‘The city is dead’: D.C. restaurant reservations drop amid federal crackdown

[Anonymous]

Trump is the reason this is happening. I can’t even step foot into dc without the orange thug crossing my mind, taking away my appetite. It’s obvious this is all the fault of maga and I can’t even think straight when I’m trying to sit down and talk to my small liberal arts college friends in Takoma park. The humanity!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 90 closed this year. 70 last year. 2026 probably will close 100 more. They can't afford to pay the wages and stay open.

WFH is killing them.

Not anymore. I just no longer want to go into DC since the National Guard has occupied it. It's just too depressing, between that and half the white house torn down.

Some of my coworkers, who are foreign nationals and here legally, are afraid to go into DC as well, since they are brown.

I’m not a trump apologist at all, but frankly find this ridiculous. I live in Logan Circle and there aren’t that many national guard walking around.

That's fine. But I don't live or work in DC and used to come from the suburbs on the weekends to eat out or go to an event. Just find it too depressing now and want to hunker down at home.

I live and work in DC and now I go out more often. I used to hunker down when I was much more likely to get car jacked in broad daylight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trump is the reason this is happening. I can’t even step foot into dc without the orange thug crossing my mind, taking away my appetite. It’s obvious this is all the fault of maga and I can’t even think straight when I’m trying to sit down and talk to my small liberal arts college friends in Takoma park. The humanity!

Awwww, bless your widdle heart!

[Anonymous]

Trump sucks and the NG occupation is absurd but restaurants are closing because their business model shifted post-Covid and a lot of places couldn't find a way to adjust. It's not necessarily on the restaurant owners -- in some cases there was likely no way to fix the model to make it profitable.

The move is towards more delivery and carry out, and if you want people to come in you need to offer either excellent service (real services, not QR code ordering and a couple runners while also tacking on a 20% service charge) or good value. A lot of places basically can't do this because of their location, the set up of their kitchen, the challenge in hiring really strong customer service, or (and this is the big one) the price of rent.

That's why a place like Union Market is booming. The two markets there offer inexpensive rent to smaller businesses without having to maintain a dining room or offer full service. But the critical mass of upper income people (thanks to both the markets and the huge number of both luxury condos and hotels in the area now), you can also keep a nicer, full service spot like St. Anselm plenty busy. Plus it's a desirable neighborhood to work in for bartenders, servers, and cooks because it's young with lots of amenities and is very close to a metro stop. Plus they have parking.

Yes even Union Market has seen closures but that's natural turnover. Shouk was decent but it's location was a little tucked away and they got overshadowed by other options especially as a fast casual spot (most people would just go to La Cosecha a half block away for other casual options and way more variety). But their closure allowed the popular Stellina pizzeria to do a much needed expansion, and that place is always hopping and has great visibility on the corner where you can see it from the TJ's entrance. Meanwhile, a few doors down, there's a new noodle place we've been to twice that is a very smart model -- lots of affordable options but a really fun, busy atmosphere and a full service bar. It fills a niche.

I get that people get attached to restaurants and fear the economic decline that closures might indicate. But it really looks to me more like a bit of a sea change in what restaurant demand looks like, and also where the focus of nightlife in the city is, and the landscape adjusting to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 90 closed this year. 70 last year. 2026 probably will close 100 more. They can't afford to pay the wages and stay open.

WFH is killing them.

Not anymore. I just no longer want to go into DC since the National Guard has occupied it. It's just too depressing, between that and half the white house torn down.

Some of my coworkers, who are foreign nationals and here legally, are afraid to go into DC as well, since they are brown.

I’m not a trump apologist at all, but frankly find this ridiculous. I live in Logan Circle and there aren’t that many national guard walking around.

That's fine. But I don't live or work in DC and used to come from the suburbs on the weekends to eat out or go to an event. Just find it too depressing now and want to hunker down at home.

DP, but I also think the economic effects of DOGE are playing a big role. I’m a fed married to a contractor. Between months of wondering if we’d have jobs followed by 43 days without pay (and who knows what is coming in the new year), we’re not exactly going out to eat a lot. And when we do it’s going to be nearby in Arlington where we live, not DC.

I had to RTO to DC (“returning” to an office I had never been to in my decade-long career) where I get to see the joyous presence of the NG and it’s actually made me less likely to want to go into DC on the weekends. It used to be fun to pop into the city a couple times per month for a show or dinner out. But now I’m like meh, I want to stay close to home b/c I’m tired from the commute. So contrary to what Bowser hoped for, I spend way less $ in DC than I used to. And sadly I have no interest in going to whatever the F the “Trump-Kennedy Center” is becoming. I feel sad for the longtime performers there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trump is the reason this is happening. I can’t even step foot into dc without the orange thug crossing my mind, taking away my appetite. It’s obvious this is all the fault of maga and I can’t even think straight when I’m trying to sit down and talk to my small liberal arts college friends in Takoma park. The humanity!

I just can’t get my arms around people who are afraid to come into the city now that it is demonstrably safer. It’s some sort of self loathing psychological disorder. I’m starting to think TDS may actually be a legitimate mental disorder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump is the reason this is happening. I can’t even step foot into dc without the orange thug crossing my mind, taking away my appetite. It’s obvious this is all the fault of maga and I can’t even think straight when I’m trying to sit down and talk to my small liberal arts college friends in Takoma park. The humanity!

I just can’t get my arms around people who are afraid to come into the city now that it is demonstrably safer. It’s some sort of self loathing psychological disorder. I’m starting to think TDS may actually be a legitimate mental disorder.

