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Restaurants in Alexandria

Reviews and photos of Alexandria restaurants posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Alexandria dining.
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Tiffany Tavern: Burgers and Music
  • Satisfaction:
  • Lhenne1
  • By Lhenne1 on April 13, 2009
  • Alexandria Page by Lhenne1
  • The Tiffany Tavern has become one of my favorite spots in Old Town. It’s appearance is easy to disregard, from the outside it doesn’t look like much. Inside, however, is a small bar and restaurant with a great atmosphere.

    On tap you’ll find Yuengling Lager only, which is fine by me, its brewed 20 minutes from my home town and a long-time favorite. Wine and liquor is available for drinks. The menu is fairly simple and the kitchen is known for great burgers. The staff is friendly and service is quick, even on crowded nights.

    The best part about the Tiffany Tavern is the live music. During the week there is open-mic in the evenings. This ranges from excellent to mediocre to awful, but is always entertaining. Weekend music is bluegrass, which packs the place so get there early.

    Hours:
    Monday - Thursday: 5:00pm - 12:00am
    Friday and Saturday: 5:00pm - 2:00am

  • Theme: Pub/Brewery
  • Price: US$11-20    » Currency Converter
  • Comparison: less expensive than average
  • Address: 1116 King Street
  • Phone: (703) 836-8844
  • Website: http://www.tiffanytavern.com/index.html
  • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful

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    Bumblefish Sushi: Airport Quality sushi at Old Town prices!
  • Satisfaction:
  • Ewingjr98
  • Updated By Ewingjr98 on April 7, 2009
  • Alexandria Page by Ewingjr98
  • Alexandria Restaurants
    by Ewingjr98, 3 more photos
    You thought you could only get that pre-made sushi in a plastic tray at the local supermarket or the airport? Think again! Bumblefish is attempting to become the McDonald's of sushi with its pre-made sushi served in environmentally sound plastic packaging. My small lunch included two plastic grocery bags, two long plastic trays with lids, two small plastic cups for soy sauce, a styrofoam bowl and plastic lid for miso, and of course three tiny packages of soy in--what else--plastic pouches! Al Gore would cry himself to sleep after a meal here.

    The food? It was OK. Microwaved pork dumplings that were a little chewy and left some odd residue on the tray. The miso was tasty and the rainbow roll wasn't as terrible as I initially feared.

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  • Theme: Japanese/Sushi
  • Price: less than US$10    » Currency Converter
  • Comparison: less expensive than average
  • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    Lavender Moon Cupcakery - Royal St, Old Town
  • Satisfaction:
  • Ewingjr98
  • By Ewingjr98 on April 1, 2009
  • Alexandria Page by Ewingjr98
  • Alexandria Restaurants
    by Ewingjr98, 4 more photos
    Lavender Moon; my first official cupcakery. What better place to take a seven-year old girl for her birthday? Not too many places are better, with its pink and burgundy walls in one room, blue walls in another, and a nice selection of cupcakes behind glass for the kids to excitedly ogle.

    We arrived one quiet Sunday afternoon around 1pm, worried that they might be closed, because they don't seem to have set hours. We were in luck; they had about 10 varieties available, and we chose a selection of six cupcakes including the mocha, triple chocolate, mint, and four others. The cupcakes are $3 each, or $18 a half dozen, very expensive and sadly, no discount (unless you buy a dozen for a whopping $30).

    The cupcakes were excellent, and big enough to hold seven candles for my niece. I tried a few different varieties and was pleased with the moist cake and the fresh, tasty toppings.

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  • Theme: Bakery
  • Price: less than US$10    » Currency Converter
  • Comparison: more expensive than average
  • Address: 116 South Royal Street
  • Directions: Old town a few blocks from the water, half block off King Street.
  • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    Al's Steak House - Mt Vernon Ave, Del Ray
  • Satisfaction:
  • Ewingjr98
  • Updated By Ewingjr98 on March 24, 2009
  • Alexandria Page by Ewingjr98
  • Alexandria Restaurants
    by Ewingjr98, 3 more photos
    Al's Steak House is not your typical steak house with table cloths, heavy white napkins, big knives, and a fancy wine list. In fact, Al's doesn't even serve steaks. What they do sell, and in great abundance is their cheese steak sandwiches. The only problem is the popularity also brings long wait times!

