Alexandria Restaurants

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The Jackson 20's name must come from the fact that the restaurant is four times better than the Jackson 5, right? No, actually it comes from the US20 dollar bill which features the image of President Jackson. Luckily the President on this bill switched from Grover Cleveland to Andrew Jackson in 1928, because Cleveland 20 just doesn't have the same ring to it. The name could also come from a man named James W. Jackson, who was killed on this site in 1861 by Union soldiers; he is called "the first martyr to the cause of southern independence."

I typically try to avoid hotel restaurants, but this one has drawn my eye since I first saw it a year ago. It has a nice, relaxing, dark interior, but is not too fancy; it is always busy; and it has a good reputation. Finally I had a chance to stay in the Hotel Monaco, and I decided to enjoy the full experience by dining at the on-site restaurant.

Upon entering, I was immediately approached by the hostess as I made my way to the bar. I almost thought she was Secret Service intercepting me before I could approach the President... but the President wasn't here, just a couple of rude, rich, middle-aged women who were storing their coats on the last stool at the bar. They saw me approach and just kept on gabbing. I looked at the bar stool and made eye contact with one of the ladies... nothing. Finally I said "excuse me? Is this your coat?" and the lady next to me said, "yes it is," and went back to talking with her friend. I had to interrupt again to say, "can you move it so I can sit here?" Dumb ***es.

But after that the service was great and my meal was very good. I started with a Steam Engine Lager ($6) from Durango, Colorado, which I was not too impressed with, then I moved on to the Sam Adams Noble Pils ($6.50), a great season beer made from a blend of five noble hops. For dinner I decided on the J20 Burger from the bar menu for $14 as most of their entrees were $20-$30 per main course, plus $7 for each side. The burger was topped with a great mixture smoked bacon, mountaineer cheese, grilled green onions, barbecue aioli, apple cider cole slaw, and it was served with a mountain of fries that I hardly put a dent in.

All in all, the service and food were outstanding, but I could do without the rich, snobby customers.

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Pat Troy's is one of three Irish Pubs within a 10-block stretch of Old Town Alexandria. It is certainly the oldest of the three, celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2010, but it also seems to draw the smallest crowds. It is a good place, however... the Irish owner is most always present, there is usually live music (though not always Irish music), they have a good beer selection, and the food is good. The crowd does seem to be a bit older, sparser, and less inclined to party the night away.

I have stopped in a few times for beer and music, but just recently tried the food. Pat Troy's serves a variety of Irish foods from open until close at 2am. Their menus include Irish specialties like fish and chips and lamb stew, along with a variety of sandwiches, soups, salads, and appetizers. I decided on the fish and chips, which were a bit better than average, I guess, but no comparison to the fish at nearby Eamon's Dublin Chipper! My meal plus two Smithwick's drafts was $26, a reasonable price for dinner in Old Town.

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My friend Dorothy took us to this old restaurant and told us about its hostiry.
We learnt that George Washington had frequented that restaurant with his friends.
We enjoyed the ambience and the dishes there!
It was great!
Thanks, Dorothy!

Stopped in this place for lunch while biking through town. The restauant is quite large once you get inside. My wife had a large grilled chicken salad and I had one of the daily specials. We also shared an order of Calamari which came with a small portion of dipping sauce. Friendly service and nice atmosphere. I liked the place until I was charged extra because I asked for an additional small portion of the dipping sauce!

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This is one of the most "Yelped" about restaurants in the small but growing establishments of Chef Cathal Armstrong, a famous and oft written about Chef in the Metro DC arena. He was a nominee for the 2007 James Beard Best Chef Mid-Atlantic award. He's also from Dublin, Ireland.

Now having said all that, I was not that impressed with "Eamon's", which he named for his son. In fact, I left wishing he didn't name it after his son as I thought it was a sore embarrassment for the poor lad.

Being a fish and chips shop, it's all about the fish. What I found strange is that they don't offer lemon nor lime for the fish. It needed it. Yes, the fish came out nice and golden, but it was bland in flavor. It also was a tad over greasy for me. They do offer 2 free small sauces for you to try out of 7 possibilities. If you want extra, they are .50 at the time of this writing. You get a choice of one side-albeit very small. I chose the coleslaw. I was disappointed. It was missing something. Spices? Pineapple? Something was amiss. I didn't finish it, nor did I take it home. My mate ordered chips. It's part of the whole experience, but the chips were limp. They came out fresh and hot...but limp. They get nicked continuously on this point, and I can see why, but I don't understand why they come out the way they do. They do offer Guinness on tap, Smithwicks Bottle, and one red and one white wine. No ice here though. I had water which I got from a plastic water jug. Also, it's small and cramped and there's no A/C. In the summer, it's hot as hell inside. There are lines waiting to snag a table. You can eat there for under $10.00 but I'm not sure you will.

Favorite Dish: I really don't have one at this point.

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Misha's is one of those trendy, laid-back kind of coffee houses where you get soy mocha latte rather than plain old coffee. We got the plain old coffee, and it was pretty bad, very strong and bitter.

In their defense, Misha's opened way back in 1991, and it has been named best coffeehouse in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.

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After six months living just a few blocks from Pines of Florence, I finally decided to give it a try when my dad said he was hungry for Italian food. From the outside, the place looks pretty plain, obviously not too touristy, which is a plus. Inside is also rather drab, but clean and comfortable.

We had simple Italian meals of spaghetti with meat sauce (the same thing my school cafeteria used to serve) and chicken romana, for just $10 or $11 each. We also had a few draft Yuengling beers. The service was good, but nothing spectacular.

This is a good place for cheap Italian in Old Town's section for cheaper local hangouts.

There are several other Pines of Florence locations in the DC and Northern Virginia area.

Vermilion is one of Old Town's best five restaurants, and it annually ranks in the top half of the Washgtonian's 100 Best Restaurants in the entire Washington DC area.

We stopped by one night to meet some friends for happy hour, and enjoyed ourselves for over two hours with drinks, snacks, and great service. We sat at the small lounge area next to the bar and the restrooms, where the chairs are small under-padded colorful cubes, and the hanging lamps have upside down lampshades that are too low. Not the most comfortable lounge around, but it works.

Since arrived during happy hour, the guys chose from the three happy hour draft beer specials for just $2.75 each, while the girls enjoyed glasses of happy hour white and red wines for $4 and $4.50 each. After about an hour, we decided on food, so we ordered their spicy sausage corn dogs ($6), the mini burgers ($8), and happy hour fries ($4) and happy hour roasted olives ($4). The portions for all of the food, except the fries, was pretty small, but everything was tasty. There were about five of the corn dogs, which were easily the best item we tried. The mini burgers came in a pair, so we split them in half, and each half was about two bites. I was disappointed with the olives, because they all still had seeds and were very hard to eat as an appetizer.

Happy Hour: Weeknights 4 to 7 pm; numerous drink specials including house wines, draft beers, and more.