorites from his restaurants, including beer and margaritas. Albisu declined to offer specific numbers about how the changes had affected staff.

“We will offer everything we can offer, as much as we can offer it,” he says, noting that his food supply chain has so far remained reliable. “We don’t have the power to stop something like this, but we do have the power of how we deal with it.”