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Small South African businesses, and restaurants, in particular, have taken a massive financial knock over the last two months due to extreme physical distancing measures during the lockdown.

While some have managed to keep afloat with deliveries, allowed under alert level 4, many have had to close their doors forever.

Were not alone in this regard. Restaurants, cafes and bars all over the world have had to shut their doors, and some will never reopen.

If they managed to make it onto Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s favourite places to eat, however, things are looking up.

Per SFGATE:

Eight of Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s favorite [San Francisco] Bay Area restaurants got a huge boost: $100,000 [roughly R1,8 million] each to help weather the coronavirus pandemic.

Image: Peter Barreras/ Invision/ AP

The Facebook CEO and his wife, a pediatrician who helms the couple’s philanthropy through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, contacted the restaurants personally via email to let them know they’d be getting a donation.

It’s rare that Zuckerberg appears in a story where he has done something right, so this is refreshing.

The eight eateries are:

• Dohatsuten, a ramen and Japanese tapas restaurant in Palo Alto (pictured above)
• Palo Alto Sol, a Mexican restaurant in Palo Alto.
• Fuki Sushi, a Palo Alto Japanese restaurant (along with Palo Alto Sol, they catered the couple’s wedding in 2012)
• Chef Chu’s, a Cantonese restaurant in Los Altos.
• Vesta, a wood-fired pizza spot in Redwood City.
• Sushi Sam’s Edomata, a sushi restaurant in San Mateo.
• La Ciccia, an Italian eatery in Noe Valley.
• The Liberties Bar & Grill, a neighbourhood pub on Guerrero Street.

As you would imagine, the restaurants are very grateful for the donation.

Seiko Alba, owner of Dohatsuten, told Palo Alto Online when she received the email from Zuckerberg she initially thought it was a scam.

Further correspondence revealed that it was, in fact, real, and the money was coming shortly for the small business owner.

“Thanks to Mark and Priscilla, we can keep going,” she said.

The money is for whatever the eateries need to keep going, from rent to free meals for healthcare workers. Both Chef Chu’s and Dohatsuten often post about meal deliveries to hospitals and police departments.

Once this pandemic is over, I’m sure Zuckerberg will never pay for a meal again.

[source:sfgate]