If a Restaurant Association of Maryland campaign to help Baltimore's restaurant industry goes well, tables across town will be filled on May 12 with diners from Chestertown, Chevy Chase, Church Hill and Chesapeake Beach.
On May 6, announced Wednesday that it is asking food-service employees from all over the state to come to the aid of Baltimore's restaurant industry. Dine Out Baltimore! will encourage restaurant employees who work outside the city to patronize Baltimore restaurants, in general, and especially on May 12.
UPDATE: On May 13, RAM announced it was expanding Dine Out Baltimore! to May 19 and 20, when Baltimore City restaurants will be encouraged to offer creative specials or discounts.
For Baltimore's restaurant industry, the long-term effects of the late-April Freddie Gray unrest that unsettled the city are unknown. But for many restaurants and their staffs, there were immediate and, in some cases, severe financial losses stemming from citywide curfew that emptied bars and restaurants before 10 p.m. for the five nights beginning April 27.
"Many restaurant owners and employees have expressed a genuine desire to help Baltimore City Restaurants," said Marshall Weston, the association's president and CEO in the press release announcing the campaign. "They understand that a week or two of lost business has the greatest impact on servers, bartenders, cooks, dishwashers and all the other staff that keep restaurants up and running."
Restaurants and guests are being asked to use the hashtag #DineOutBmore to promote the event on social media.