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Food

Cinco de Mayo Was the Greatest Test of Social Distancing Yet

Crowds gathered at restaurants across Washington for to-go margaritas and tacos.

Written by Jessica Sidman
| Published on May 6, 2020
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Lauriol Plaza drew lines down the block in both directions. Police arrive to help manage the crowds. Photograph by Camilo Arbelaez.

The weekend’s lovely weather prompted plenty of questionable social distancing as stir-crazy Washingtonians ventured outside to hotspots like 14th Street and the National Mall. But it was all just a prelude to the mega-event of Cinco de Mayo and Taco Tuesday combined. Across the region, people swarmed Mexican restaurants for takeout tacos and margaritas. Some lines did a better job maintaining a healthy distance than others, but police were deployed to help manage and disperse crowds at some establishments. Take a look:

Cinco de Mayo in front of the Cactus Cantina, really need to provide more order and space for people to pick up their food immediately 👀 pic.twitter.com/D37uWKU8aY

— Ryan Keefe (@weeseandbeyond) May 5, 2020

@PoPville @barredindc @FBI TICO not social distancing that well. You would think they would have planned for cinco de Mayo. #disappointed pic.twitter.com/gssGSF5icR

— Alex (@free_stahlin) May 5, 2020

Lauriel Plaza has lines a block long in both directions. 3 police vehicles to manage the crowd. pic.twitter.com/i0quRwcQVh

— camilo arbelaez (@camiloarbelaez) May 6, 2020

@ARLnowDOTcom my coworker just sent this to me in Shirlington pic.twitter.com/3lUzld6wtH

— Doris (@yungsusbae) May 5, 2020

Well I found everyone in Montgomery County… they’re at Uncle Julio’s at Rio trying to get tacos for #TacoTuesday and #CincoDeMayo but orders are 45 mins behind! @WMAR2News pic.twitter.com/qcLWeT3lbl

— Abby Isaacs WMAR (@AbbyIsaacsNews) May 5, 2020

Sol on H Street at 6PM pic.twitter.com/2DbsCmjKJp

— Capitol Lounge (@CapLounge) May 6, 2020

El Sol at 7 pic.twitter.com/vEdDmXEqA7

— DC Sport (@thedcsport) May 6, 2020

Me, and half of DC are in a socially distant line down the block for @tacocitydc tonight. 🌮 pic.twitter.com/wx2yqgVCLX

— Rachel Clement (@RachelEClement) May 5, 2020

TTT also… ☹️ pic.twitter.com/eyErWsP68e

— PAUL : In Pre-Production (@HuginsPL) May 5, 2020

Buena Vida in Silver Spring around 7:10pm this eve. Social distancing seemed a bit better than photo shows. (I got some delicious Burmese at Mandalay…because really, one does not need to wait for tacos on a random day of the year 🙄) pic.twitter.com/flyU3uvp7b

— Joy Sims (@JoySims) May 6, 2020

the current situation at Surfside in Dupont 😬 pic.twitter.com/FKxRa0dNqj

— Mary Tablante (@marytablante) May 6, 2020

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Jessica Sidman
Jessica Sidman
Food Editor

Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.

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