A wave of high-profile restaurant closures in D.C.鈥檚 Downtown, Chinatown, Penn Quarter and other nearby neighborhoods have left many in the industry questioning whether the city can fully recover from reshaped dining habits, office culture and higher labor costs.
Within the last six months, a variety of restaurants in that core have closed: Cranes, Arrels, Michele’s, and Tonari this year, with Tony Cheng’s, Kinship and 惭茅迟颈别谤 shuttering in late 2025. The reasons behind these notable closures vary, but several restaurateurs who spoke to 小萝莉影视 point to the same pressures in reshaping the city’s dining industry.
Near the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 惭茅迟颈别谤, which was once dubbed 鈥渢he best restaurant in Washington鈥� by , closed in December 2025 after 10 years of service. Kinship, located above the space, closed at the same time.
Eric Ziebold, formerly chef-owner of Kinship and 惭茅迟颈别谤, told 小萝莉影视 that he closed his restaurants because he 鈥渃ouldn’t find an environment that made sense to resign a lease currently with the state of things.鈥�
鈥淚n the post-pandemic world, people aren’t going downtown as regularly as they used to,鈥� said Ziebold, who attributed this to workers not returning to offices, traffic, crime and parking issues.
Ziebold also said he hesitated to extend his restaurant lease because of Initiative 82, which aims to raise the minimum wage of tipped workers, including restaurant employees, from the current $10 to $17.50 by 2027. The policy has become a flashpoint for restaurateurs, many of whom say rapidly changing labor costs make long-term planning difficult.
Although D.C. voters approved Initiative 82 in 2022, the D.C. Council voted to pause the increase of tipped minimum wage in the city in June 2025. The D.C. Council so minimum wage would increase to 75% of the city’s minimum wage by 2034.
鈥淗ow do you sign an extension when you have no idea of how you’re supposed to pay your employees?鈥� Ziebold said.
‘DC has changed’
For Jeffrey Bank, owner and CEO of The Alicart Restaurant Group, which owns Carmine’s in Penn Quarter, 鈥淒.C. has its challenges and has great opportunities also.鈥�
Carmine’s is known as one of the largest 鈥� 鈥� restaurant in the District with 20,000 square feet of space and 800 seats.
Bank said his restaurant has seen success over the last 16 years, thanks to how the space accommodates dine-in guests, takeout and catering with nine private dining rooms and a banquet hall.
鈥淒.C. has changed,鈥� he told 小萝莉影视. “D.C. has been the one (city) that has had the most changes of lots going on.”
Bank said these changes include fewer workers returning to the office (though more jobs are requiring workers to return to the office), perceptions about crime and public safety, and the Capital One Arena renovations.
Data finds some improvement
Data from the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) suggests some indicators are improving.
The 鈥淪tate of Downtown D.C.鈥� 2025 report highlights that office attendance in the area jumped in 2025. From March through December, office attendance was 48%, up 4% from the previous time frame in 2024.
During the fall, when federal job cuts went into effect and the federal government shutdown occurred, office attendance growth slowed, but聽鈥渞ates remained above their 2024 average,鈥� according to the report.
The report also noted a 2.5% increase in overall foot traffic in Downtown D.C., when comparing data against 2025 numbers.
What the future could look like
In Chinatown, Moon Rabbit Chef-Owner Kevin Tien said, 鈥淲e, as restaurant owners, haven’t been able to increase the cost of our product or services equally over time. 鈥� I don’t think the public is ready to pay for the true cost of food.鈥�
鈥淎 lot of places, you can’t really charge more than $12 to $15 for dessert because I think the shock value for the guests, they wouldn’t want to order dessert,鈥� Tien said.
For Bank, he鈥檚 hopeful for when the Capital One Arena fully reopens and when for residential or other uses.
鈥淚 think the future is great,鈥� Bank said.
Tien said he is also happy to see retail openings in the neighborhood, like Barnes & Noble on F Street NW and H&M on G Street NW. These types of openings offer new incentives for locals and tourists to visit.
鈥淭here needs to be a reason for people to want to be downtown and walk downtown, other than just coming into the office for work or going to a concert,鈥� Tien said.
For some restaurateurs, D.C. still represents opportunity.
For others like Ziebold, the uncertainty surrounding labor, commuting patterns and the city鈥檚 long-term identity has made investing in another lease feel like too much of a gamble.
Ziebold said he doesn鈥檛 plan on opening another restaurant in D.C. 鈥渦ntil a clear direction鈥� emerges for the city.
鈥淚’m not going to bring any businesses back to Washington until Washington decides what’s going to be the model for a consistent period of time,鈥� Ziebold said. 鈥淐hanging how you’re going to pay your employees every two years doesn’t work. I don’t get to renegotiate my lease every two years.鈥�
Downtown D.C. BID President and CEO Gerren Price told 小萝莉影视 that despite the number of notable restaurant closings within the last half year or so, the rate between restaurant openings and closings has actually been positive.
鈥淲e think that is a sign that maybe things are beginning to stabilize a bit,鈥� Price said.
Even so, this year was 鈥減articularly tough鈥� for restaurants, according to Price, who attributed the struggle in part to rising costs in food and labor.
Research from the reported that food costs are up 34% compared to the pre-pandemic levels.
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