Five Alexandria eateries are highlighted in Northern Virginia Magazine’s new list of the area’s top 50 restaurants.
The magazine’s food critics highlighted Alexandria restaurants offering Italian, modern American and Mesoamerican fusion food in their annual list, released late last month. Here’s a look at the city’s featured spots.
Osteria Marzano
This “hidden gem” of an Italian restaurant tucked into an office building might have customers “trotting confused” to find it, but it’s worth the search, critics wrote.
They recommend the arancini, filetto al cacio e pepe and a Nutella dessert pizza “that’s topped with so many buoyant mini marshmallows it feels like it will float away like a hot air balloon.”
6361 Walker Lane
Stracci Pizza
“Really? A pizzeria on the 50 Best list? Yes, really,” critics wrote, praising Stracci’s rotating specialty pies and namesake hand-pulled stracciatella cheese.
The magazine recommends the seasonal salad, tiramisu and The Brooklyner, a “spicy-sweet delight” that’s topped with pepperoni, sausage, fresh basil, Calabrian chile and honey.
106 Hume Avenue
The Study
Mesoamerican fusion is on the menu at this Old Town spot, lauded for its charming “jewel box” surroundings, homemade bread and comforting dishes like cevichito and cured duck. “Mole-lacquered and blushing rose, it arrives over earthy baby-beet purée with a peppery duck jus,” critics wrote.
116 S. Alfred Street
Thompson Italian
“Indulgently oily” focaccia and truffled mushroom mafaldine are stars at this Italian eatery, but so is fresh produce, according to critics.
They praised chef-owners Gabe and Katherine Thompson’s pastas just as much as their sensibilities with fresh fruit, commending the summer melon salad, mixed berry tiramisu and blackberry upside-down cake.
1024 King Street
Vermilion
Simplicity is what charmed critics at this modern American restaurant. They recommend the country ham bruschetta, slow-cooked beef short rib and chocolate cremeux dessert with fresh peaches, sea salt and olive oil.
“Here, the regional cuisine may travel swiftly from farm to fork, but the preparations are resolutely uncomplicated,” they wrote.
1120 King Street
Photo 2 via The Study at Morrison House/Facebook.
