No more crab cakes, steaks or tapas in locked-down Washington eateries

It takes a few seconds before the answer message kicks in.

"Hello, This is Billy Martin. I want to personally thank you for calling. However, due to Covid-19 and for concern of our staff, guests and delivery folks, we'll be closed until further notice. Please note we do this with heavy hearts.

“After 87 years this is the hardest thing we have to do. We’re going to miss all of you terribly. If you’d like to leave a message please press 6 and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you, and stay safe.”

The recorded message from the owner of Martin’s Tavern is one of thousands of similar ones around the US as the restaurant industry reels from the coronavirus pandemic.

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Martin’s is one of Washington’s most famous eateries.

Founded in 1933 at the end of prohibition, it has been owned by four generations of Billy Martins. Part-restaurant, part-watering hole, the small corner property in Georgetown exudes charm and history.

Old baseball photos adorn the bar, a nod to the founder’s first career as a major league baseball player. The Guinness is popular and plentiful, signalling the family’s Irish roots.

It has also had a front-row seat on history. John F Kennedy proposed to Jackie Bouvier in Booth Three near the window. Jack had been a brunch regular and the couple settled two blocks away in Georgetown. Every American president from Harry Truman to George W Bush came to dine. Richard Nixon was a regular when he was in Congress. Ted Kennedy often drank in the back room known as the Dugout, to avoid the prying eyes of the press and the public.

While Donald Trump has yet to visit, in recent years Irish politicians passing through Washington have enjoyed a meal.

Good to go

A photograph of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is one of many displayed on the window. Like his predecessor, Enda Kenny, and other recent taoisigh, he visited Martin's during the annual St Patrick's Day visit when schedules would allow.

Like countless establishments across the country, the doors of Martin's have been closed since coronavirus hit. Martin's initially offered a takeout service when Washington's mayor announced the closure of non-essential businesses in mid-March, explains general manager Luis Valle.

On St Patrick’s Day, Martin’s emailed regulars offering corned beef and cabbage and shepherd’s pie for kerb-side delivery and pick-up. Since then, the restaurant has closed for already-scheduled construction work. It intends to resume takeout and delivery service as soon as possible, says Valle, who has worked for Martin’s for 12 years.

“Crab cakes, steaks, chicken parmigiana – we’ll be preparing it all,” he says. They are also exploring the idea of hiring Martin’s waiting staff as drivers, instead of using food delivery services such as Uber Eats and DoorDash. Most of the staff have been temporarily laid-off. “I have never experienced anything like this,” says Valle. “It seemed to come out of the blue, and then became more and more serious. We’ll be back though.”

Martin’s travails are replicated across Washington DC, where wining and dining is a way of life. On 14th street, usually a hive of activity in the evenings, virtually all shops and restaurants are closed. Barcelona, a buzzing tapas bar, typically teeming with customers, is offering a takeout menu.

World Central Kitchen

Upmarket restaurants such as Cafe Milano, where Congress members and White House officials including Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have been spotted in recent months, have closed.

Activity has ground to a halt at iconic establishments such as the Willard Hotel across from the White House. A few blocks east, the Trump Hotel has closed its public bars and restaurants. The sale of the hotel's lease – announced by the Trump Organisation in October – has been put on hold.

José Andrés, one of the country’s best-known chefs, who owns more than half a dozen restaurants around the DC area, has directed his energy into feeding the US’s poor during the pandemic.

His World Central Kitchen charity was set up to help people in need of food in the wake of natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes. Now the Spanish-American chef is helping the needy in his adopted home.

His non-profit has moved into the Washington Nationals’ baseball park in the city from where staff are preparing and distributing thousands of meals to help the city’s poorest and homeless residents.

With Washington's mayor, Muriel Bowser, announcing this week that the lockdown has been extended until May 15th, the new reality is likely to continue for some time to come.