Time to roll up your jacket sleeves, because it’s going to be an 80s summer in Del Ray.
Tonight is the soft opening for Miami Vibes, a Miami Vice-themed pop-up bar at 2312 Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray. The party starts at 6 p.m., and the drink menu is full of summer drinks like frozen daiquiris, mojitos and even an Old Fashioned with watermelon rum.
Miami Vibes is the sixth pop-up at the space by owners Bill Blackburn and “Mango” Mike Anderson of the Homegrown Restaurant Group since closing their Sushi Bar restaurant at the end of 2021.
Final touches were still being added to the restaurant interior on Thursday night, like a back-lit mural of Miami’s South Beach, neon lighting and painting. Anderson says that the pop-up will be ready to go by Friday. He also says that a date at Miami Vibes should run you about $60 to $100.
“We just wanted to have an 80s place with 80s music and with a Miami Vice vibe to it,” Anderson said.
Bar manager Mari Luffey wasn’t born in the 1980s and had to research the decade.
“Working under Mango Mike I’ve learned some things and I did a lot of research watching Miami Vice,” she said.
The drinks are named after the show, like the “Crockett and Tubbs” and the “St. Vitus Dance,” and the menu is full of small appetizers like coconut shrimp and spinach and crab dip.
Miami Vibes will be open until October, when it will once again be transformed into their Halloween-themed restaurant Nightmare On The Avenue. In December, it will be turned into their Christmas-themed pop-up bar Joy On The Avenue.
Where’s Waldo? Kids and parents with eagle eyes can spot him this month in 25 Alexandria businesses.
After you find Waldo at 10 businesses, spotters can collect prizes at Hooray for Books (1555 King Street) in Old Town. Collectors with at least 20 stamps on a passport (found at any participating business) can claim a Waldo temporary tattoo and store coupon.
The annual promotion will end with a grand celebration and prize drawing for a set of Waldo books at the store on July 31 at 4 p.m.
Find Waldo at these businesses:
- Alexandria Visitor Center (221 King Street)
- AR Workshop Alexandria (1212 King Street)
- Beeliner Diner (3648 King Street)
- The BEST Gift Shop (112 S. Patrick Street)
- Conte’s Bike Shop (1100 King Street)
- The Company of Books (2200 Mount Vernon Avenue)
- The Dog Park (705 King Street)
- fibre space (1319 King Street)
- Fresh Baguette (1101 King Street)
- Gold Works (1400 King Street)
- Happy Place (105 S. Union Street)
- Hooray for Books (1555 King Street)
- King Street Souvenirs (217 King Street)
- Lavender Moon Cupcakery (116 S. Royal Street)
- Pacers Running (1301 King Street)
- Penny Post (1201 King Street)
- Red Barn Mercantile (1117 King Street)
- Rocket Fizz (1701 Centre Plaza)
- Stitch Sew Shop (1219 King Street)
- Ten Thousand Villages (915 King Street)
- Today’s Cargo (1102 King Street)
- Turkish Coffee Lady (1201 King Street)
- The UPS Store (107 West Street)
- Uptowner Cafe (1609 King Street)
- Whistle Stop Hobbies (1719 Centre Plaza)
Flaky yet sturdy, Alex Rosenberg and Michael Vidal say they’ve created the perfect biscuit.
The owners of District Biscuit Company opened in December at 3401 Mount Vernon Avenue, offering a menu dedicated to Vidal’s creation.
“The perfect biscuit needs that little bit of sourness from from the buttermilk, and that extra buttery flavor,” Vidal told ALXnow. “And structurally we’ve created a biscuit that can hold up as a sandwich, because most biscuits are very crumbly, and kind of fall apart.”
It’s tough news for Del Ray’s June Turner, who says she’s addicted to the biscuits and is trying to lose weight.
“I have to stop myself from coming here every morning,” Turner said. “These are the best biscuits outside of Georgia. It’s really hard to find a good biscuit around here, especially if you’re from the South.”
Vidal, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, presented a biscuit for Rosenberg to sample back in 2020. The owners are longtime friends who previously worked together selling cars at a local dealership. It’s the first time either have run a business.
“Our biscuits are handmade and we use a lamination process that creates layers and flakes within the biscuits,” Rosenberg said. “So many biscuits that I’ve tried in my life fall apart and lose their structural integrity. These can hold up to biscuits and gravy and they hold up to a biscuit sandwich.”
