Inauguration Has Always Meant Huge Business for DC Restaurants. This Year, Many Are Closing.
January could be one of the worst months yet for the already hard-hit industry. Share
Fencing goes up around the US Capitol in preparation for Joe Biden s inauguration. Photograph by Evy Mages
On inauguration day four years ago, Old Ebbitt Grill was packed to the brim. Trump supporters celebrated with Fireball shots and crowded around the window booths to watch the presidential motorcade drive by. The two Obama inaugurations were even more bustling. In 2005 and 2009, the place was teeming with lines out the door and fully booked with private events. Old Ebbitt and its sister restaurant the Hamilton historically bring in millions of dollars in revenue in the days surrounding the inauguration. Servers and bartenders can count on enormous tips, and purveyors see a big spike in business as well.