By now, you may have seen all the posts from your favorite places that went into winter pause, telling you they are back. It’s true: The District has officially reopened indoor dining at 25% capacity (or 250 patrons, whichever number is smaller) as of today (WUSA-9). You may remember the winter pause went through January 15 originally, but, well… yeah. So January 22 it is! The civil unrest and the security threats also managed to push the District’s winter Restaurant Week back a week as well. Restaurant Week will now take place starting Monday, January 25.
Although there are new strains of the Coronavirus making the rounds (Johns Hopkins), our current R0 is at 0.95 as of yesterday, according to the site rt.live. This is a pretty good number, meaning that the rate at which the disease is being transmitted is is lower than the rate at which people are recovering from the disease. A number above 1 means that people are passing it around a lot more than the population is getting a chance to recover from it. But you knew that already.
As a matter of fact, some experts have gone so far as to say that we may be hitting a peak and cases will begin to dwindle (NPR). This is excellent news.
Restaurant Week is happening starting on Monday and while there will be no cheeky prices listed, as lunch or brunch will be $22 and dinner will be $35-$55, there are many options for dining out. Check out ramw.org‘s Restaurant Week page. For restaurants in our area, select “Capitol Hill,” “Capitol Riverfront,” “H Street Corridor,” or “Barrack’s [sic] Row” (nota bene: please remove that apostrophe).
Many of you who responded to my polls on Twitter and Instagram asking you if you would be dining indoors said that you would still be indulging in takeout or outdoor dining options: 90% on Twitter and 88% of you on Instagram, to be precise. Please consider using DC To GoGo to order takeout, as it is a local tool that helps keep more money for restaurants and delivery people. You can download here.
What else is open? According to the DC Coronavirus page, the following are still operating on a limited basis:
- DC public libraries will continue to only offer pickup and drop-off services.
- The DC Circulator National Mall route will remain suspended.
- The only allowable indoor operations at Department of Parks and Recreation facilities are individual reservations for swimming and fitness rooms. Socially distanced, non-high-contact activities can continue outdoors for adult and youth sports groups, and residents may continue to use fields for individual exercise.
Most museums remain closed, although outdoor areas such as the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden will be able to reopen as soon as the fencing comes down, possibly as early as January 24. You can see a list of attractions open to the public on a limited basis at Washington.org