Pop-up restaurants, many started as stopgap measures by struggling chefs and owners, may have staying power as consumers continue to embrace takeout and delivery and the delta variant threatens to make dining in less of an option.

Pop-up restaurants can take a variety of forms, from a ramen maker appearing for one-night only at an established bar or restaurant, to a taco maker using an unused space to temporarily host diners, to a chef offering meatballs for delivery only.

Cheaper to operate than regular restaurants because they have less overhead and staffing costs, pop-ups let chefs and owners keep working and making a living during the early part of the pandemic when dining rooms were closed and the economy was teetering. They’ve helped bring buzz to existing restaurants that host them. And some have even morphed into permanent new businesses.

Now, as re-openings across the country are threatened by a rise in COVID-19 cases, pop-up creators and hosts are asking, “What next?”

The restaurant industry has been one of the hardest-hit during the pandemic. It is still down 1 million jobs from the pre-pandemic employment level of 12.3 million. Restaurant sales in 2020 totaled $659 million, down $240 million from expected levels, according to the National Restaurant Federation. Sales rebounded this year as the economy recovered and restrictions were lifted, but now some economists are paring back expectations for U.S. economic growth, partly because they expect fewer people to dine out.

“2021 is definitely a year of transition for the restaurant industry,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research for the National Restaurant Federation. “The industry is still being substantially challenged by the COVID situation.”

Pop-ups can be a way to attract attention for new projects. William Eick bought a building to start his own restaurant in Oceanside, California earlier this year, but initially had trouble finding investors.

“Most people worried about getting involved in restaurants during the pandemic,” he said. “So, we had to get creative. I thought, if we can run a pop up, we can put the proceeds and profits into building the restaurant.”

In May he started Naegi, a pop-up serving fried chicken sandwiches from a window in the building he bought. The pop-up helped bring awareness to the permanent restaurant, Matsu, a more traditional Japanese restaurant with a tasting menu, which will open in a few weeks.

“It helped bring a lot of awareness, it helped start spreading word of mouth more than what we ever thought it would do,” he said. He doesn’t anticipate another lockdown coming to Oceanside, but if it does, he will just continue to operate Naegi, he said.

For Marisa Iocco, who co-owns Italian restaurant Spiga Ristorante in Needham, a pop-up was a way to stay positive during the pandemic. She opened Polpettiamo in April 2021 in Providence, Rhode Island. It serves only meatballs, and just for takeout.

“During the pandemic it was a very challenging to survive,” she said. The meatballs – which are also offered as appetizers at Spiga – are created in the kitchen at her main restaurant and finished in a kitchen in Providence, which has a staff of three.

She is considering a brick-and-mortar location in Providence and another delivery-only location in Boston and doesn’t expect rising cases or future lockdowns will change those plans. But more than anything, creating something new during the pandemic gave her a “vitamin B12 shot” of energy.

“It really helps keep your mood positive,” she said.