    I stopped in for lunch one day around 12:30 and there were a handful of others eating, waiting for their orders, and in line to place orders. Within about a minute, I ordered my medium-sized mushroom, steak, and cheese sandwich with "everything." I stood waiting for about 15 minutes, enjoying a sunny afternoon, while numerous people came in and grabbed boxes of sandwiches from phone-in orders. Finally, after about 30 minutes of waiting I got my simple sandwich.

    It was excellent. Far bigger than you'd expect, probably 8 or 10 inches, packed with meat and gooey melted cheese. The "everything" toppings were merely lettuce and some small diced tomato. Very tasty, and only $8.50.

    Lesson: Call ahead at lunch time to save 20 or 30 minutes. Another lesson, no restrooms on site.

    Al's opened in Alexandria in 1956. Their menu is mostly cheese steaks, but also includes hot and cold subs, dinner boxes, and side dishes.

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  • Theme: American
  • Price: less than US$10    » Currency Converter
  • Comparison: less expensive than average
  • Address: 1504 Mt. Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22301
  • Phone: 703-836-9443
  • Website: http://www.alssteak.com/index.php
  • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    Hops Grill and Brewery - Potomac Yard
  • Satisfaction:
  • Ewingjr98
  • By Ewingjr98 on March 19, 2009
  • Alexandria Page by Ewingjr98
  • Alexandria Restaurants
    by Ewingjr98, 2 more photos
    I first went to Hops Brewery back around 1998 when I lived in Colorado Springs. They had great staff and awesome drink specials during happy hour.

    When I saw Hops had a location in Alexandria, I decided it was worth a try. As always I enjoyed their famous honey butter bread, but the beer was not as spectacular as I remember, and the food was only average. Maybe I'll stop in again to try a few more of their beers, but skip the dinner.

    The first Hops was established in 1998 in Clearwater, Florida, and by 1995 it has expanded to 13 locations in Florida. The next year it was purchased from the original owners by a large Applebees franchisee, and it began it expansion across the country. Today it is considered the country's largest brewery restaurant chain with about 70 restaurants in 13 states.

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  • Theme: Pub/Brewery
  • Price: US$11-20    » Currency Converter
  • Comparison: about average
  • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful

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    Murphy's Irish Pub - Old Town
  • Satisfaction:
  • Ewingjr98
  • Updated By Ewingjr98 on March 18, 2009
  • Alexandria Page by Ewingjr98
  • Alexandria Restaurants
    by Ewingjr98, 4 more photos
    I had been to Murphy's a few times before finally deciding to have dinner here. We arrived for a friend's going-away party around 7pm with a pretty big crowd of about 20 people. We had made reservations and were given a few tables upstairs with a good view of the TVs, and later we enjoyed our view of the stage.

    Around 8pm many of us ordered dinner. I decided on the fish and chips alongside my tasty old Sam Adams Winter Lager. It arrived rather quickly, and I was impressed with the look of the crispy fried fish and the slices of whole potatoes lightly fried. Both the beer-battered north Atlantic Cod and their so-called cottage fries were excellent. Highly recommended!

    Murphy's also offers griled chicken breasts, steaks, clams, shrimp, burgers, sandwiches, appetizers and salads.

    Their beers include Guinness, New Castle, Harp, Corona, Mooney's Irish Stout, Rolling Rock, Yuengling, Michelob, Smithwicks, Budweiser, Bud Light, Miller Light, Murphy's Blonde, Murphy's Ale, Widmer Heffeweizen, Harpoon IPA, and Killians. Murphy's is also one of the area's New England Patriots' bars on Sunday's (unless they don't make the playoffs! Ha, ha!).

