News

DC restaurants extend Restaurant Week deals for 1st time to help during government shutdown

January 21, 2019

Washington, D.C. restaurants are being hit hard by the nation's partial government shutdown that has left more than 800,000 federal workers without paychecks. According to a report from WTOP in the nation's capitol, some restaurants in the greater D.C. area are reporting that their business has dropped by more than half and the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington told the media outlet that restaurant operators are reporting an average 20 percent decrease in business compared to this time last year.

Still, restaurants are also community organizations, so the RAMW reported that about 180 area restaurants are trying to help themselves and all those pay-strapped workers by extending the area's twice-yearly Restaurant Week deals through Jan. 27 for the first time. 

"Officially extending Restaurant Week is just one way the restaurant industry is showing support during the shutdown," RAMW CEO Kathy Hollinger, told WTOP. "The promotion is helping to lift spirits as it offers a dining deal to those impacted by the shutdown and as the Restaurant Week promotion drives traffic to restaurants who are experiencing a slowdown in business."

The biannual event launched after the 2011 terrorist attacks following a drop in business after that tragedy.