At a recent lunch hour, the long-time manager of a highly regarded, somewhat upscale restaurant in downtown Falls Church turned and looked to the barren tables and empty chairs in the well-appointed room. There was not a single other person there to eat. “Where is everybody?” she asked, exasperated.
Sadly, this is an increasingly common scenario, not only in Falls Church, of course. And, in this region, it looks as if it’s only going to get worse as the extensions expire on thousands of federal workers and federal contract workers in this region who’ve lost their jobs to Trump.
The restaurant revenue decline has already begun, but by October it is expected that the impact of the closings and firings is going to peak, with no recovery in sight.
While rather pro forma efforts have been underway to address the problem in Virginia, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine took matters on with a roundtable this week hosted by the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association in Burke, where he heard from restaurant and hospitality owners directly that they are at a breaking point, with not only federal layoffs, but rising costs, worker shortages and immigration enforcement, all the consequences of Trump policies, threats to their industry.
Among the top concerns raised were the aggressive immigration enforcement, which they said is deterring immigrant workers from showing up for shifts, rising costs due to tariffs, credit card processing fees, and the spread of laws requiring tipped workers to receive a full minimum wage. These factors, they argue, are pushing already-thin profit margins toward a breaking point.
An influential Falls Church restaurant owner told the News-Press in the context of all this recently that shortages of workers has been his biggest problem since the Covid epidemic and it continues. His scaled back hours of operation are due to labor shortages more than anything else, he said.
This is on top of the estimate by the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia which projects the state could lose 30,000 jobs by the end of the year, devastating disposable incomes that the restaurant industry thrives on.
All this is happening while there is a veritable flood of new restaurants soon opening or just having opened in the City of Falls Church.
According to City Hall’s economic development office, there is a robust, to say the least, list of new food establishments in the 2.2 square miles of the Little City. Two paragraphs below list what’s recently opened and what will open soon.
Here’s what’s just recently come in Falls Church:
The Honoo Ramen and Bar (Japanese) at 153 W. Falls Station, the Ice Cream Jubilee 151 W. Falls Station, Little Falls Cafe (106 Little Falls St.), Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls (243 W. Falls Station), Paragon Theater (pizza, snacks, bar) at 112 Founder’s Avenue, the Pop Up District in the Eden Center, 6763 Wilson, housing Honey Pig Cupbop (Korean BBQ street food), Doppo, Eatsy (Thai street food), Sun-C (Viet street food) and The Beat (American bakery), RH Bistro at 912 W. Broad, Semicolon Cafe at 103 Founders Row, Side Chick (chicken pickup and delivery) at 125 Founders Row, Seoul Spice (Korean gluten free) at 156 W. Falls Station and Whole Foods (groceries, cafe and meals) at 103 E. Broad.
Here’s what’s coming very soon:
Burger Fi, 168 W. Falls Station), Dok Khao (180 W. Falls Church), Fish Taco (Mexican), Fresh Market (groceries, meals) 101 Haycock Rd., GrillMarx (steak house and raw bar), 510 S. Washington, Grocery outlet (groceries, snacks) 500 S. Washington, iPanda Dumplings (Chinese) 106 N. West St., L’il Cakes and Creamery, 120 Founders Ave., Little Beast (American, pizza) 119 E. Broad, My Home Thai Bistro, 1009 W. Broad, Paris Baguette (bakery, cafe), 169 Hillwood, Kashfa Cafe (Yemeni coffee, cafe), 310 A. S. Washington, Stratford Garden (dining, beer garden), 300 W. Broad, Tatte (cafe, bakery), 1001 W. Broad, and The Cheese Cartel (cheese, wine and subs at 922 W. Broad.
How can the City act to help protect these many new establishments that all sound terrific? Surely, citizens can redouble their commitment to dine locally. But otherwise, there has been a serious shortage of helpful initiatives being publicly discussed at City Hall to date, such as an aggressive marketing campaign to attract outsiders to enjoy Falls Church food, even as the City Council counts on revenue from meals and sales taxes to sustain the City’s operating budget.