HALIFAX A disastrous year for the restaurant industry in the Maritimes continues, as restaurants, bars and cafes that survived the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic are now trying to stay afloat during the second wave. The director of Saint John’s uptown district says restaurants and bars are struggling in a big way, at a time when business is usually strong. “They usually are making hay now, and then that puts them through for the first quarter, and that gets them toward the spring and into the patio season,” says Nancy Tissington, the executive director of Uptown Saint John.