In restaurants, a Blue Plate Special is known as a set meal offered at a reduced price. The way things are going now the industry may soon be referring to a “Blue State Special,” meaning the special circumstances of lockdown, consumer fear and labor shortages that help explain why so many restaurants are still empty in liberal areas.

Look at the data provided by OpenTable, the nation’s largest on-line reservation system for restaurants.

It shows the trend in restaurant reservations in the past week as compared with January 2019.

These numbers are shocking and industry analysts believe a new wave of closures is coming In the hospitality industry. While some Blue State restaurants have made up some their losses with takeout orders, they are still taking a big hit due to lower alcohol sales and smaller groups dining.

Most of the cities towards the bottom of the list – Minneapolis, Philly, San Francisco, NYC, Seattle, Chicago, New Orleans, and Boston – now have vaccinate mandates to eat in a restaurant.

We’ve said it before: Lockdowns are economy and small business killers. And now vaccine mandates are making things worse in Blue State America. The bad news if you live in a red state, you may have trouble getting Saturday night reservations.