Restaurant closures in D.C. jumped roughly 39 percent in 2025, according to the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, as Foggy Bottom eateries faced declining sales and rising costs amid federal workforce layoffs and a rising tipped minimum wage.
A RAMW report released this month found 54 percent of the association’s more than 600 member restaurants in D.C. made lower sales compared to 2024, with mid-priced restaurants — establishments costing $21-$40 per person — affected most severely, averaging 21 percent sales decreases compared to 9 percent in upscale restaurants and making up 67 percent of D.C. restaurant closures. Foggy Bottom restaurant owners said the government shutdown, rising service costs and higher tipped wages throughout the District hurt business industrywide last year, which experts in the service industry said hit mid-priced restaurants the hardest because they can’t offer the low prices of fast-casual eateries or the dining experience of more upscale restaurants.
“Policies that drive up costs and reduce consumer spending are falling hardest on mid-priced restaurants,” RAMW CEO and President Shawn Townsend said in the report. “These are the neighborhood restaurants that anchor communities and economies — and they are disappearing.”…