Streateries have changed the street landscape in Dupont Circle.  The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) launched the current temporary Streatery Program in June 2020 to help keep restaurants running despite the financial hardships posed by the pandemic. The temporary Streatery Program allows food establishments to occupy public space for outdoor dining including on the sidewalk and in parking lanes, travel lanes, alleys, and plazas.

The district will see a new generation of streateries in 2023.  Permits for current streateries will expire and new streateries will require approval under regulations to be published by spring 2023.  The new regulations are under development.  Restaurants will be charged fees for the street space that they will be occupying.

Dupont Circle Citizens Association (DCCA) is launching a Streatery Award, to recognize the effort that some restaurants have put into designing and maintaining these temporary extensions.  Winning restaurants will be publicly recognized by DCCA.  Eaton DC has kindly offered a complimentary weekend stay which DCCA will provide to the winning restaurant for them to pass on to the staff who they consider have worked particularly hard to make their streatery a success.

DCCA has established an expert panel to recommend the best performers and DCCA is now surveying its members to seek their views on streateries in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.  What do you think about streateries?  What impact have they had on the quality of life, the dining experience in local restaurants, the neighborhood atmosphere and the attractiveness of our streets?

Your responses will help inform DCCA about members’ attitudes toward streateries, and identify the aspects that you value most in a continued streatery program.

EXPERT PANEL

• Kimberly Bender, Executive Director, District of Columbia Brewers’ Guild
• Steve Callcott, Deputy Preservation Officer, DC Office of Planning
• Julian Hunt and Lucrecia Laudi, Hunt Laudi Studio, 1504 Swan Street
• Caroline Jones, Interim Editor, City Paper
• Bill McLeod, Executive Director, Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets
• Nick Manning, Director, Dupont Circle Citizens Association
• Non-voting Advisor: Kimberly Vacca, Transportation Planner, District Department of Transportation

STREATERIES IN THE DUPONT CIRCLE NEIGHBORHOOD

(Yellow circles with white center dots indicate a streatery located in the DCCA Boundary)