Alexandria Restaurants

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This tiny, little Asian place appears to be brand new, with fresh paint and contemporary colors and decor. They have about six table and maybe 5 stools, so the idea here is get your food and take it with you, or eat quickly and get out. This is a good spot for a quick lunch away from the office, or if you want a relatively cheap, casual dinner in Old Town (which isn't always that easy to find). almost like McDonalds, you order at the counter and pay, then they hand you your cup for Cokes and other soft drinks. When your meal is ready they call your number and go up to grab your plastic tray. When you finish, dump your trash and leave the tray on the counter. Freshly made Asian fast food.

I had the Red Mei spicy shrimp (also comes with chicken). They call it their "version of General Chu's crispy chicken or shrimp," and it is a mix of stir fried vegetables over rice with lightly breaded shrimp, still with their tails. It was an excellent dish and not too expensive at about $9. Fountain drinks come with free refills.

Free delivery!

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I stopped in at King Street Blues one cold, rainy December night, just looking for a place to warm my bones. A beer is always nice, too! I sat at the small eight-stool bar and quickly ordered one of their three beers on tap, a Sam Adams Winter Lager. I also took a quick look at their menu and was impressed with the selections of barbecue, southern and a little Cajun food. I was not overly hungry, so I ordered the chipotle wings (happy hour price is just $4 instead of $7.50) along with fries, also $4. The wings arrived quickly and were grilled instead of fried, so far less greasy than many other places' wings. Their taste was excellent, just spicy enough, though they were a little on the dry side. I hope to return soon to try their barbecue.

Throughout my quick meal the customers at the bar were enjoying themselves. The discussions ranged from 70s rock to last nights hockey game and about everything in between.

On Friday night in February a group of four of us sat upstairs and had a nice dinner. When we arrived, the downstairs was quiet, but the dining room was busy. We quickly ordered beers, wines, and their very tasty Blue Bayou crab artichoke dip that comes with chips and bread ($10). Then we ordered our meals: the southern supper with tilapia, another southern supper with brisket & Grilled andouille sausage, the surf and turf,and finally the barbecued ribs. The meal took quite awhile to arrive, at least 30-40 minutes after we ordered. But good things come to those who wait. The southern suppers offer a choice of four entrees including the tilapia, brisket & sausage, pork chops, or chicken along with three sides of your choice and corn bread for $14. The pork ribs are said to be house-smoked for six hours, coated with King Street Blues' mahogany BBQ sauce, and served with coleslaw, Carter's "Cool Beans" and cornbread ($13 for half rack or $20 for the full rack). The unique surf & turf has a half rack of the BBQ ribs, along with a big filet of Southern fried catfish, and is served with 5 or 6 small hush puppies, Carter's Cool Beans, and coleslaw and $17.

King Street Blues began in Old Town Alexandria in 1997 and has expanded to four more Virginia locations in Crystal City, Stafford, Courthouse, and Kingstown.

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Gourmet Center and Deli is an older shop on King Street in the Center of Old Town. But it's not a tourist attraction... the main customers here are the local office workers who wander in for a deli sandwich and fruit at lunch time. This little market also has a huge selection of wines, and a respectable variety of beer. Maybe this is the best alcohol selection in Old Town outside of the ABC store.

I had their half of a grilled Cuban sandwich, the Tampa specialty, with ham, salami, pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard on crusty bread for $5.99. The half was almost enough for two meals, so the whole sandwich must be massive. It was tasty, but sadly cold after my 5 minute walk home from the shop.

The staff is friendly, happy, and quick.

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I just moved from Monterey, so it was a quick decision to try Monterey's Pizza in Alexandria. While unpacking the boxes in our new apartment, we needed sustenance, so we googled this place, checked out the menu, and called in our order.

The pizza really has nothing to do with Monterey other than an artichoke here and there, plus lots of garlic. They do have a nice selection of pizzas from their top shelf pizzas (10 inch pizza for $12) to their gourmet pizzas ($10 for a small to $19 for an extra large). They also offer wings, subs, calzones, salads, and more. We ordered a dozen of their so-called jumbo wings (10 for $8) which were just regular sized wings, hence much overpriced, along with a large peperoni and mushroom pizza. The pizza was excellent, but that with the wings just enough for two of us.

My favorite thing is their website with its hilarious typos. They claim to offer "Mandrain oranges," "Sweer Red Peppers," "Virigin Olive Oil," "southwestren chicken," "Mozzarello cheese," "Brocoli," "pineaplle," Caser Dressing," "spinch salad," "thousands island dressing," and keep in mind their pizzas "are true works for art!"

They deliver to most of Alexandria including Old Town, Del Ray Community, Arlandia, and Crystal City.

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Ernie's Original Crab House is actually not Ernie's Original Crab House, unless of course, you ignore his original crab house that was located at 1623 Fern Street, maybe a mile from the present location. It closed in 2004 or 2005. Even at the old location, you could argue that it wasn't Ernie's original crab house since old Ernie sold it to a Korean guy in the 80s. Later I think the original crab house moved to Richmond Highway in Alexandria, before ending up in its current unoriginal location in early 2008.

