Tables remain empty outside of many restaurants along the Rockaway peninsula, even on one of the most popular weekends of the year.

"It’s the busy season and I am slow, what am I going to do in the winter to pay the bills?” questioned John Mazzola, who owns La Sorrentina, an Italian eatery on beach 129th Street.

Mazzola and other restaurant owners in the Rockaways say their struggles during the coronavirus crisis have been two-fold.

They say the combination of limited outdoor dining and a shortened beach season has crippled the foot traffic they rely on to help them pay bills for the rest of the year.

"We expected to do about 60 percent of our year's business in June, July and August. I don't think we have done that,” added Chris Miles, part owner at Batesy's BBQ.

Miles opened his BBQ joint at the end of last summer just down the block from the Beach 67 Street Station.

While the restaurant is new to Arverne, Miles is not and he says this summer has been different from summers past.

"You can tell there is not as many people, not as many people taking the train. A lot of people going up to Riis Park and parking up there because they are driving. So you know, obviously it is not the same,” added Miles.

It is a similar problem for The Last Stop Gourmet Shop on Beach 116th Street, named after its prime location next to the final stop on the A train. Carlos Lazo has owned the restaurant for last 14 years and says normally it’s been a place people stop to eat either going to or from the beach.

"Look at this, right now there is nobody. Nobody on the train, nobody on the busses. Nobody in the street,” said Lazo.

Restaurant owners say another challenge has been losing customers to nearby beach towns in Nassau County that are less than a half-hour drive away and offer indoor dining. Especially on days when the weather is bad.

"20 minutes, 20 minutes. My customers go there, they go to Long Beach to eat. They go, ‘John, we want to come to you, but 20 minutes is not far for me,’” said Mazzola.

Restaurant owners say they are hoping and praying for a few more nice weekends. When asked what they will do in the slower months, most who spoke up say they are unsure. But many are in agreement; they don't know how much longer they can keep the lights on if indoor dinning isn't allowed soon.