Umm, I’m pretty sure that you aren’t getting the sarcasm. Hint for identifying sarcasm in the future, “The humanity”. Happy to help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump is the reason this is happening. I can’t even step foot into dc without the orange thug crossing my mind, taking away my appetite. It’s obvious this is all the fault of maga and I can’t even think straight when I’m trying to sit down and talk to my small liberal arts college friends in Takoma park. The humanity!

I just can’t get my arms around people who are afraid to come into the city now that it is demonstrably safer. It’s some sort of self loathing psychological disorder. I’m starting to think TDS may actually be a legitimate mental disorder.

Umm, I’m pretty sure that you aren’t getting the sarcasm. Hint for identifying sarcasm in the future, “The humanity”. Happy to help.

Ya never know on this board

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 90 closed this year. 70 last year. 2026 probably will close 100 more. They can't afford to pay the wages and stay open.

WFH is killing them.

Not anymore. I just no longer want to go into DC since the National Guard has occupied it. It's just too depressing, between that and half the white house torn down.

Some of my coworkers, who are foreign nationals and here legally, are afraid to go into DC as well, since they are brown.

I’m not a trump apologist at all, but frankly find this ridiculous. I live in Logan Circle and there aren’t that many national guard walking around.

Took my young grandson out to breakfast in DC. Just crap seeing armed NG across the street.

I had to ride the metro with them. So scary! Even the homeless wouldn't get into the car with me.

That sounds glorious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump is the reason this is happening. I can’t even step foot into dc without the orange thug crossing my mind, taking away my appetite. It’s obvious this is all the fault of maga and I can’t even think straight when I’m trying to sit down and talk to my small liberal arts college friends in Takoma park. The humanity!

I just can’t get my arms around people who are afraid to come into the city now that it is demonstrably safer. It’s some sort of self loathing psychological disorder. I’m starting to think TDS may actually be a legitimate mental disorder.

Is it safer now? I got out of the habit of going into the city due to the carjackings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump is the reason this is happening. I can’t even step foot into dc without the orange thug crossing my mind, taking away my appetite. It’s obvious this is all the fault of maga and I can’t even think straight when I’m trying to sit down and talk to my small liberal arts college friends in Takoma park. The humanity!

I just can’t get my arms around people who are afraid to come into the city now that it is demonstrably safer. It’s some sort of self loathing psychological disorder. I’m starting to think TDS may actually be a legitimate mental disorder.

Is it safer now? I got out of the habit of going into the city due to the carjackings.

With MPD falsifying stats, I don’t think so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump is the reason this is happening. I can’t even step foot into dc without the orange thug crossing my mind, taking away my appetite. It’s obvious this is all the fault of maga and I can’t even think straight when I’m trying to sit down and talk to my small liberal arts college friends in Takoma park. The humanity!

I just can’t get my arms around people who are afraid to come into the city now that it is demonstrably safer. It’s some sort of self loathing psychological disorder. I’m starting to think TDS may actually be a legitimate mental disorder.

Is it safer now? I got out of the habit of going into the city due to the carjackings.

With MPD falsifying stats, I don’t think so.

That's what I figured, hard to say anymore, although I don't trust the crime statistics in the suburbs nowadays either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump is the reason this is happening. I can’t even step foot into dc without the orange thug crossing my mind, taking away my appetite. It’s obvious this is all the fault of maga and I can’t even think straight when I’m trying to sit down and talk to my small liberal arts college friends in Takoma park. The humanity!

I just can’t get my arms around people who are afraid to come into the city now that it is demonstrably safer. It’s some sort of self loathing psychological disorder. I’m starting to think TDS may actually be a legitimate mental disorder.

It is as safe as it always has been, certainly not "demonstrably" safer. Sheesh, performative NG troops on high traffic tourist areas makes no difference to the safety in the rest of the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump is the reason this is happening. I can’t even step foot into dc without the orange thug crossing my mind, taking away my appetite. It’s obvious this is all the fault of maga and I can’t even think straight when I’m trying to sit down and talk to my small liberal arts college friends in Takoma park. The humanity!

I just can’t get my arms around people who are afraid to come into the city now that it is demonstrably safer. It’s some sort of self loathing psychological disorder. I’m starting to think TDS may actually be a legitimate mental disorder.

It is as safe as it always has been, certainly not "demonstrably" safer. Sheesh, performative NG troops on high traffic tourist areas makes no difference to the safety in the rest of the city.

You’ve seen seen tourists at the Anacostia Metro station and in Mount Pleasant?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over 90 closed this year. 70 last year. 2026 probably will close 100 more. They can't afford to pay the wages and stay open.

WFH is killing them.

Not anymore. I just no longer want to go into DC since the National Guard has occupied it. It's just too depressing, between that and half the white house torn down.

Some of my coworkers, who are foreign nationals and here legally, are afraid to go into DC as well, since they are brown.

I’m not a trump apologist at all, but frankly find this ridiculous. I live in Logan Circle and there aren’t that many national guard walking around.

That's fine. But I don't live or work in DC and used to come from the suburbs on the weekends to eat out or go to an event. Just find it too depressing now and want to hunker down at home.

I live and work in DC and now I go out more often. I used to hunker down when I was much more likely to get car jacked in broad daylight.

You are full of shit. Those of us who actually live and work in DC haven’t been afraid to do anything within reason (yeah, I will admit that I am not walking or driving around Anacostia at 2am).