We arrived around 1pm for lunch, and the restaurant was all but deserted, with just one table for two having soup and the Korean owner and his wife intently watching CNN. Once we got their attention, we were seated and we both selected the crab cake sandwiches ($12 each) with an order of fries ($2). The food came very quickly... though it was served on Styrofoam plates. The crab cakes were delicious, but the sandwiches were served on those cheapo bleached flour hamburger buns that cost about 35 cents a dozen at Safeway. The fries were better than average.

The interior of the place has a kind of sterile look (aided by the fluorescent lights and white ceiling panels), with just a few nautical decorations to help establish the mood. The food was quick, service good, and the seafood itself pretty good, but the sides and extras kind of weak. They do have an all-you-can-eat crab dinner for around $35 that might be a good deal.

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I had previously visited Ted's Montana Grill in nearby Crystal City and had their awful barbecued bison ribs, so I knew what to expect in this Alexandria location. Because of my bad experience at the other location, I decided to try something a little different. I also was not in the mood for a burger after my huge Ray's Hell Burger a few hours earlier. Though Ted specializes in bison and has a large variety of beef, I decided on the chicken. A sandwich to be more precise. The Vermejo chicken with fries for $11 to be exact.

This sandwich, like Ted's other chicken sandwiches, is served on a toasted sourdough roll. This particular sandwich also comes with Monterey Jack cheese, grilled onions & mushrooms. I was very impressed with this creation, unlike my experience with the so-called barbecue bison. The chicken perfectly cooked, the bun nice and tasty, and the fries excellent.

Nutshell: expensive, trendy, and better service than the Crystal City location. The food was also better here, and the chicken sandwiches excellent.

Ted's Montana Grill was founded by my hero and yours Ted Turner. They have about 60 locations nationwide, and it must be a money maker, since they can charge about $10-13 for a beef burger and more like $15 for a bison burger. Oh did I mention they specialize in bison? Ted likes bison. He decided the best way to save the bison (whose population has recovered form 1,000 to 450,000 in the US) was to start eating them as much as possible. Now ranchers kill 50,000 bison a year to be shipped to restaurants like Ted's.

Turner also owns more land than any other single American citizen: 2 million acres spread across 27 properties in about 13 states; his Vermejo Park Ranch in New Mexico, at 920 square miles, is the largest privately owned contiguous tract of land in the US. It is also said bis 40,000 bison are the largest herd of bison in the world. He made his fortune by founding CNN, TBS, and TNT, he created the Goodwill Games, and he has given a billion dollars to the United Nations.

He also has a funny little gray mustache.

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Chef Louis Nickell and Chef Susan Scheffler operate this fine little establishment in the heart of Old Town. I have passed by dozens of times in recent weeks but was always put off at the last minute due to their weird single table in the front room of the restaurant. Later I noticed they have a large dining room in the back of the place. Why would they put the kitchen in front? Odd, very odd.

LHenne1 and I finally decided to make the short walk here one afternoon and we were very impressed with the food. They have a creative menu with a variety of prepared foods that can be taken home and heated for dinner, or you can have them refire a meal to eat in the dining room. We decided on the day's special, which was a seemingly simple barbecued chicken sandwich with coleslaw for about $9. Their version of the pulled barbecued chicken comes on a potato roll with some tasty leaves (maybe dandelion?) under the meat for a unique flavor. The coleslaw is marinated in mustard vinaigrette and it comes with some unique items like capers and scallions to create a unique taste. We completed our meals with two bottles of Diet Coke for $1.60 each.

We sat in the empty, but nicely decorated back dining room next to the large window overlooking Henry Street. After no more than five minutes the cook brought our sandwiches. They were kind of small, but very, very tasty. One of the best barbecued sandwiches I've ever had.

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I finally got over to Austin Grill. Some of my friends swear the Sunday brunch is one of the best around, but in my opinion, their Tex Mex is mediocre. Compared to Los Tios just a mile away in Del Ray, Austin Grill is pure crap. The best things about this restaurant are the chips and salsa and their very infrequent live music... maybe once a month or less frequently.

We stopped in for lunch, and despite the downstairs having many empty tables, they herded us up to the empty and cavernous second floor. Luckily we grabbed a table near the windows overlooking King Street for something to keep us from paying too much attention to the screaming baby at the other table and the bus boy who liked to belch out loud as he cleaned the table next to us.

Along with our free chips and salsa (with free refills!), we had the classic combo and the shrimp and beef fajitas. The classic combo was $13.50, and it included a chicken enchilada with mild green chile sauce and a grilled steak taco alongside refried beans and red rice. The taco and enchilada were ok, but the sides looked like they had been sitting under plastic wrap, maybe in the microwave, prior to ending up on my table.

The fajitas ($18.50) were served sizzling with peppers, onions, jack cheese, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, pico de gallo, black beans, cilantro rice and flour tortillas. The meat and shrimp were both very tasty, and the sizzling veggies were obviously fresher than the regular sides.

Their menu includes a mix of Tex Mex and some American classics like burgers, chicken breast sandwiches, steaks, ribs, and more. Brunch has a similar mix of items such as French toast, huevos rancheros, eggs benedict, and omelets.