DC offers grants to help restaurants with outdoor dining during winter

ALEXANDRIA, VA - JULY 23: A worker sets up for restaurant diners along King Street on Thursday July 23, 2020 in Alexandria, VA. The United States recently reached four million confirmed coronavirus cases nationwide. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)(The Washington Post via Getty Im/The Washington Post)

D.C. is offering grants to help the city’s bars and restaurants prepare themselves to maintain outdoor dining into the winter while beating the cold.

Up to $6,000 is available to locally owned and independent restaurants getting ready to continue their outdoor streatery-style drinking and dining, as the region works to prevent the coronavirus from regaining a foothold while the weather grows cooler.

Businesses can begin the application process online starting Monday. Funding can be used to buy equipment like tents or heaters, propane fuel, and lighting or furniture for outdoor spaces.

Business owners will need to submit a proposed budget explaining how the money would be spent. Grants cannot be used to reimburse businesses for eligible items that have already been purchased.

Applicants need to have an active sidewalk cafe permit, a temporary sidewalk cafe permit (colloquially known as a streatery) or a summer garden or sidewalk cafe endorsement from the District’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration.

The city plans to start doling out grant money on Oct. 1.


More Coronavirus News


John Domen

John started working at WTOP in 2016 after having grown up in Maryland listening to the station as a child. While he got his on-air start at small stations in Pennsylvania and Delaware, he's spent most of his career in the D.C. area, having been heard on several local stations before coming to WTOP.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up