What’s in the biscuits? Nothing special, Vidal said.
“Buttermilk, flour, butter, you know, just what you’d expect to be in a biscuit,” he said. “What’s different is in the amount of the ingredients and the love we put into it.”
District Biscuit Company is open Tuesday to Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Their full menu is below the jump.
Alexandria vegans rejoice: food truck The Vegan Factory is headed to Lost Boy Cider (317 Hooffs Run Drive).
The food truck hops around the D.C. region but it’s headed to the cidery in the Carlyle neighborhood today from 3-8 p.m.
“Join us and don’t miss our amazing offerings,” the truck’s website said. “Come from 3 p.m.-8 p.m. to try our chili hot dog, Tvf burger, nachos asada, asada fries, and asada tacos, tasty vegan food.”
The food truck has an eclectic range of vegan options, from egg rolls to burgers and nachos.
Image via The Vegan Factory/Facebook
Tropical Smoothie Cafe could soon be coming to Alexandria’s West End.
Owner Oubab Khalil filed a special use permit (SUP) on June 12 to run the restaurant at the space at 424 S. Pickett Street. The final day for public comments is July 6 before it goes to the Planning Commission and then City Council.
The 1,300 square-foot property is located on the ground level of the Cameron Square apartment complex. Submitted plans call for a 20-seat restaurant with smoothie and food prep areas, a kitchen and a single bathroom.
Khalil isn’t new to the business and opened his first Tropical Smoothie Cafe in D.C. in 2016.
If approved, the hours of operation would be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
There are two other Tropical Smoothie Cafes in Alexandria, at 3610-G King Street in the Bradlee Shopping Center and at 1556 Potomac Greens Drive.
Image via Facebook, map via Google Maps
After several months of delay, French bistro Gostov Boulangerie & Brasserie (2213 Mount Vernon Avenue) is set to open next Tuesday in Del Ray.
The notification that the bistro is opening was made by the Del Ray Business Association (Visit Del Ray) on Facebook and Instagram.
“We are so excited — @gustaveboulangerie (finally!) opens on Tuesday, May 30 at 10am,” Visit Del Ray posted.
Owner Abderrahim Moussaif bought the 14,300 square-foot Del Ray property at the corner of Mount Vernon and E. Del Ray Avenues for $3 million in 2019. The bistro is the former home of Bean Creative, which also closed in 2019. Moussaif also runs four Madison Day School child care centers in Alexandria.
The restaurant will serve macarons and feature an espresso bar, although the rest of the menu is under wraps. The company’s website promises an “authentic and traditional French experience.”
Moussaif could not be reached for comment. He previously wanted to open the restaurant earlier this year, and said that the bistro will be able to serve 47 customers at a time, and that there will be outdoor seating.
The restaurant will be open 7 a.m.-10 p.m. every day, except Sunday when it will open at 8 a.m.
Image via Facebook
Erinn Roth credits her mother with everything.
Roth spent 24 years in the U.S. Army before starting Ms. Jo’s Petite Sweets in Alexandria in 2016. She literally had a dream about making cupcakes before retiring from the Army as a lieutenant colonel and told her parents she wanted to make desserts for a living.
“I told my parents that I was going to retire from the Army to cook cupcakes, and my mom said I should do it, that I’d be successful,” Roth said. “About a month later she and my father were on vacation and she passed suddenly. Our family dynamic changed. We were all like little planets orbiting around my mother.”
Roth started her catering business in ALX Community (201 N. Union Street), after attending the pastry school at L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg and participating in entrepreneurship programs at Cornell University, Georgetown University and the WeWork/Bunker Labs Veterans In Residence Program.
“I’m from Mississippi, where your reputation is based on how well you can cook,” Roth said. “Desserts are my passion, although I cook everything. My mother was my greatest influence, but everyone in my family cooked, and food was the center of family gatherings, whether they were weddings, birthdays, celebrations and even funerals.”
She named her company after her mother Jo Bradford Hardaway.
“My favorite part of my new life is when people ask me whether I’m Mrs. Jo, and I can tell them about my mom,” Roth said.
The business got a big boost in 2021, after Roth got runner-up in Crime Scene Kitchen, a reality cooking show on FOX. Last year, she opened Mrs. Jo’s Petite Eats Patisserie & Cafe (7940 Jones Branch Drive) in Tysons Corner.
