Several restaurants in downtown D.C. plan to close this weekend for the “Unite the Right 2” white supremacist rally, while others are educating their staffs on how to handle unpleasant or violent patrons in town.
Although only 400 people are expected to visit the District of Columbia for the event at Lafayette Park near the White House Sunday evening, businesses are bracing for the worst after last year’s event in Charlottesville, Va., led to major clashes between protesters and counter-protesters.
The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington is working with restaurants to help them understand when a situation is escalating and how they can legally respond.
Lincoln, located on Vermont Avenue NW, will close early after serving brunch Sunday due to personnel concerns about safety at night, Presidential Restaurant Group owner Alan Popovsky told the Washingtonian.
Dan Simons runs three restaurants in the Farmers Restaurant Group chain, and said his employees have said they’re “nervous,” “offended,” and “scared to take public transportation.”
His restaurants will be open, but employees will not be required to come in. Those who do choose to go to work can expense their transportation if they do not feel safe on trains, buses, or walking there.
But Simons warned his people are ready to refuse service to anyone wearing the Nazi emblem or other white nationalist items.
Chef Brian’s Comfort Kitchen will have a message on a board outside the restaurant that reads “No Hate Zone” in hopes of scaring rally participants away.
A few blocks away at Equinox, chef Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray do not expect to close but do anticipate the business will “severely suffer” this weekend due to locals being scared off from the area due to the conflicting rallies.
