Exclusive: Le Dip streatery to come down as D.C. crackdown reshapes outdoor dining
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Le Diplomate's streatery "chalets" are coming down. Photo: Axios
It's the end of the road for many D.C. streateries, as the city rolls out new rules and fees that are driving restaurants to raze their structures.
Why it matters: D.C.'s freewheeling streatery boom — one of the city's most visible COVID pivots — is over after five years. Even marquee setups, like Le Diplomate's "chalets," are coming down.
State of play: The city launched streateries in June 2020 to keep restaurants afloat. The program was free and light on rules, allowing enclosed or elaborate designs.
- The new permanent program, launching Dec. 1, flips the script: Restaurants must now pay $20 per square foot in what you might call road rent, plus fees, and comply with location limits.
- DDOT is also mandating a more uniform, open-air design to improve visibility and safety — meaning that many enclosed or aging structures must be removed or rebuilt.
Between the lines: Restaurants that opt in face tens of thousands of dollars in demolition, redesign and permitting expenses.
What we're hearing: Owners say the airy design makes year-round use impossible — undercutting the revenue needed to justify the higher costs at a time when hospitality is already strained.
- "It's a huge loss for us, but I'm done," Tiki on 18th owner Jo Jo Valenzuela tells Axios, noting business is down 60% since losing his streatery in last year's Adams Morgan pilot — the blueprint for the new program.
- He estimates the new design would cost him $13,000 a year in rent alone.
- Only three of the 33 Adams Morgan businesses that participated in DDOT's $750K pilot have applied to keep their streateries, the neighborhood's BID tells Axios. DDOT says it'll be another $150K to remove them.
What we're watching: A wave of removals is hitting 14th Street, where spots like Doi Moi and Chicken + Whiskey have dismantled their structures.
- Starr Restaurants tells Axios it will soon remove its signature "chalets" at Le Diplomate and St. Anselm — a symbolic end to the era — though the group is "leaving the door open" to future options.
- In Georgetown, 25 of 50 eligible restaurants are applying for the new program, per the BID.
- Citywide, of the nearly 140 businesses with temporary streateries, only 70 have applied for permits, per DDOT. Another 35 have signed up for clearance assistance.
Follow the money: The owners of Prost in Mt. Vernon say their streatery generated 40% of revenue last year — enough to justify $54,000 in redesign, permits and rent.
Friction point: The Georgetown restaurants opting in are standing their ground against neighborhood groups that fought their streateries.
- Clyde's and Martin's Tavern say the outdoor outposts are essential to business and neighborhood vibrancy.
- "It's where people want to be," Martin's owner Billy Martin tells Axios. His setup brings in $1 million a year.
What's next: DDOT tells Axios the department will begin enforcement of non-compliant streateries next year, starting with warnings and escalating to fines and removal as a "last resort."
- Businesses that opted in to the program get a grace period to keep their existing structures as they work through the process.