Business Still Healthy For Penn Quarter Restaurants

I totally agree with the Washington Post article — you would never know there was a recession by going into some of these DC restaurants!

We *love* Rasika — the crispy spinach dish is sooooooo good. I tried to make reservations last week, and it was completely booked. When we went there last month, the restaurant was packed.

I’m not really suffering from this recession yet but, psychologically it has taken its toll. I haven’t really cut back on eating out yet but clothes shopping and housewares have taken a backseat. What I have cut back on is eating at overpriced restaurants. I am frequenting, Red Rocks, DC Noodles, Rice, 1905, Posto to name a few instead of places like, Rasika, Proof, Source etc.. I just can’t justify the expense of those places now plus the PQ restaurants are a zoo and to me for tourists or weekenders. I am happy hear that things are still rockin’ down there.

I can confirm this. After the DCist Exposed show last Friday, we tried to find a place to grab a bite. Ella’s, M&S, Biersch, Poste, Austin Grill were all packed with half-hour-plus waits. The only place that had seating was Spy Cafe and I wasn’t about to buy a $10 hotdog. We ended up eating in Old Town.

When you have a city full of government employees (i.e. middle class welfare) who have jobs for life why would there ever be a recession in DC? Great for businesses and I am certainly not complaining but DC is very different from the rest of the country which is in shambles.

Government work = middle class welfare? Interesting statement.

Middle class welfare? Wow, that’s a pretty bold statement coming from someone with the guts to post using their own name—I assume your actual name IS Anonymous (8:17), or you wouldn’t say something so insulting to what is likely the vast majority of people who regularly read this blog. Surely, you wouldn’t hide behind a nameless blog post when you’re so dismissive about the work we do. I assume this also means that that you somehow receive no benefit from your government. If that is the case, congratulations.

This articled states upfront that DC is able to weather the recession better than other communities and that that is demonstrated by the continued success of some of our pricier local restaurants. Why you felt it necessary to use it as a forum to tell us that the rest of the country is different than DC shows that you seriously underestimate intellect of the audience reading this blog. I would go out on a ledge and guess that most us don’t need such a simple lesson in economics. You might want to check out a few other blogs that are likely to be more appropriate forums for government bashing and theories on the state of our economy. I think Rush Limbaugh fans have a lot of sites. You night want to check them out.

There are some good people in government, Linda may be one of them, but overall, the quality is pretty low.

DC survives recessions because DC has the highest concentration of residents with a college education. Maybe if “the rest of the country” spent more time pursuing advanced degrees and less time nodding in agreement to patronizing rhetoric from talk radio, they’d learn that subprime mortgages aren’t the best investment in your future.

I can personally offer that my experiences with the DC government have vastly improved between the 80s and now and find the majority of city employees I’ve spoken to in the last two years to be responsive and service oriented. they’ve gotten the job done that I needed done.

as to DC being recession proof, the economy here is more diverse than it used to be than in the 70s, 80s and early 90s. it’s no longer a sleepy, two trick pony driven by the twin pistons of Federal government and tourism. tech, telecom, biotech, some hospitality and some finance take up a bigger share of DC’s GDP (even the core city got some of the econ love) than the last time we had a killer recession (early 80s).

bigger economy? yes. more jobs? yes. more fractured? yes. equally recession proof during deleveraging? no.

DC metro has gone from being recession proof (if there really is such a thing) to being recession resistant.

a link i found off dcist:

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/03/09/daily42.html?ana=from_rss

Unemployment rate up in D.C. area

The Bureau of Labor Statistics report, released Wednesday, showed a 1.1 point increase for D.C. from December 2008; 1.0 points for Virginia; and 0.8 points for Maryland.

But here come those government jobs!

The number of government workers also rose from 234,500 to 235,700 workers.

It’s just a guess, but I doubt most of the patrons in these overpriced restaurants are government workers, unless they’re violating lobbying restrictions and are there on a lobbyist’s dime.

The fact that these restaurants are still thriving does attest to the diversity of the DC job market and the fact that Penn Quarter remains DC’s hottest neighborhood for dining and entertainment. As a neighborhood resident, however, and in light of the unstable economic times, I will not be frequenting any of these spots anytime soon unless it’s on a business account or they start offering some recession/depression specials. On a recent trip to North Carolina, I found that some of the best restaurants in Raleigh have slashed prices to try and attract more customers. I guess that’s not necessary here, yet.

As for government jobs equating to “middle class welfare,” I’d have to disagree with the cost of living being so high in DC. One thing a government job does guarantee is a daily 9 to 5 routine, like clockwork. Heck, if I was making that salary and guaranteed nearly 100% job protection, I’d run out the door at 4:59 pm every night as well.

and the over-generalization continues… I wish my wife’s State Dept job come with a 9 to 5 routine. Unfortunately, she does a job that should be filled by two people and has more of an 8 to 6 routine.

I think this post has gone way off topic? I hope the initial person talking about govt. employees is using some past experience, it still sounds very snobby. Anyways, most restaurants appear to be operating at full capacity…I just wonder if those kids on the sidewalk by the metro station will deter people from frequenting the neighborhood this summer?

those kids have crossed the street from the verizon center over to the other side of the street! that used to be my safe hassle-free side! agh!

I agree with most of what Linda said in response to that silly comment by Anon@8:17, but her point about the writer hiding behind an anonymous tag is equally silly. How is “Linda” any more use in identifying someone? There are millions of people named Linda; you are just as anonymous. If you want to talk about it, give me a call. You’ll find me in the phone book.

I think a lot of us in private sector would think an 8-6 schedule was a pretty good gig.