(Updated 5:35 p.m.) Watch out, Red Lobster, there’s another crustacean crawling into town across Van Dorn Street.
According to a city permit application, the national seafood chain Crafty Crab is planning on moving into the shell of Portner Brewhouse (5770 Dow Avenue) in the Modera Tempo mixed-use development. A representative of the applicant confirmed the new location was part of the national chain.
Crafty Crab offers a wide selection of seafood focused primarily around the eponymous crab, along with sides like fries and corn on the cob.
The company has locations in Maryland, including one across the Potomac in Prince George’s County, but the Alexandria location would be the franchise’s first in Virginia.
Portner Brewhouse was a brewery from the great-great granddaughters of Alexandrian brewer Robert Portner. It closed in 2018, one year after it opened. In the wake of the closure, city staff identified a chronic shortage of parking for retail as the cause of several closures in the shopping center.
On Saturday, the City Council authorized Modera Tempo to allow retail parking in the unused residential space of its garage.
Photo 1, 2 via Jay Westcott. Photo 3 via Crafty Crab Seafood