“I didn’t foresee myself being a business owner being a chef,” Roth said. “I look at life a lot different now. I see the shades of green in trees. I see sunrises and sunsets differently, and I try to stay in the moment.”
Roth manages her business in Alexandria and wants to open more locations in the future.
“I call this my first location,” she said of her cafe. “But yes, I would love to another location particularly overseas at U.S. military bases. There are huge American communities that don’t have cake makers, and I’d love to be able to offer that for that community.”
Images via Facebook
Good Monday morning, Alexandria!
☔ Today’s weather: Passing showers. Overcast. Mild. High of 66 and low of 53.
☔ Tomorrow: Rain. Cloudy. Mild. High of 71 and low of 57. Sunrise at 6:01 am and sunset at 8:07 pm.
🚨 You need to know
After eight months, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority reopened it’s yellow line on Sunday. The line has been out of service since September to allow work on the Potomac River tunnel and bridge.
“The work included replacing over 1,000 individual steel plates held together by more than 12,000 bolts in the tunnel and replacing 88 bearings on the bridge,” according to WMATA. “The project also upgraded the fire suppression system on the 3,000-foot bridge and removed and replaced miles of critical communications cables used by multiple regional partners.”
📈 Friday’s most read
The following are the most-read ALXnow articles for May 5, 2023.
- Giant Food on Duke Street adapts to shoplifting increase by locking one of its front doors (858 views)
- Notes: APD ‘determined’ to reduce crime near Braddock Road Metro after more shots fired (829 views)
- ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria (798 views)
- Just Listed in Alexandria | ALXnow (129 views)
🗞 Other local coverage
- Yellow Line Roars Back into Alexandria Sunday Morning, May 7, after an Eight-Month Closure
Zebra (Sunday @ 1:21 pm)
- Diapers Needed: Start a Drive in Alexandria To Help HomeAid National Capital Region
Zebra (Saturday @ 12:54 pm)
- New Old Town Location for Alexandria’s Zen Press — Same Hospitality, Delicious, Nutritious Food and Juice Options
Zebra (Saturday @ 9:07 am)
- Theogony Editor Staff at Alexandria City Public High School has Been Announced!
Zebra (Friday @ 7:59 pm)
- Sewer Overflow Affects Stream In Alexandria
Patch (Friday @ 3:49 pm)
- DASH Bus Lines To Serve New Potomac Yard Metro Station
Patch (Friday @ 3:22 pm)
- “Happy to Learn This Was a Drill” Says A Lady in Alexandria about the Dummy Hanging Off Woodrow Wilson Bridge on Monday, May 1
Zebra (Friday @ 1:49 pm)
- Lily’s Chocolate and Coffee to Open Soon
Alexandria Living (Friday @ 11:42 am)
- Free Concerts Start June 4 at Fort Hunt Park
Alexandria Living (Friday @ 10:55 am)
- Melanie Kay-Wyatt Named Permanent Alexandria Schools Superintendent
Patch (Friday @ 10:39 am)
- Charlene’s Kitchen: Alexandrians’ ‘Go To’ for Catering, Events
Alexandria Living (Friday @ 10:20 am)
- Old Town Alexandria Home Dating Back To 1830 Has Patio With Brick Wall
Patch (Friday @ 9:59 am)
- How Blackwall Hitch Is Leading Alexandria Waterfront’s Culinary Resurgence
Alexandria Living (Friday @ 9:45 am)
- Mount Vernon: Revolutionary War Weekend May 6, 7
Alexandria Living (Friday @ 9:29 am)
- Samy Seeks Home with a Friend
Alexandria Living (Friday @ 7:41 am)
- About Alexandria with Mark Eaton: Staggering forward
Alexandria Times (Friday @ 7:41 am)
- Your View: We needed a Metro bond referrendum
Alexandria Times (Friday @ 7:34 am)
- Your View: Decongest Duke Street sensibly
Alexandria Times (Friday @ 7:30 am)
- Our View: Not ‘Poetry in Motion’
Alexandria Times (Friday @ 7:27 am)
📅 Upcoming events
Here is what’s going on today in Alexandria, from our event calendar.
- No events today. Have one to promote? Submit it to the calendar.
An increase in crime has resulted in the Giant Food store at 3131 Duke Street locking one of its two front doors, as staff say that shoplifting has become a daily occurrence.
“It’s kids, grownups, everybody,” store manager Zaina Calo told ALXnow. “They try to steal fish, and from the whole meat and seafood department, wine. It doesn’t matter. Anything, really.”
Last month, an employee got maced when he confronted a suspected shoplifter. The suspect walked into the store wearing brass knuckles and armed with mace, Calo said. He has not been arrested, but has been banned from the store. Store staff call the police when the suspect arrives, but he leaves before they arrive, she said.
“Shoplifting happens every day,” Calo said. “It’s gotten pretty bad, but honestly it’s getting a lot safer with our door closed, with our hours reduced.”
Changes at the store include reducing store operations by an hour to 10 p.m., limiting the number of items customers can take to self-checkout aisles and locking one of two entrances. Now customers at the store have to walk past checkout counters, the customer service counter and a bank before walking out.
Shoppers at Giant Food stores are now greeted at the front door with the following message from Giant President Ira Kress:
You may notice changes to your checkout experience as you are shopping with us today. Due to a significant increase in crime and theft that we and many other retailers are experiencing across our market area, we have made several changes to our operating procedures to mitigate the impact of theft to our business. We know that these changes may cause some inconvenience or be disruptive to the experience you are used to, and I assure you we are making these changes out of necessity to prioritize the safety of our associates and customers.
We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure you receive an exceptional experience every time you shop with us and on behalf of Giant Food, we appreciate your patience and understanding.
The brothers behind the new Dos Hermanos Tex Mex restaurant in Del Ray want to open by this summer.
On April 1, Wilmer and Elmer Cruz Villatoro signed a 10-year lease for the 4,000-square-foot space at 1603 Commonwealth Avenue. The interior renovations are nearly finished, with bright red and yellow walls adorned by colorful sombreros and prints of Mexican paintings.
Dos Hermanos is under City review for a special use permit and the public comment period for their application ends on May 11.
“It’s a family restaurant,” Wilmer said. “We are going to do real Tex-Mex. That means fajitas, enchiladas, a solid steak, burritos, chimichangas, and great salads.”
The space is the former longtime home to Monroe’s, which closed in Dec. 2015, after which it became Live Oak and Elo’s Italian, the latter two owned by The Garden‘s Justus Frank and Jeremy Barber.
“I buy very good quality meat,” Elmer said. “You won’t hear any complaints about our chicken fajitas. I pay four times more for chicken breasts than anyone else around here.”
Wilmer moved to Alexandria from El Salvador when he was 18 years old in 1999, getting his first restaurant job at the former Chicken Out in Old Town. He learned more about the industry working at California Pizza Kitchen in Arlington and then as a cook at Hops Bar & Grill in Potomac Yard. In 2004, Elmer followed his big brother to Alexandria, and got a job as a dishwasher at Hops. Two years later, Elmer transferred to a Hops in West Palm Beach, Florida, and then worked for seven years at Mexican/Spanish restaurant La Bamba in North Palm Beach.
Wilmer later started working at Dos Amigos when it opened 535 E. Braddock Road near the Braddock Road Metro station in 2013. In 2019, he partnered with the company’s owners and they opened a Dos Amigos at 7375 Boston Boulevard in Springfield. He even convinced Elmer to return to Alexandria to help run the family business. Then the pandemic hit in 2020, putting the breaks on positive growth.
“It was hard to make a living,” Elmer said. “But things got busy again. We had a lot of business until we had to close.”
The Springfield Dos Amigos closed on March 31, after the partners were bought out of their lease due to Costco wanting to install a gas station on the property. The buyout had Elmer consider moving back to Florida, and he even tried talking Wilmer into tagging along.
“I have a 14-year-old son and I need to be here for him,” Wilmer said. “I told him I’d love to go, but I cannot move right now. Then we found this place and I convinced him (Elmer) to stay.”
The brothers plan on employing about 15 people to work in the restaurant, and to be open from 11 a.m. to 1o p.m. Sunday to Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. They also plan on having daily happy hour specials from 3 to 7 p.m. daily and then bar menu includes a dozen margaritas, Central and South American wine and signature drinks like a mojito with mezcal, piña coladas, flavored daiquiris and sangrias.
The restaurant will also feature a $11 kids menu with enchiladas, tacos and quesadillas.
“The menus are all ready,” Elmer said. “We have until May 11 to see if the city has to say something about our application. Once they approve, we’ll open soon after. We’re hoping for June.”
