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

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[quote=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.[/quote]

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