    I would have been very impressed with Murphy's, had they not stuck us with a huge bill as we were walking out the door. After we all ate, each of us paid and were good with the waitress. Many of us stayed a few hours longer to watch the live music, and just before leaving we paid up. As we walked out the door, the waitress said, "wait guys you still owe money." We walked back upstairs and were presented with a $180 bill. I paid, but was a bit disappointed they held this until we were too drunk to argue and were heading home. Not a good way for them to end our evening or make friends.

    For St. Patrick's Day, Murphy's gets huge crowds. To accommodate these party-goers, all of the tables are removed, no food is served, and there is a cover charge. Despite this, the lines went out the door and down the block 100 feet or so.

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  • Theme: Pub/Brewery
  • Price: US$11-20    » Currency Converter
  • Comparison: more expensive than average
  • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    Majestic Cafe - King Street, Old Town
  • Satisfaction:
  • Ewingjr98
  • Updated By Ewingjr98 on March 5, 2009
  • Alexandria Page by Ewingjr98
  • Alexandria Restaurants
    by Ewingjr98, 4 more photos
    Majestic Cafe is my favorite place to eat a nice dinner in Alexandria. The staff is outstanding, the decor is classy but not over the top, the food is excellent, and the overall experience is top notch, if a little more expensive than most places in town.

    Four of us arrived around 8pm on a Saturday night, and the Majestic was pretty busy. They checked our coats, and we ordered a round of drinks at the bar. The attentive staff noticed we wanted some drinks and that all of the tables and bar stools were full, so he came around and took our order. After pouring our beers, he also kept our bottles behind the bar, refilling our drinks when necessary. It was the nice touches like this that make the Majestic a great place for a nice meal.

    We were seated after perhaps 20 minutes. Our waiter was young, but extremely professional, efficient, and well trained. Throughout our meal he kept our waters and beers filled and ensured the used dishes were promptly removed. He even refolded our napkins for each of us when we headed off tot the restroom. Now that's service.

    The menu here has a nice, but small, selection of main entrees including seafood, lamb, chicken, steaks, and even calf's liver. For dinner the four of us had the seared rockfish ($25), the seared scallops ($23), the whole grilled branzino fish ($25), and the cauliflower ravioli ($19). Two of us also started our meals with creamy celery root soup, and we all shared the fresh bread ($8). My fish was excellent, large, but a little too bony for my taste. The other meals were a little smaller, but very well prepared and nicely presented.

    The Majestic Cafe is easy to find because of its huge neon sign that looks like a theater marquee. The original Majestic Cafe was opened in 1932 and moved to this current location in 1949. The restaurant was closed in 1979 but reopened in 2001 with many of the original exterior elements of the previous Majestic. In 2007 the owners of Restaurant Eve, Eammons's Dublin Chipper, and the PX purchased the restaurant, a nice mid-ranged addition to their already outstanding family of restaurants. In 2009 the Washingtonian named Majestic Cafe the 49th best restaurant in the DC area, and the 4th best in Alexandria. Their sister restaurant, Restaurant Eve, was named number 6 in the DC area and the best in Alexandria and Northern Virgina.

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  • Theme: American
  • Price: US$41 and up    » Currency Converter
  • Comparison: most expensive
  • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    la Madeleine French Cafe - King St, Old Town
  • Satisfaction:
  • Ewingjr98
  • Updated By Ewingjr98 on March 2, 2009
  • Alexandria Page by Ewingjr98
  • Alexandria Restaurants
    by Ewingjr98,
    3 more photos
    La Madeleine is a good spot to get a relaxing, somewhat expensive breakfast in Old Town. We met some friends here one Sunday morning, primarily because they had a couple of young kids, and they knew the youngsters wouldn't get into too much trouble here. We met my friend near the door, grabbed our trays and started down the cafeteria-like line. After a quick glance at the menu, a hostess took our order on a little computer gizmo, then we continued down the cafeteria line, where we looked over the heat lamps warming the croque monsieurs, croissant sandwiches, and other pre-made dishes. We grabbed a couple of empty coffee cups then stopped at the cash register to pay for our omelet and French country breakfast. Last, we crowded into the corner to get coffee before finding our seats.

