The White House says a change in the annual event’s start date accounts for any dip in reservations. Restaurant and bar owners say the takeover has hurt business.
WASHINGTON — D.C.’s restaurant and bar owners say dining numbers in August, already a tough month for the city with Congress in recess, took a hit during the first week of the federal takeover of the District’s police force. But restaurant numbers rallied nearly 30% Monday as the city kicked off day one of its annual Summer Restaurant Week.
“I think it’s a combination of a little bit of everything,” Shawn Townsend, president and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW), told WUSA9 about last week’s dining numbers. “I don’t want to blame it all on, you know, public safety or the presence of federal agents on our corners, although we do think that it’s a deterrence. And, you know, I think we’re feeling it because of that. But also, we see this drop in reservations every year around this time.”
Last Monday, President Donald Trump announced he would invoke the D.C. Home Rule Act for the first time in history and federalize the city’s police department to address “rising crime” in the District. The administration has credited the takeover and a corresponding surge in federal law enforcement in the city with nearly 400 arrests last week, including 58 firearms arrests and 30 arrests for individuals with open warrants.
At the same time, dining and bar attendance also dropped in the city, according to interviews conducted by WUSA9 and data from the website OpenTable. Year-over-year, reservations were down over the whole week by roughly 24% on average.
Some of that drop can be explained by a change in the start date of Summer Restaurant Week, the annual event organized by RAMW to help restaurants through the August doldrums. Summer Restaurant Week 2025 began on Monday, while last year it started on Aug. 12. According to OpenTable, this year’s event saw a strong opening day – reservations were up 29% year-over-year compared to the same date in 2024.
In a statement, RAMW said Monday’s numbers are “encouraging signs of support from diners” in a challenging month:
“After OpenTable reported a sharp dip in reservations last week, the service yesterday recorded a 29% year-over-year increase. While operators remain cautious given ongoing challenges, this early uptick is a hopeful sign that diners are showing up for the District and its restaurants as we kick off Summer Restaurant Week.
Restaurant Week exists for moments like this. August is one of the slowest times of the year for restaurants. The event was created to bring diners back into dining rooms, drive traffic onto our streets, and give restaurants a much-needed boost. That’s why we expect to see reservations surge this week, and why a record 380+ restaurants are participating.“
The White House says Monday’s numbers show last week’s apparent drop was an apples-to-oranges comparison. In a statement posted to the social media site X, formerly Twitter, White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said attributing a drop in reservations to the federal takeover was fueling a “fake news narrative.”
Trump has credited the takeover for a boost in D.C. dining. During a press conference Monday, Trump said he has been personally thanked by people who haven’t felt safe enough to eat in D.C. before.
“People that haven’t gone out to dinner in Washington, D.C., in two years are going out to dinner,” Trump said. “And the restaurants the last two days were busier than they’ve been in a long time.”
But restaurant and bar owners WUSA9 spoke with this weekend said it’s clear to them the federal takeover has hurt their business.
“Friday was the worst Friday in history,” Mark Rutstein, co-owner of Crush Dance Bar, said. “We lost a little more than $15,000 that night.”
Crush is located at the intersection of 14th and U streets, a busy nightlife corridor which has seen patrols and checkpoints manned by FBI and Homeland Security agents over the past week, along with crowds of counter-protesters.
“They were checking people’s licenses, taillights and seat belts with immigration off to one side and Homeland [Security] investigations off to the other side,” Rutstein told WUSA9. “These last few days have been the worst sales we’ve had since we opened.”
David Perruzza, who owns Pitchers and A League of Her Own in Adams Morgan, said the typically lively neighborhood has been a “ghost town.”
Townsend told WUSA9 he hopes Summer Restaurant Week will help get “more butts in seats” this week.
“We can’t say it enough: Washington, D.C., is safe and open for business,” RAMW said in a statement. “Restaurants are prepared and eager to serve diners. We continue to support Mayor Bowser and local agencies on public safety effort, and we are proud of the progress made together in recent years.”
According to RAMW, a record number of D.C. restaurants – more than 350 – have signed up to participate this year. During the week diners can get brunch and lunch specials for either $25 or $35 and dinner specials for $40, $55 or $65. You can find out more about Summer Restaurant Week here.