BOND, DINING BOND In tough times, restaurants roll out a new investment opportunity: ‘Dining bonds’ Gift cards -- which offer much-needed liquidity to small businesses -- are a good way for consumers to help out cash-strapped companies during the dining shutdown. But a growing number of restaurants think “dining bonds” could be an even better way, and they’re banding together to sell them to customers. Dining bonds are just like government bonds Would-be diners buy a restaurant-issued bond for a discounted rate (usually 25% less), and then redeem it after a predetermined amount of time (typically 30-60 days) for a greater amount. So, for example, a buyer might purchase a bond from their favorite taqueria for $75 and then redeem it for $100 worth of burritos in 3 months. The restaurant biz is working together to sell these bad boys A group of New York restaurants launched a website called SupportRestaurants.org that is dedicated to the sale of dining bonds. As of yesterday, the website had already attracted 142 partner restaurants to its platform (hungry readers can find a map of the restaurants, which are located across the US, here). Support Restaurants.org is a non-profit that does not collect fees from its partners. Participating restaurants set their own terms for the sale and redemption of these bonds (if you own or work at a restaurant and want to get involved, go here). And the model could work for other industries, too One site, called Help Main Street, offers consumers an interactive list of local businesses that are still selling gift cards. from Hustle