Restaurants Find a New Way

Restaurants Find a New Way

Restaurants across the country are scrambling.

They're getting as creative as they can to continue doing business, even while most of them are physically closed to the public, just to be able to see the light of day when the country is ready to resume normal life.

One recent initiative, a "dining bonds" collective, offers a kind of investment model in which would-be customers buy gift cards or certificates, or "bonds," at a discount to redeem at a higher value when the restaurant reopens.

For example, a customer would purchase a $100 bond for $75 to use in a few weeks but would give the restaurant cash immediately to use for its basic daily operations.