A restaurant owner in White Plains had to layoff dozens of employees since the pandemic hit, but the business is slowly starting to rebound.

Peter Herrero, owner of Sam's of Gedney Way says pre-COVID, the restaurant had nearly 100 employees. They had to drop to 15 employees and now the restaurant has 22 employees.

The hospitality and food services industry has been hit especially hard by the pandemic. CNBC says the industry lost 498,000 jobs in December.

The food services sub-sector accounted for 372,000 of that net loss.

President-elect Joe Biden says he knows those industries are hurting and vows to help once in office.

Herrero is putting in new windows and new ventilation unit to prepare for brighter days ahead.

"After 40 years of being in the industry, I do believe we will come back smarter, stronger," he said.