Fogo de Chão should be packed on a Friday in August. Instead, the Brazilian steakhouse on Pennsylvania Avenue sits inside the Freedom 250 Grand Prix security perimeter, and the customers aren't showing up, the Washington Post reported.

The restaurant is among several establishments inside the race zone reporting a sharp drop in business as the first-ever IndyCar event on D.C. streets kicked off Friday, Aug. 21. A nearby school was also forced to shift to remote learning for the day due to the closures.

The timing stings. August is historically slow for downtown D.C., with Congress on recess and many residents on vacation. City officials had pitched the race weekend as a chance to fill that gap. Mayor Muriel Bowser publicly welcomed the event's "tremendous economic impact," hoping it would drive spending at hotels and restaurants, according to NPR.

For businesses trapped inside the sealed-off zone, the opposite is happening.

The 1.7-mile course loops past the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the National Archives and three Smithsonian museums. The most extensive closures began at 3 a.m. Friday and run through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23. Some restrictions will remain as late as Sept. 15.

Race chairman Bud Denker told WJLA on Aug. 17 that the area is "sealed off" and urged attendees to take Metro, noting rideshare drop-offs land four or five blocks from the venue. Organizers expect about 140,000 spectators each day, with 288,000 people having applied for 150,000 free lottery tickets.

But those crowds aren't necessarily walking into the restaurants caught behind the barricades. The security perimeter that keeps unauthorized vehicles out also keeps casual diners away.

Traffic around the zone has been brutal. On Thursday, Aug. 20, a WTOP reporter walked a third of a mile along 14th Street faster than cars could cover the same distance. A Metrobus took about seven minutes to travel one block.

"This is worse than cherry blossom. I've been out here over an hour. This time of year, it normally takes me 20 minutes," Virginia commuter Nancy Marlow told WTOP on Thursday.

DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum warned on Aug. 20 that conditions would keep deteriorating, telling WTOP that Friday would likely be worse than prior days.

The more than $35 million event, funded entirely by IndyCar, was established by a Trump executive order signed Jan. 30. Deputy Mayor Lindsey Appiah told CNN that returning the city to normal will take until roughly the second week of September. The city is tapping a $90 million emergency planning and security fund to cover security costs.

Elyssa Feder, co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit Rising Organizers, told CNN on Friday that residents feel "a sense of frustration that the administration continues to use the District of Columbia as its playground."

For restaurants inside the perimeter, the closures run through Sunday night. Some street restrictions won't lift until mid-September.