King Street | ALXnow

ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

Published August 8, 2025 at 3:30PM

Tortas Y Tacos La Chiquita will open at 529 E Howell Ave in Alexandria (via Tortas Y Tacos La Chiquita Mexicana on Facebook)

We made it to Friday, Alexandria! Here’s a look at this week’s top stories.

Our most-read post is on a proposal to open a 24-hour Mexican restaurant in the city’s Del Ray neighborhood. The effort is facing some pushback from neighbors wary of potential crime and safety issues. In July, Tortas Y Tacos La Chiquita officially announced in a special use permit application that it wants to open at 529 E. Howell Avenue, the former home to Bark Social. It would be the fourth restaurant for the local chain, and while the restaurant won’t serve alcohol, outside patio hours would be 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, according to the application. The inside area is proposed to be open 24 hours a day.

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French bakery and cafe files paperwork to open at 701 King Street in Old Town

By James Cullum

Published August 7, 2025 at 10:30AM

A lease has been signed at 701 King Street, the former home to Le Pan Quotidien. (Courtesy Google Maps)

A new French cafe wants to open in a prominent location in Old Town.

New York City-based Maman Coffee Baking Kitchen has filed a special use permit application to operate a cafe, bakery, restaurant, and accessory event space at 701 King Street. That’s the former home to Foxtrot, which closed in 2024, located at the corner of King and N. Washington Streets.

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Van Leeuwen Ice Cream coming to Old Town

By James Cullum

Published August 5, 2025 at 6:00AM

Proposed renovations show a Van Leeuwen ice cream shop at 400 King Street (via City of Alexandria)

Fans of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream won’t have to travel to Arlington anymore to get their fix. The company recently filed an administrative special use permit (DSUP) application with the city to open a location in Old Town.

The New York City ice cream shop wants to open at 400 King Street, next door to the Alexandrian Old Town Hotel and Southern restaurant King & Rye. Proposed hours would be 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week, and the business expects between 150 and 250 daily customers, according to the SUP. The last day for public comments on the proposal is Aug. 21.

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There’s a vigil on King Street in Old Town on Friday against the Israel-Hamas war

By James Cullum

Published July 24, 2025 at 3:00PM

There's a vigil in Old Town against the war between Israel and Palestine in Gaza (via Instagram)

There’s a vigil on King Street in Old Town against the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas on Friday (July 25).

The protest will be held in the pedestrian-only 100 block of King Street at 7 p.m., according to an Instagram post from Alexandria for Palestinian Human Rights. The group has been a near-constant presence in Alexandria for more than a year-and-a-half in the city. Members have demonstrated at city council meetings, a reelection campaign event with U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), and the opening of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus.

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Wink Lash Art moves to new location on King Street in Old Town

By James Cullum

Published July 15, 2025 at 1:30PM

Wink Lash Art is now open at 201 King Street in Old Town (via Instagram)

There’s a new business in Old Town that’s not only raising eyebrows, but extending lashes.

Wink Lash Art moved to its new location on the second floor of 201 King Street (above Comfort One Shoes) at the end of June. Owner Bianca Claudia Briscan says that the 850-square-foot space more than doubles the area she and her staff worked with the last six years at their previous location at 300 S. Washington Street.

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‘HomeGrown: A Daytime Eatery’ opens August 11 in Old Town

By James Cullum

Published July 14, 2025 at 12:30PM | Updated July 17, 2025 at 12:40PM

Homegrown is opening at 1600 King Street on Aug. 11, 2025 (via Instagram)

A new restaurant is officially opening its doors on August 11 in Old Town.

HomeGrown: A Daytime Eatery will formally open in the space formerly occupied by BRABO Brasserie in the Archer Hotel Old Town Alexandria. The restaurant, which has more than a dozen locations throughout the country, was announced last November. This is their first Virginia location.

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TD Bank to open new King Street location in October

By Ryan Belmore

Published July 13, 2025 at 3:55PM | Updated July 14, 2025 at 10:26AM

TD Bank rendering at 515 King Street (via City of Alexandria)

TD Bank will relocate its Alexandria branch from 119 S Washington Street to 515 King Street on October 11, 2025, according to a customer notification letter dated July 10, 2025.

The new location will be situated next to Tatte Bakery & Cafe in Old Town Alexandria.

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Alexandria wants your Opinion: Should the 200 block of King Street stay car-free?

By Ryan Belmore

Published July 3, 2025 at 2:15PM

200 block of King Street (staff photo by James Cullum)

The City of Alexandria is seeking input from residents and visitors on a pilot program that has temporarily transformed the 200 block of King Street into a pedestrian-only zone, as officials prepare to decide whether to make the change permanent.

The second phase of the pilot program, which began on March 14 and runs through September 30, 2025, has converted the 200 block of King Street, between Lee Street and Fairfax Street, into a car-free zone. The city is now collecting public feedback through an online form, with responses due by July 17.

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Shake Shack unveils vision for former bank in Old Town

By James Cullum

Published June 23, 2025 at 12:00PM

Shake Shack is cooking up plans to open in a former bank in Old Town.

The burger chain filed permit requests to open at the former Burke and Herbert Bank at 621 King Street last December. Shake Shack now seeks approval for new signage and has included a new rendering of the building exterior (see below) in their application heading to the Board of Architectural Review.

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Asana puts 21 Old Town properties on the market

By James Cullum

Published June 11, 2025 at 1:15PM | Updated June 11, 2025 at 5:10PM

Walking in the 100 block of King Street in Old Town (staff photo by James Cullum)

Ben N Jerry’s, Urbano 116, Patagonia, and Jeni’s Ice Cream are just a few of the 21 mixed-use properties in Old Town that have been put on the market.

North Carolina-based Asana Partners bought the properties along the King Street Mile (between the waterfront and the King Street Metro station) worth more than $100 million between 2016 and 2018. Asana reportedly invested $20 million into their redevelopment, and now the portfolio is being marketed by D.C. firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

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Moms Demand Action hosting Wear Orange rally against gun violence in Old Town on Friday

By James Cullum

Published June 2, 2025 at 1:45PM

Wear Orange Day rally (via Moms Demand Action/Facebook)

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and Del Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-5) will join the Virginia chapter of Moms Demand Action onstage at Market Square (301 King Street) on Friday (June 6).

Friday is National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and the annual rally is part of Wear Orange Weekend. Gun violence victims will be honored in events throughout the country by affected families and supporters. The city’s new Poet Laureate, Cristi Donoso, will also speak at the event, which includes an on-site blood mobile and a community resource fair.