Drink at These D.C. Bars and Restaurants to Support Hurricane Relief in the Bahamas

As soon as Hurricane Dorian started blasting the Bahamas with winds over 185 mph and what would be more than 3 feet of rain, Jill Tyler started making calls, sending emails, and sliding into DMs. Tyler, a co-owner and service director at Tail Up Goat in Adams Morgan, was mobilizing the restaurant community in D.C. to start raising money for victims of the Category 5 hurricane that killed at least 50, displaced 70,000 people, and caused an estimated $7 billion in damage after landing September 1 and stalling over the islands for 40 hours.

Since then, Tyler has recruited more than 40 businesses — from fellow Michelin-starred restaurants to burger and taco joints and tiki bars — to participate in #dcdrinksforbahamas, an initiative asking businesses to come up with a Caribbean-influenced cocktail and donate $1 from each of those drinks to relief efforts through October 31. Tyler has suggested World Central Kitchen, Team Rubicon, and Global Giving as worthy charities.

“It just seemed like a very easy way to try to do something,” says Tyler, who directed a similar effort when Hurricane Irma devastated the Virgin Islands, a disaster that continues to wreak havoc two years after the storm.

Tyler knows what it’s like to wait out a hurricane. Her family moved to St. Thomas in 1989, shortly before Hurricane Hugo hit. She describes her family’s experience weathering the storm on her restaurant’s website:

Our roof peeled away from our home, and we took shelter in a closet and held a mattress over our heads. I was in kindergarten. It’s strange how you adapt, what becomes normal. We didn’t have power for months. Our roof was a blue FEMA tarp. To bathe, my parents dipped buckets on ropes into our cistern to pull up water, and we showered with cups and buckets. We used Coleman camping stoves to cook and Coleman camping lanterns for light after the sun set. We had a cooler that we kept perishable food in. My mom stood in lines outside of grocery stores to wait to get to shop from the picked-over shelves. This was life for months.

After running #dcdrinksforvi, Tyler had a built-in support network that was ready to go. Whenever the next storm hits, she’ll have even more partners ready to give. At the start of November, she’ll contact everyone involved and confirm they’ve made their donations. The goal is to reach at least $10,000.

Tail Up Goat is donating $3 from every Yellow Bird cocktail to World Central Kitchen. Led by chef José Andrés, that organization has already served 250,000 meals in the Bahamas. Here’s a list of other participating bars and restaurants:

• Bresca
• All Purpose
• Boundary Stone
• Ren Hen
• Whaley’s
• Doi Moi
• Free State Bar
• The Salt Line
• Exiles Bar
• Lucky Buns
• Anxo Cidery & Pintxos Bar
• Espita Mezcaleria
• A Rake’s Progress
• The Berliner
• La Pop
• Central Michel Richard
• Grand Central
• The Dabney
• Fiola
• Sfoglina
• Fiola Mare
• Del Mar
• Ellē
• Dos Mamis
• Archipelago
• Thompson Italian
• Flight
• Duke’s Grocery
• Beuchert’s Saloon
• Tabard Inn
• Chaia Tacos
• Bourbon Steak
• Rocklands
• The Passenger
• Coconut Club
• Chez Billy Sud
• Pizzeria Paradiso
• Supra
• Osteria Morini
• Nicoletta Italian Kitchen
• Martin’s Tavern
• Maxwell Park
• Call Your Mother
• Timber Pizza Company
• Turu’s By Timber Pizza Co.
• Etto
• Service Bar