    My country breakfast was very tasty; it came with scrambled eggs, a nice croissant, fried potatoes, and slices of tomato for about $8. Laura's omelet also looked tasty, and it was also around $7 or $8. After brekafast we relaxed for about an hour with free coffee refills and free toast and jam.

    This place is a few dollars more expensive than most other local breakfast spots.

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  • Theme: French
  • Price: US$11-20    » Currency Converter
  • Comparison: about average
  • Address: 500 King Street, Alexandria 22314
  • Phone: 703-739-2854
  • Directions: King & Pitt, Old Town, Alexandria
  • Website: http://www.lamadeleine.com/
  • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    Pop's Ice Cream - King Street, Old Town
  • Satisfaction:
  • Ewingjr98
  • Updated By Ewingjr98 on March 1, 2009
  • Alexandria Page by Ewingjr98
  • Alexandria Restaurants
    by Ewingjr98, 1 more photos
    Pop's is an old-fashioned little ice cream parlor on the lower end of King Street just a block from the ocean. The owner here also owns the Fish Market next door, and it is said he worked at a tiny DC ice cream shop in the 1930s and kept the recipes for use here. This is a popular spot year 'round, particularly on weekend nights when it's full of high school kids on first dates.

    During our visit Laura had a soft-serve ice cream cone, and I had a single scoop of cookies-n-cream in a sugar cone. We took our cones and walked along the water on this warm February night with temps in the high 50s.

    Pop's also has a variety of sundaes, pies, cones, and even ice cream liquors.

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  • Theme: Ice Cream
  • Price: less than US$10    » Currency Converter
  • Comparison: about average
  • Website: http://www.fishmarketoldtown.com/POP_S/pop_s.html
  • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
    La Tasca - King Street, Old Town
  • Satisfaction:
  • Ewingjr98
  • Updated By Ewingjr98 on February 21, 2009
  • Alexandria Page by Ewingjr98
  • Alexandria Restaurants
    by Ewingjr98, 1 more photos
    La Tasca is one of two tapas places in Old Town Alexandria; the other, Las Tapas, is less than a block away.

    We arrived around 8:30 pm and the restaurant was very busy. We were both impressed with the warm and lively environment, right from the start. Our waiter was new, so not overly familiar with the menu, but he was eager to help us out as much as possible. Laura started with their traditional sangria tinta -- red wine blended with apples and oranges -- for about $6; I had their Alhambra Especial Lager. After a quick scan of the menu, we decided to keep it simple; we ordered their Seafood Tapas Tasting Menu for $48.

    This meal includes eight plates: Gambas al Ajillo (shrimp sautéed in olive oil, fresh garlic and hot Spanish “Guindilla” peppers), Calamares Andaluza (battered squid, deep fried with traditional garlic mayonnaise), Salmon a la Plancha sobre Pisto Manchego (grilled salmon over vegetables), Mejillones al Vapor con Ajo, Perejill y Ribeiro (fresh mussels cooked with garlic, parsley and Ribeiro white wine), Patatas Bravas con Ali-Oli (deep fried potatoes in a spicy sauce and garlic mayonnaise), Champiñones al Ajillo (mushrooms lightly sautéed in garlic and olive oil), Paella de Verduras (vegetarian paella with seasonal vegetables), and Ensalada de Espinacas, Almendras y Queso Cabrales (spinach salad topped with almonds and Cabrales cheese salad).

    My favorite dishes were the mussels, squid, and especially the spicy shrimp, while I could have done without the salmon, and the paella was disappointing and not like others I've had.

    During our meal there were some dancers, and around 10pm a live Spanish band started up. As we walked out the door some guy stopped us and started telling us how they are watching him because he used to work for the CIA back in the 1960s.

    La Tasca also has locations in Washington, DC; Clarendon; Rockville Town Square; and Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

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  • Theme: Eclectic/International
  • Price: US$41 and up    » Currency Converter
  • Comparison: more expensive than average
  • Address: 607 King St Alexandria, VA 22314
  • Phone: (703) 299-9810
  • Website: www.latascausa.com
  • Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Very Helpful
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