Going slow and keeping social distancing is important to keeping the spread of COVID-19 as low as possible.

Mayor Bowser is starting the process to reopen DC and getting life back to normal (whatever that is now). Effective Friday, May 29th, the Stay-at-Home order is being lifted and moving to phase one of a “stay-at-home lite” order, with restrictions on places and businesses allowed to open, occupancy rules, and social distancing and mask-wearing requirements.

You can see the Mayor’s recent “Situational Awareness” presentation on the slow reopening, metrics governing the decision and rules governing businesses and residents. At a high level, nonessential retail businesses can do curbside or front door pickup by customers for items ordered online / over the phone (as well as delivery). Parks will open, while playgrounds will remain closed. The pool will also remain closed.

From the Mayor’s presentation on Phase 1 reopening.

One of the other first steps in the process allows restaurants to begin opening their patio space for service. While gatherings of more than 10 people are still prohibited for activities, outdoor restaurant seating will allow tables of up to six people, six feet apart.

Because not every restaurant has large outdoor seating, one of the ways DC is looking to help restaurants is to partially close streets to enable more (socially distanced) seating. One of the streets up for closure is the 800 block of Upshur. Several of the businesses held a meeting with DC government officials on Monday, May 25th to discuss the proposal, where they tentatively agreed to closing Upshur in the evenings from Thursdays through Sundays, starting this Friday, May 29th.

“We plan on opening up our patio for seating on Friday,” said John Anderson, co-owner of Cinder BBQ on Upshur Street. “We will have four tables total, all with six feet between guests. We had to decrease our patio capacity drastically in order to meet the social distancing guidelines.”

Upshur may close the parking lanes and restrict access on evenings and weekends during Phase 1 of the reopening to allow restaurants more space for patio service.

The proposal, still being finalized, would close the 800 block of Upshur to traffic as well as both intersections at 8th and 9th Streets, leaving a travel lane for safety vehicles down the middle. The the two parking lanes on either side would be closed off for additional restaurant seating.

“We are still waiting on Mayor Bowser’s announcement on the closure of Upshur Street and what that means for seating,” said Anderson. “But we are optimistic that Upshur will be closed in some fashion to allow for outdoor dining. When we understand the plans for Upshur we will take advantage of the additional space to offer more dining options for our guests.”

El Torogoz on 9th Street NW, just around the corner from Upshur, also plans to open their patio on Friday to accommodate customers. While 9th Street isn’t being closed, by closing Upshur Street it effectively closes 9th. Owner David Ventura said they will open their patio at 11am, and will be offering free appetizers and a drink to guests who come by.

Timber Pizza is holding off on opening their patio, according to owner Andrew Dana. “We will not be changing up our operation at all this weekend,” said Dana. “We are going to stick with our current system, and do not want to do anything that might make our staff uncomfortable. Once we know more, and our staff feels comfortable we will look at adding some outdoor seating!”

In other locations, beaches and boardwalks became crowded when stay-at-home orders were lifted. As isolation-fatigued-residents finally get options, whether people will go out and eat at restaurants, get hair-cuts and do curb-side shopping for retail remains to be seen.

Article updated with information from Timber Pizza.