(Yicai Global) March 6 -- Restaurants across Shanghai are gradually reopening their doors as coronavirus fears wane. But it will take some time for business to return to normal. It is touch and go for many eateries as they struggle to carry on after incurring huge losses over the long period of closure.

"It will take a while for customer flows to return to normal," the manager of French Michelin-starred L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon on the iconic Bund strip told Yicai Global. The Paris-based firm's two Shanghai restaurants were back in business this week after being shut for more than a month.

"We have lost around CNY6.5 million (USD934,611) this past month," the manager said. At one point the restaurant could sell takeaways through its branch in the Jing'an Temple area, she said. But income from takeouts came to less than CNY10,000 (USD1,440) a day, not enough to cover running costs, she added.

"No matter how virulent the virus, life needs to go on," said an expatriate dining at a French restaurant in Xintiandi, Shanghai's landmark restaurant and shopping destination.

Queues are beginning to form outside restaurants at lunchtime, said a real estate worker based in Xintiandi, adding that that is a sign that business is picking up.

But many restaurants at the city's five-star hotels, including the Puli and the Peninsula, are still shut. Just one Japanese eatery is open at the Shanghai Edition Hotel on the city's main Nanjing East Road.

"Only the café in the hotel lobby is open for business at the moment," the Peninsula Shanghai's executive chef told Yicai Global. The hotel's two restaurants will remain closed until at least March 30, he said.

Close to the Brink

As more and more firms return to work the demand for food and beverages will climb, but that day might be out of reach for many restaurants teetering on the edge.

"The local government has introduced some policies, including delaying social security payments for staff, but they can't ease the financial strain," said one restaurant manager. "We need more bank loans."

"Cutting or waiving rents will definitely help a lot in mitigating our difficulties," Joel Robuchon's manager said.

"Some large property firms can reduce or waive rent, but our landlord is smaller and is not able to offer us any subsidies," the owner of a Japanese restaurant in Shanghai's Putuo district told Yicai Global. "We need to pay our employees' salaries. Money will be a very big problem if turnover remains at a standstill."

The restaurant re-opened for business on Feb. 20. "We still mostly sell takeaways. There are only a few tables of eat-in customers each day," the owner said. "Fortunately, our discounted combo meal during lunch hour is quite popular, but business remains quiet at night."

A high-end restaurant on Wukang Road has seen turnover slump 80 percent, according to Jerome, its boss. "But we still have to pay our employees full wage, which makes cash flow very tight."

"We hope the public can have more faith in the catering industry," Joel Robuchon's manager said. "Many restaurants are making great efforts to take precautions to ensure the health of customers."

Editors Chen Juan, Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor