After a three-month renovation, Royal Restauraunt reopened to the public on Wednesday with an expanded menu and hours.
The favorite brunch spot was bought by Alexandria Restaurant Partners and Sloan Hospitality last fall, and after being up and running for three months closed in January. ARP refurbished the 123-year-old restaurant, added a 56-seat patio with a retractable awning, reupholstered the booths, built an inside bar and expanded its menu to include dinner.
“It’s a definitely a awesome growing area,” said partner Matt Sloan. “There’s been a lot of excitement people walking by, you know, there’s, there’s a good amount of foot traffic here.”
In Alexandria, ARP also owns Mia’s Italian Kitchen, Vola’s Dockside Grill, Riverside Taco Company, Joe Theismann’s Restaurant, The Majestic, Ada’s on the River and Barca Pier and Wine Bar. The company also owns a Mia’s Italian Kitchen and Café Tu Tu Tango in Orlando, Florida.
For Sloan, the move is the latest in a long collaboration with ARP. He was previously the general manager at ARP’s restaurant Ada’s on the River, and later left to open his own restaurant — Matt & Tony’s at 1501 Mount Vernon Avenue. He also leased Matt & Tony’s from ARP.
D.C.-based architect David Anthony Chenault designed the interior, paying homage to the diner’s history with some modern elements.
“The walnut-colored bar, featuring a sleek stainless-steel top, handmade Soho tiles, and lightly antiqued glass mirrors, is complemented by oversized canvas art,” ARP said in a release.
The restaurant previously closed after brunch, and it’s new hours are 7 a.m to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, and from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Royal Restaurant will hold a ribbon cutting on Monday, April 15, at 12:30 p.m.
According to ARP:
Royal’s menu retains its beloved 1904 classics such as The Royal Breakfast, Classic Belgian Waffle with whipped butter and maple syrup, and the traditional Greek Omelet served with home fries and toast, ensuring longtime fans can still enjoy their favorite dishes. An array of new creations across all-day brunch, lunch, and, for the first time, dinner menus complement these staples.
Noteworthy additions to the all-day brunch selections include Crispy Fried Chicken Thighs with chorizo gravy and Steak & Eggs, marinated in guajillo for a spicy kick. Lunch and dinner “mains” include Country Fried Steak served with crispy potatoes and mole-spiced carrots, Prime Brisket Meatloaf with mashed potatoes, sweet and sour charred corn relish, burnt onion gravy and crispy onions, as well as a selection of savory starters, refreshing salads, and sandwiches like the “Club Sandwich” Torta on ciabatta, and the Green Chili Cheeseburger featuring roasted green chili, escabeche onions, bacon, sharp cheddar, and deli mustard piled heartily on a house ground chuck meat patty served on a warm brioche bun.
The new dessert menu invites guests to indulge in Roasted Apple Chimichangas and Ancho Chili Chocolate Mousse.
Alexandria School Board Member Tim Beaty just won his special election in January, and now he tells us that he’s running for reelection in November.
Beaty won a special election on Jan. 9 to fill the District A seat vacated by former School Board Member Willie Bailey. He was sworn in days later, and said he would spend the next several months learning the intricacies of Alexandria City Public Schools before deciding on whether to run for reelection on Nov. 5.
“I was just at the Alexandria Democratic Committee meeting asking people to sign my petitions, and more than one person said, ‘Didn’t I just sign this for you?'” Beaty said.
Beaty ran on a platform of helping ACPS navigate the new and complex collective bargaining process with licensed teachers and staff. The school system is currently experiencing a staffing crisis, and Beaty says that a strong collective bargaining agreement will improve retention.
Last month, the School Board unanimously approved a collective bargaining resolution, laying the groundwork for a future agreement. Beaty believes he was an important contributor to the process, and said that now the hard work begins.
“Over the last few months, I have enjoyed my interaction with my colleagues on the School Board and with the senior staff in the division,” Beaty said. “I feel like I made a useful contribution, particularly during the debate about the resolution that enables union recognition and collective bargaining.”
Beaty continued, “I believe that this is a process that is going to benefit us, that’s going to be a process in which our employees feel more engaged, more respected, more listened to, and in the end through this process and leading to a collective bargaining agreement, I think we’re going to have a much better labor management relationship going forward. We need that. We need our employees to feel like they’re being listened to, that they have a voice.”
Beaty retired two years as the global strategies director for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He and his wife moved to the city 10 years ago, and until he was elected was a substitute teacher at two ACPS elementary schools.
He also voted with the School Board to ask the City Council for a tax increase to restore steps and fund teacher raises.
“Our staff is working very hard, and they need a raise,” Beaty said. “We live in an area that is expensive to live in — housing and other things. For them to be able to live a good life and be able to focus on doing a good job every day, we need to compensate them well. So, I was happy to move for funds above the superintendent’s proposed budget.”
District A includes Old Town, Del Ray, Potomac Yard and Arlandria. Incidentally, the filing deadline for School Board candidates is June 18, which is the same day as the Democrat and Republican primaries. So far, only one School Board candidate has filed paperwork to run — Alexander Scioscia in District B.
Updated at 8:45 p.m. The Alexandria Police Department is investigating the posting of racist fliers in the Potomac Yard neighborhood of the city.
Four fliers were discovered posted in the 2100 block of Potomac Avenue on March 15, according to a resident who provided photos and information to ALXnow.
The resident notified the city of the “graffiti” via Alex311, and the fliers were subsequently removed from a light post and electrical box near Potomac Yard Park.
One of the fliers read in bold letters, “Strong families make strong nations,” a slogan used in fliers attributed to the white nationalist group Patriot Front.
Another flier is more explicit, reading: “Reclaim America: Patriot Front.”
ALXnow received word of more fliers and stickers posted around the area in February and March, and they were taken down by a longtime resident.
The group was formed after the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which found that more than 1,600 fliers attributed to the group have been found in Virginia alone.
APD said that no suspects have been identified, and posting hate speech and fliers is not a crime in Virginia.
According to the Anti-Defamation League:
- Patriot Front is a white supremacist group whose members maintain that their ancestors conquered America and bequeathed it to them, and no one else.
- Patriot Front justifies its ideology of hate and intolerance under the guise of preserving the ethnic and cultural origins of its members’ European ancestors.
- Patriot Front spreads its hateful propaganda via the internet and by distributing banners, fliers, posters, and stickers.
- Since 2019, Patriot Front has been responsible for the vast majority of white supremacist propaganda distributed in the United States.
- One of the United States’ most visible white supremacist groups, Patriot Front participates in localized “flash demonstrations” across the nation.
- While claiming loyalty to America as a nation, Patriot Front seeks to form a new state, one that advocates for the “descendants of its creators,” namely white men.
Alexandria’s Old Town and Del Ray neighborhoods were last peppered with racist fliers in 2017.
The failed Potomac Yard arena deal, transparency in government and affordable housing took the lead as top issues in the first mayoral candidate forum of the 2023 Democratic primary race.
The candidates — Vice Mayor Amy Jackson, Council Member Alyia Gaskins and former real estate developer Steven Peterson are vying to replace outgoing two-term Mayor Justin Wilson, and provided positions on a number of subjects Wednesday night to the Del Ray Citizens Association.
The Potomac Yard arena deal was sprung on the region in a surprise Dec. 13 press conference as a one-in-a-lifetime chance to move the Washington Wizards and Capitals from D.C. next door to the Potomac Yard Metro station.
Gaskins said that it was a mistake to rollout the arena deal as if it was a slam dunk, and that the city needs to work on its community engagement.
“This was not a done deal, as I think we all understand,” Gaskins said. “But the way it was rolled out I think is a huge learning moment for us, because far too many people thought it was and then they lost trust not only in the process, but they lost trust in their elected officials. And when we lose your trust we have failed.”
Del Ray is next to Potomac Yard, and DRCA is one of the next door neighborhoods that was against the arena project, according to a March survey.
Governor Glenn Youngkin envisioned a world-class venue and entertainment district that could potentially lower residential taxes in the city, but he lacked the political acumen to get Democrat legislators on board and the proposal died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Peterson said that he’s running on a platform of transparency.
“I think that we saw firsthand that the arena deal was not approved due to the lack of transparency with the citizens,” Peterson said. “Essentially, trust was lost between the citizens and the state and local government officials.”
He continued, “The December announcement clearly caught a majority this area by surprise. There was never any transparency with the citizens or citizen input.”
Jackson is on her second term on City Council. An Alexandria native and T.C. Williams High School graduate, she said that she was against the arena early on, but that Potomac Yard still needs an entertainment district, and echoed statements by landowner JBG Smith’s CEO Matt Kelly, who said that the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus will be the anchor and that Potomac Yard’s future is as a tech corridor. She also said that she supports a 3-cent tax increase to pay for teacher raises.
“We still need an entertainment district,” Jackson said. “It needs to be a tech district.”
City Council has advertised a 4-cent tax increase in its budget deliberations.
The candidates spoke for less than an hour, establishing their platforms with 10-minute-long opening statements and two minute closing statements. The questions were sent to the candidates before the forum, and were focused on the arena, the school system, taxes, city services and protecting Del Ray as a historic neighborhood.
Jackson and Peterson agreed to protecting Del Ray’s historic character. Jackson she was against Council’s elimination of single family zoning, and Peterson said that he would reverse a slew of zoning reforms passed last year that are intended to increase the city’s affordable housing stock.
Peterson said that the city isn’t broken and has a lot to be proud of.
“Mayor Wilson has navigated the city through some challenging times,” he said. “There’s ways to address affordable housing but eliminating single family housing is not the solution in my opinion.”
Peterson also said that Del Ray should take its cues from Old Town’s historic district, which puts restrictions on homeowners to redevelop properties.
“Old Town has done a very good job and I think we need to help model Del Ray with what what is done in Old Town, because the historic nature is what’s made it successful and why people want to live there now,” he said.
Gaskins is seemingly the frontrunner in the race, having raised the most money, as of the last campaign finance disclosure deadline in December. She now claims to have raised $134,000, and also received the endorsements from three out of the four City Council Members seeking reelection — John Taylor Chapman, Kirk McPike and Sarah Bagley.
Gaskins said that her top priorities are creating a safer, more affordable and accessible city. If elected, she said that City Council would conduct monthly meetings with the Sheriff’s Office and Police department. She also said that she supports no more than a 2.5 cent tax increase in the upcoming budget.
“We’re going to develop action plans that we post on our website so that you can see what we’re working on and you can hold us accountable for delivering,” Gaskins said.
The Democratic primary is June 18, and there are a number of candidate forums between now and then.
The Alexandria Police Department has identified the motorcyclist who died after crashing into a DASH bus on Tuesday night as 23-year-old city resident Kaden Olson.
The DASH bus driver was alone on the bus at the time of the crash, and announced it via dispatch at 5:07 p.m. He reported that the motorcyclist was speeding past the bus as it was turning onto N. Ripley Street.
The bus driver reported via dispatch that the motorcyclist was not moving. Minutes later, Olson was declared dead at the scene. Traffic was shut down in both directions of Duke Street and N. Ripley Street while APD investigated the crash.
The bus driver was not charged.
Traffic reopened at 10:40 p.m., police said.
According to APD:
The preliminary investigation of the APD Crash Investigation Unit has determined the DASH bus was traveling eastbound on Duke Street and making a left turn onto northbound N. Ripley Street when the motorcycle traveling westbound on Duke Street broadsided the bus.
Duke Street was closed in the area as the investigation proceeded and the scene was cleared, and streets were reopened near 10:40 p.m. The bus driver was not charged.
APD is asking for the community’s support in the investigation. If you have photos or videos from the incident, please use the links below to the community evidence portal by uploading materials there.
https://alexandriapdva.evidence.com/axon/community-request/public/busmotorcyclecrash
If you witnessed this incident of have information that could support the investigation, please call APD Detective Wesley Vitale at 703-746-6178 or [email protected].
The political season is officially underway in Alexandria, as the three Democrat candidates for mayor will face off in their first forum on Wednesday. There are also a number of forums and meet-and-greets scheduled for the 11 Democrat City Council candidates and lone Republican candidate.
The Democratic and Republican primaries for City Council are on June 18.
The Del Ray Citizens Association will host the first event for its members via Zoom at 7 p.m. with the three mayoral candidates — Vice Mayor Amy Jackson, City Council Member Alyia Gaskins and former real estate developer Steven Peterson.
The event will run until 8:30 p.m.
The current list forums is below.
April 10 at 7 p.m. — Online Del Ray Citizens Association mayoral forum (members only)
April 15 at 6 p.m. — Mayoral and Council candidate forum at Lost Dog Cafe in Old Town (808 N. Henry Street) hosted by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association and the Alexandria Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee
April 17 at 7 p.m. — Alpha Kappa Alpha and the League of Women Voters will host a mayoral forum via Zoom
April 24 at 6 p.m. — The Federation of Civic Associations will host a candidate forum at Alexandria Police Department headquarters (3600 Wheeler Avenue)
April 25 at 7 p.m. — The Alexandria NAACP mayoral debate. Location to be determined
May 2 at 6 p.m. — Tenants and Workers United and Grassroots Alexandria will host a candidate forum at 3801 Mount Vernon Avenue
May 7 at 7 p.m. — The PTA Council of Alexandria will conduct a candidate forum in the Alexandria City High School cafeteria (3330 King Street)
May 9 at 7 p.m. — Alexandria NAACP debate with council candidates. Location to be determined
May 11 at 7 p.m. — VOICE candidates forum at Third Baptist Church of Alexandria (917 Prince Street)
May 13 at 6 p.m. — Del Ray Business Association candidate forum. Location to be determined
May 15 — North Ridge Citizens Association mayoral forum. Location to be determined
May 15 at 7 p.m. — The Lynhaven and Hume Springs Civic Association will conduct an in-person and Zoom mayoral forum at the Leonard “Chick“ Armstrong Recreation Center (25 W. Reed Avenue)
June 4 — The Chamber ALX mayoral debate will be held “in the evening” at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial
June 8 at 10 a.m. — The West End Business Association will hold a mayoral forum at Taqueria Picoso (1472 N. Beauregard Street)
It’s about to get a little more expensive to live in Alexandria.
On Saturday, City Manager Jim Parajon will present City Council with proposals to increase:
On ambulances, Council will consider raising the cost of basic life support from $600 to $750, which is about as much as neighboring Fairfax and Arlington Counties charge. As for additional levels of treatment, advanced life support (ALS) treatment would increase from $780 to $1,000, and the most advanced treatment requiring life-saving and other measures could rise from $900 to $1,200.
In the meantime, City Council is also considering a real estate tax increase to fund a significant budget request from the Alexandria School Board.
The Manager also wants to raise fees for late personal property tax payments. He’s proposing to increase the late payment penalty from a flat rate of 10% to “a rate of 10% if paid within 30 days 20 after the due date, and 25% if paid more than 30 days after the due date,” according to the proposal.
The city’s personal property tax rate is $5.33 per $100 of the assessed value of vehicles, and $3.55 for vehicles retrofitted to accommodate disabled drivers.
Parajon also wants to increase the stormwater utility fee from $308.7 to $324.10. The increase will help the city pay for infrastructure improvements, Mayor Justin Wilson wrote in April newsletter.
A 47-year-old Alexandria man was charged with forcible sodomy and attempted rape against a woman in her Old Town apartment on Sunday.
The Alexandria Police Department said that the victim knows the suspect, but did not go further except to say that Antuan Bostick was arrested at around 8:10 p.m. on Sunday, April 7, after a neighbor called 911. The neighbor told the dispatcher that she could hear the victim screaming for help for up to five minutes.
Bostick is being held without bond and goes to court for the offenses on May 10. He was also charged in March with driving while intoxicated. He has also been found guilty for a number of drug and alcohol convictions back to 2018, according to court records.
Alexandria’s Department of Emergency Communications got the 911 call at 8:03 p.m., officers were dispatched at 8:06 p.m. and arrived at the scene at 8:10 p.m., according to APD. No weapon was found at the scene, and police said that the investigation remains active.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault and would like to talk or needs resources, contact the Alexandria Sexual Assault Hotline at 703-683-7273, where a trained advocate is available 24 hours a day.
There is a moderate police presence in the 800 block of N Pitt St. as officers investigate a sexual assault. One suspect is in custody.
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) April 8, 2024
A motorcyclist is dead after crashing into a DASH Bus early this evening on Duke Street in Alexandria’s Landmark area.
A DASH bus driver announced via dispatch that the crash occurred at 5:07 p.m. He reported that the motorcyclist was speeding past the bus as it was turning onto N. Ripley Street.
The bus driver reported via dispatch that the motorcyclist was not moving. Minutes later, the motorcyclist was declared dead at the scene.
Duke Street from Paxton to South Walker Streets has been closed for several hours as the Alexandria Police Department’s crash reconstruction unit is investigating the incident.
The identity of the motorcyclist has not been released.
Traffic alert: Both directions of Duke at Paxton & Duke at Walker are shut down due to a fatal crash involving a motorcyclist and a bus. No injuries reported related to the bus. Investigators will be on-scene for several hours.
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) April 9, 2024
⚠️Service Alert: Due to police activity, both directions of Duke St from Paxton to S. Walker are currently shut down. Bus Lines 30 & 32 are on detour and Line 35 is experiencing delays. For more information, visit https://t.co/9QRbAJaPLE⚠️
— DASH Bus (@DASHBus) April 10, 2024
A four-year-old student with autism walked away from Jefferson-Houston Elementary School in Old Town last month and was found barefoot in the middle the street by a school bus driver near the King Street Metro station.
A number of school officials were consequently placed on administrative leave by Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt.
The incident occurred after school on Tuesday, March 19. Brianna Davis-Suggs took an Uber to pick up her daughter, Riley, and was told at the door that a teacher was getting her. Moments later, Davis-Suggs overheard on a walkie-talkie that a student in the school was missing.
It didn’t occur to Davis-Suggs that they were talking about Riley.
“All I remember is when they told me she was missing that I was crying so bad,” Davis-Suggs said. “I’m very upset. But at the same time, I’m just very grateful to still be able to say my daughter’s here.”
Davis-Suggs said that a school bus driver saw the Pre-K student in the middle of the tunnel near the entrance of the King Street Metro station at King Street and Commonwealth Avenue. Riley walked less than a half mile from the school to where she was found.
Davis-Suggs says that a bus monitor lured her daughter out of the street and into the bus with a lollipop.
“Your average child shouldn’t just take candy or anything from a stranger that they don’t know,” Davis-Suggs said. “I’m happy it was good people that actually found her. But at the same time, it’s just a scary, and the school should definitely know a lot of different things about her by now.”
An Alexandria Police Department dispatch confirmed that the child was found minutes after school let out at around 2:18 p.m.
Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt said in a letter to parents that she placed a number of administrative staff at the school on administrative leave, including the head of school and academic principal.
“Several employees, including administrative staff, have been placed on administrative leave this week,” Kay-Wyatt wrote. “In the interim, I have placed some new administrative and support staff at Jefferson-Houston while this matter is being investigated.”
Riley hasn’t gone back to school at Jefferson-Houston since.
Davis-Suggs, 22, also attended Jefferson-Houston Elementary School. As for her own child, she says she later met with school administrators who wanted her to bring Riley back to school. While she has no plans to sue the school system, she’s now looking for a new school for her daughter.
“As of right now, I really just want my daughter to be in a better school, and I want her to get the resources she needs,” Davis-Suggs said. “I Still don’t know the exact best option to go about it right now because I’m very upset.”
D.C. News Now was first to report on this story.
Kay-Wyatt’s full statement to parents after the incident is below:
Dear Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB Families and Staff,
I am writing to share an important update with families and staff about a student safety concern and some leadership changes at Jefferson-Houston. You may be aware that a young Jefferson-Houston student left school grounds and was unsupervised for a portion of the afternoon on March, 19, 2024. This is deeply concerning for me as an educator and as a parent. Families should feel confident that their children are safe in our schools, and I want you all to know that this matter is being taken seriously, and that further changes will be forthcoming. Several employees, including administrative staff, have been placed on administrative leave this week. In the interim, I have placed some new administrative and support staff at Jefferson-Houston while this matter is being investigated.
Specifically, Ms. PreeAnn Johnson will serve as acting head of schools at Jefferson-Houston. Ms. Johnson is the retired principal from James K. Polk Elementary School and has been serving in a variety of administrative roles at Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) since her retirement. Currently, she has been serving as transition administrator at Alexandria City High School – King Street Campus. In addition, Ms. Julia Neufer is going to be the acting academic principal. Ms. Neufer is currently serving as the division STEM coordinator & elementary math instructional specialist. Both will assume these roles on Thursday, April 11, 2024 and will continue until further notice.
We understand that these changes can be concerning for some staff and families given the immediacy. Our team is here to support the Jefferson-Houston school community as we take these matters very seriously.
We will provide you with further updates in regard to future leadership adjustments as that information becomes available. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to support the students and staff with these new assignments.
For any questions regarding this update, please send an email to [email protected]. Please keep in mind that any questions related to personnel matters are unable to be addressed.
I am confident that Ms. Johnson and Ms. Neufer will serve the Jefferson-Houston community well and support the school in keeping on track as we work to finish out the school year strong.
Sincerely,
Dr. Melanie Kay-Wyatt
Superintendent
