Are Ethiopian Eateries Really Hurting Because of the New Cab Meters?
It just came to my wandering attention that News Channel 8 followed up on the Washington Post’s recent story about how the sagging economy and the city’s new meter system have affected cabbies and their ability to, essentially, subsidize the local Ethiopian restaurant community. At first I was sympathetic to this issue; but after supping at Etete, on a Monday night no less, when both levels of the joint were overflowing with customers, I’m thisclose to calling bullshit on the theory.
But I won’t. For one reason:
It’s based on only one visit, and that was to an elegant Ethiopian restaurant (read: accessible to Americans) just off the busy U Street NW drag. I suspect that the lesser lights among D.C.’s Ethiopian eateries are indeed suffering. But I wonder how much can be blamed on the new fare structure? Could there not be a glut of Ethiopian markets and restaurants? (Yes, there could be.) Could they have been suffering before the economy tanked and cabbies shifted to the new meter system? (Yes, they could have.)
What’s been your experience lately at Ethiopian haunts? Busy or not?
Photo of Queen Makeda’s Kefaynesh Demissie by Darrow Montgomery.
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11:08 am
Booo frickin hoo. That cab fare structure may have been their gravy train, but no other city had such an absurd and unfair system. I like Ethiopian and all, but I do believe there is a glut… may the best ones succeed.
11:36 am
My experience with Ethiopian dining is that the cabbies seem to get what passes for “service”, and the rest of us can just wait. So I don’t bother with those places anymore.