The other day a few of GM’s readers lamented that the new Paul Bakery restaurant that is to open next to the Banana Republic is a chain. While it’s fair to complain about the lack of genuinely exciting or even interesting restaurants in Georgetown, one of the things Georgetown’s definitely not is chain-dominated.
As of GM’s latest count, there are 126 restaurants in Georgetown. Of those, only 20 are part of a big chain. An additional 5 more are part of a regional chain (i.e. Five Guys). So even if you lump the regional chains in with the national chains, there are still only 25 chain restaurants in Georgetown. That’s less that 20%. (And the number of chains is unchanged from last year, while the number of independent restaurants has increased).
Is the Georgetown restaurant scene a little threadbare? Absolutely*. Does it seem like no new and interesting restaurants open here? You bet. But that’s a product of a lot of forces, only some of which are controllable. Continue reading



















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