On a typical Wednesday afternoon, Ellie, a bakery and restaurant in D.C.'s Mount Pleasant neighborhood

is fairly full. Many of the tables are usually occupied with people plugging away on their laptops,

coffee mugs and sandwiches to the side of their cafe tables. But co-owner Nick Pimentel said he has noticed

traffic slowing down since January.

It just seems like every time we think we figured it out, something new happens.

Either a change in the administration or a federal takeover or cost of eggs.

It is Restaurant Week in D.C. right now, a promotional event aimed at boosting sales

during the typically slow August. But Pimentel says this year, Restaurant Week has not given

Ellie the boost that they've come to expect and badly need. Last summer restaurant week,

we were pretty much fully booked all seven days. This year,

reservations are still coming in, but we're about 50 to 60 percent booked.

Ellie is a fixture in this area after having been around for nearly eight years. But,

you know, it's a tough industry. And Pimentel says it has not been the same since

COVID. We're not a profitable restaurant. Definitely not going to even break even in August.

He says both guests and staff are unnerved by the federal law enforcement presence. He has seen

officers, masked, plain clothes, armored, mostly just standing around in the neighborhood.

But also...

They're walking down street, looking in windows.

Looking for what exactly?

I don't know. Don't know.

Looking for the crime that they claim is here.

President Trump called in the National Guard and took over the D.C. police earlier this month.

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