It’s been nearly three years now since the COVID-19 pandemic threw the dining and restaurant world into chaos, and things still aren’t smooth sailing for D.C. restaurateurs.

“These are really, really difficult conditions to be operating under,” Bad Saint owner Genevieve Villamora told DCist when the beloved Filipino restaurant shut down earlier this year.

Rising inflation that further cut into already-thin margins didn’t help matters.

“In a nutshell, it’s harder to run a business these days,” the owner of the account Eat DC told DCist in August. “There’s a lot less margin for error and prices for everything are so much harder. You don’t get a lot of runway unless you have a really willing landlord or willing investors.”

A combination of all these things — not to mention burnout, high turnover and staffing troubles, landlord disputes, and more — led to the closure of dozens of local haunts, many of which were widely beloved and had been around for years.

“Support the small businesses that you love whenever you can,” Matt Carr, co-owner of Little Red Fox said. “They won’t be around forever.”

Here’s a non-comprehensive list of some of the well-known local restaurants that closed in 2022.

Bad Saint

A mass of hungry people once lined 11th street in Columbia Heights for a chance to eat at award winning Filipino spot Bad Saint.

The restaurant opened in 2015 and quickly became a D.C. dining scene star — it was named the number two best new restaurant in America by Bon Appetit in 2016, and then-chef Tom Cunanan won a James Beard award for his work at the restaurant in 2019.

But even Bad Saint faced serious trouble as the pandemic dragged on. On July 9 this year, the restaurant served its last dinner after an uphill battle to stay open. Owner Genevieve Villamora never reopened the 24-seat dining room after closing it in March 2020 for the safety of staff and guests. Despite many attempts at shifting their service model, from takeout to catering to “neighborhood drops” at other businesses within the city, 2022 finally saw the end of the beloved restaurant.

“When we lose independent restaurants, we are not only losing businesses that provide local jobs and keep dollars in the local economy,” Villamora says. “We lose creative voices and perspectives that are particular to a specific place, that imbue that place with a particular character and feeling, that are rooted in the history of the place. That’s a lot to lose.”

Little Red Fox

After slinging breakfast burritos and lattes for nine years, cafe Little Red Fox and sister ice cream shop Sugar Fox are saying goodbye. The popular cafe and market, inspired by owners Matt and Jena Carr’s love of the Portland, Oregon dining scene, quickly established a loyal following and became widely known as one of the best places to get a sandwich and a caffeinated drink in the city. After closing for a short time in March 2020, the cafe continued on with only takeout and delivery.

But this closure wasn’t business related. “This is a personal decision by us, store owners Matt and Jena,” reads a post on the Little Red Fox Instagram announcing the closure. “In order to address complicated health issues and prioritize the well being of our family, we’ve had to make the very difficult decision to close.”

In the days since they announced their closure, Carr tells DCist that Little Red Fox has seen some of their busiest days. Their final day of service is December 23.

“We knew there would be a lot of support from our regulars, but I did not expect this tidal wave of personal messages about what an impact the store has had on customer’s families and lives. It’s been incredibly touching and makes us feel like we accomplished what we set out to do in creating community around good food,” Carr says.

Roy Boys

Fried chicken, ice cream tacos, cold boozy drinks, and a high-energy restaurant environment made Roy Boys a Shaw staple for four years. Whether diners were on their way to (or coming home from) a show at the 9:30 club or simply in need of a fun night out, the fried chicken and cocktails joint closed its doors on December 18, just a day after celebrating its birthday. Eater once named Roy Boys one of the top fried chicken spots in America.

Rappahannock Oyster Bar

Rappahannock Oyster bar was one of the first retail tenants at Union Market when it opened in 2012. Owner Travis Croxton says the landlord, Edens, asked them to vacate the premises within two months. The restaurant was flourishing despite many pandemic-related setbacks. Croxton encourages regulars to visit their location at the Wharf, but tells DCist he remains perplexed as to why they were asked to leave so suddenly after years of successful business in Union Market.

The Berliner

German beer and bratwurst spot Berliner served its last stein and currywurst on Sunday, October 23 after four years on the Georgetown waterfront. New owners of the industrial warehouse are beginning a multi-year renovation project that led to the closure of the restaurant. The Popal Group, also operating nearby French restaurant Lutece and Afghan eatery Lapis, hopes to find a new space for The Berliner or continue with the beer and bratwurst via pop-ups at different spots in the city.

Mintwood Place

To call Mintwood Place an Adams Morgan neighborhood institution is an understatement. Operating for ten years, the restaurant was loved for its French cuisine with an American twist and cozy environment–it was the perfect place to get a cheeseburger, fries, and a great glass of wine. The restaurant opened in 2012 under Cedric Maupillier, the chef and owner of Convivial, and thrived for years on the corner of Columbia Road and Biltmore Street. A sudden closing sign on the door of Mintwood Place suggests a future replacement project from the same team.

The Pig and Grillfish

The Pig, a restaurant specializing in “nose to tail” cuisine, was a Logan Circle institution for 10 years. Grillfish operated downtown for nearly 26 years. Both restaurants, operated by the EatWell DC restaurant group, closed their doors on November 12. David Winer, owner of EatWell DC, told Axios that pandemic rescue funds helped keep the restaurants open for the first two years of the pandemic, but when that money ran out, he was left with no choice but to close the restaurants.

Thamee

D.C. was already home to a fantastic Southeast Asian food scene — but it was missing notable cuisine from Burma. In the early summer of 2019, co-owners Simone Jacobson, Jocelyn Law-Yone, and Eric Wang opened Thamee on the H Street Corridor to change that. Spicy, bright, and colorful dishes were coupled with refreshing cocktails to create an environment that not only welcomed diners in, but made them keep coming back for more. Thamee also made a name for itself on the national stage— it was named Eater D.C.’s restaurant of the year and was included in Food & Wine’s 10 best new restaurants in America.

Columbia Room

Columbia Room leaves a legacy as one of the most accomplished cocktail bars in D.C. After 12 years, the bar from Derek Brown permanently closed its doors in February. Brown, who won the 2017 Spirited Award for “Best American Cocktail Bar” from the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation, says that he is not planning on opening another bar. Now, Brown is focusing on low and no-ABV cocktails, and promoting his new book Mindful Mixology. 

DBGB Kitchen & Bar

The first and only D.C.-based project from French chef Daniel Boulud quietly closed in CityCenterDC in August. For eight years, the elegant restaurant was home to dishes like a crab-topped burger, whole hog dinners, and tableside Baked Alaska. DBGB first closed at the beginning of the pandemic, and was one of the many downtown restaurants to struggle with reopening due to the lack of people coming into offices.

Magpie and the Tiger

When Magpie and the Tiger opened in January for takeout, Chef Caleb Jang and Kevin Tien could not have foreseen a closure within the year. However, citing rising costs, staffing problems, and issues with permitting from the city, the restaurant closed in late August. The 22-seat dining room was bustling for the few months it was open, dosing out Korean fried chicken, cheesy potato salad, a whole rack of ribs, and cocktails to boot. Fear not–Magpie and the Tiger is still sticking around D.C. Chef Jang and his partner, Chef Roren Choi, plan on collaborating with friends across the city to continue bringing their Korean food to Washingtonians.