FAIRPORT, N.Y. — Pandemic relief for small businesses has come in waves and splashes. New York has given a billion dollars this year. Some restaurants have received a bit of it. 

Eateries were to be boosted when the state green-lit to-go alcohol sales. But a lot of restaurants didn't get that aid and even more of the places you enjoy supporting in your community are exhausting themselves trying to survive without post-COVID aid.

Anthony Dapice owns The Porterhouse steak and seafood restaurant in Fairport. He has run restaurants in the city and the suburbs. He took a chance here on a place with a location he couldn't refuse, along the Erie Canal.

"Which is a steakhouse, the first in Perinton, in Fairport, and great service," said Dapice. "So it's a combination of all three."

A dining deck on the waterfront draws crowds in the warm months. It was an addition that helped Anthony make it seven years in business at his steakhouse.

"Which was awesome and we made it through COVID, made it through the bridge closing for almost two and a half years and two seasons of winter," said Dapice. "So it was really tough, but we made it."

Dapice kept cooking without receiving help from the federal government's pandemic relief fund. 

"It went to women and minorities first," Dapice said. "I just think that when they came up with the dollar amount they just came up way short of what they thought would fund the entire country because so many businesses have closed across the country."

"There were a lot of places they did get a big chunk of change," said chef Scott Wilson. "You know, he struggled and made it."

But it pushed this restauranteur to the professional and personal brink. Just three establishments in the Finger Lakes region received big help from the pandemic relief fund in 2021.

As this business turns toward its seasonal lighter time, Dapice and others will reduce staff and hours and wait for the spring thaw.

"It's, you know, six months out of the year where we're jam-packed, we're full to capacity, we have to turn away people and in the wintertime, we're begging people to come down," said Dapice.

As he keeps freshening up his menu, Dapice waits to see if the relief others got during COVID will arrive.

"It would just set us up to live so comfortably and just keep on pushing and keep on pushing, which is everybody's life story," Dapice said. "Gotta keep on pushing otherwise you're not going to make it."

The three restaurants that earned restaurant revitalization fund awards serve in Canandaigua, Romulus, and, interestingly, across the street from The Porterhouse in Fairport in a place that has yet to even open. The aid ranged from $90,000 to $149,000.

Dapice is waiting for his original application to be considered. He's among the 95% of proprietors who received nothing after seeking grants that provide funds to hire workers and pay bills.

The New York State Restaurant Association expanded its Emergency Injury Disaster Loan program for those struggling post-COVID.

Empire State Development's pandemic effort has already closed.