WASHINGTON — Restaurants around the area have been hit hard by the coronavirus. Business owners have been forced to stop allowing diners to eat inside the restaurant.
Most businesses are still offering take-out or delivery and now there is a new way people can safely pick up their food.
There are new curbside pickup signs scattered across Alexandria, Montgomery and Washington, D.C. More than a dozen of them are posted along King Street in Old Town Alexandria.
In Washington D.C., the District Department of Transportation announced it would add 20 additional pickup and drop off zones. These range from Georgetown to Brookland and Anacostia.
These designated zones allow customers to still order from their favorite restaurants that offer take-out or delivery. City leaders said this provides an additional way to continue supporting our favorite local businesses while practicing social distancing.
In Rosslyn, city leaders launched a #RosslynRewards program to support restaurants during this time.
When you order take-out or delivery from one of their restaurants and post on social media using the hashtag #RosslynRewards, you will be given a $10 reward for every $20 spent. That extra $10 goes back to the restaurant.
Customers can choose to either receive a gift card to that restaurant to use another day or can give it back to the restaurant as a donation.
Mary-Claire Burick is the President of the Business Improvement District in Rosslyn.
"This is so critically important. I've been an Arlington resident for probably 13 years now, so living and working here, I know this community is amazing and it really has been wonderful to see everyone coming together and supporting one another. This is a no brainer for us to try and do this program because this community means everything to me personally, and to our organization so anyway we can support them. we are all in," Burick said.
Burick said this is an important way the community can safely give back.
"This really is a triage situation where every day counts. So, the more we can incentivize our customers to go in and purchase, I think that will help a lot of these restaurants make it through and weather the storm," Burick said.
In Purcellville, Va., the city has put together an extended list on the city website so you can know exactly which restaurants are open. Find the full list across Loudoun County here.
John and Bonnie Branding own Wheatland Spring Farm and Brewery in Purcellville, Va.. They are one of the businesses included on this list that remain open and are offering curbside delivery, takeout options and contactless payment options.
"We've been so fortunate to have people reach out from Arlington, Alexandria and also D.C., asking for deliveries into their neighborhoods as well. We are in the process of setting that up for April. We’ve also been so overjoyed to see folks coming out even from as far as DC," Bonnie Branding said.
"We know our community and know that people want to help and the government is letting them know how to do that, so it has been wonderful," she added.
