DC pub fined thousands for COVID restriction violations while mayor skirts rules to attend Biden speech

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A Washington, D.C. pub was slapped with a pair of fines over the weekend after city officials reported seeing its patrons violate coronavirus-related restrictions, according to reports.

Investigators with the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration hit Harry’s Restaurant with a $1,000 citation on Friday after allegedly seeing patrons without facial coverings, standing while consuming alcohol. The establishment also allegedly had insufficient table spacing, WTOP reported.

Harry's Restaurant, located at 436 11th St NW in Washington, D.C. (Google Map)

The next day, the pub received another $1,000 citation after investigators allegedly witnessed “patrons without facial coverings and more than six patrons being seated at a table,” according to the city agency.

The administration said that the restaurant received a “verbal and written warning” early last month for similar violations.

The restaurant, which is located at 436 11th St NW, could not be reached for comment.

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The fines come after the city revamped its travel restrictions earlier this month amid a resurgence in coronavirus cases. Visitors to the nation’s capital from a high-risk area will be required to take a COVID-19 test and receive a negative result within 72 hours before traveling.

Despite these restrictions, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has taken flak for flouting her own rules. Earlier this month, the mayor traveled to Wilmington, Del., to attend the victory speech of President-Elect Joe Biden – despite Delaware being on the list of high-risk states.

In response to the criticism of apparent double standards, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office defended the Wilmington trip as “essential travel.”

“She went on Saturday evening and return the same evening,” the spokesperson said, adding that the mayor met with only “a few people.”

The following day, when asked about the trip at an event, Mayor Bowser defended it as “absolutely essential.”

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“I do a lot of things to advance the interests of the District of Columbia, and some of them are formal and some of them are informal, but all of them are necessary,” she said.