The pandemic is ending. If you went out in D.C. last weekend, it appears the pandemic is over. Most everything about the pandemic was not good. But some stuff should stick around.

One of the best bars in town also tried to keep other businesses afloat during the last 15 months. The co-owners of Ivy and Coney also ran D.C. To-GoGo until from May 2020 until May 2021. The takeout and delivery platform gave Shaw restaurants an option other than Grubhub, Uber Eats and other services that took 30% off the top. The D.C. based service took a 5% to 15% commission, which was a welcome respite from the big companies, until the D.C. Council stepped in and passed a temporary 15% cap on delivery fees.

But the pandemic is ending. And for better or worse, patrons are packing bars. So we asked Ivy and Coney co-owner Josh Saltzman what should stick around from the pandemic.

Josh Saltzman: I really hope people continue to appreciate and take care of their service industry people out there. We had an amazing outpouring of support during the pandemic, which really kept us afloat. While most people were hunkered down, a lot of our industry continued to grind (along with the amazing front-line healthcare and grocery workers) during the whole pandemic. Now that things are returning to normal, it would be a shame if people forgot what we all endured and returned to some of their not-so-great habits in restaurants.

The D.C. Government was actually pretty supportive during the pandemic. We had access to a variety of grants and loans that helped keep us going. Moving forward, it would be great to see better recognition of how important our industry is to the city. We provide jobs, huge sales tax numbers and are important community meeting places. Policies that help foster small businesses would be great. And as always, overhaul DCRA, which while improved, is consistently difficult to work with.

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