Tazza Cafe Sales Sink 75% Near Kennedy Center as Trump's Takeover Empties Theater Crowds
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 13
Tazza Cafe Sales Sink 75% Near Kennedy Center as Trump's Takeover Empties Theater Crowds
2 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 13
Summary
$103,000 in August sales, down from $415,000 a year earlier, has left Tazza Cafe owner Mohamed Hyali not paying himself for two months as the restaurant fights to stay open.
Kennedy Center attendance cratered after Trump's takeover, performer cancellations and the now-reversed renaming, wiping out the pretheater rush that once fed nearby restaurants.
Seven of Tazza's 14 employees eventually left after Hyali cut hours, and a court-ordered halt to planned renovations also killed his hoped-for construction-worker lunch business.
2 million annual Kennedy Center visitors have long supported nearby restaurants, hotels and rides, and local businesses say the venue's turmoil is now hitting the wider Foggy Bottom economy.
A two-year closure for renovations was approved again last month, but with the project still tied up in court, Hyali faces years of uncertainty while his rent rises 3% annually.