Beloved Old Town chili-spot Hard Times Cafe at 1404 King Street could be temporarily closing to undergo extensive interior renovations.
Hard Times Cafe filed an application for partial demolition and encapsulation at the restaurant. That permit is scheduled for review at the Board of Architectural Review meeting on Wednesday, April 17.
After nearly a year of extensive renovation and expansion, Piece Out Del Ray is reopening next month, it’s owner tells ALXnow.
The expansion from 2,700 to 4,600 square feet includes a large, center-focused bar area, a brand new dining room in what was previously a neighboring yoga studio, booths, dart boards and 21-and-up-only shuffleboard. A small area for outdoor seating is still being leveled and rails need to be put in place, but otherwise the restaurant was ready enough to open for a March Madness pop-up event on Wednesday night.
A smoking heating and air system has closed Bugsy’s Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar at 111 King Street for the foreseeable future, the restaurant owner told ALXnow.
Owner Bartolo Paz said that smoke came out of the furnace this afternoon after it was turned on by restaurant staff, that no one was hurt, and that there is minimal damage.
Imagine opening the French doors of your portable home at whatever backdrop you desire. The possibilities of portable architecture are the latest obsession of Alexandria furniture designer Daniel Donnelly.
Donnelly’s asking for an after-the-fact special use permit approval for three large taupe-colored Marine shipping containers at the entrance to his workshop at 80 S. Early Street. The modern furniture design business is located an industrial area of the city near police headquarters, and the open-sided containers were installed during the pandemic as a showroom for prospective customers.
As the old saying goes: when one spa closes, another one opens.
While Windsor of Old Town is closing this month after 43 years in Alexandria, a new business called Spa180 Prestige has opened at 2813 Duke Street. The spa also has a large parking area on-site.
A new outdoor seating area at Union Sandwich Company (101 N. Union Street) could both alleviate overcrowding in the store and give visitors a new place to sit and enjoy Old Town.
The sandwich shop owner filed a special use permit with the City of Alexandria to add three tables with four seats each and some planters and rope to delineate the area.
Mediterranean restaurant La’Baik should open in the next several weeks in the former Rubia’s Tacos at 2309 Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray, its owner tells ALXnow.
Rubia’s, which was previously Stomping Ground for eight years, closed in January, and new restaurant owner Mohammad Abdel-Hay is keeping the interior and equipment and tables and chairs as-is, only changing the menu, staff and signage.
He’s not remotely Irish, but Alexandria restaurant owner “Mango” Mike Anderson is the grand marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday.
A local celebrity of sorts, Anderson will lead the parade down King Street and to the reviewing stand on Royal Street in the heart of Old Town.
Updated 2/27: Justin Marino, owner of Mason and Greens, reached out to ALXnow. Marino said:
We would like to thank the community, the City and all who have supported our small business over the years. We had a good run, and hope we introduced you to new items that are good for you and the planet, and different ways to live a cleaner and better life. We will miss our customers the most, the Mason & Greens family wishes you the best, and much success in your journey to a more sustainable future!
After getting after-the-fact permission from City Council to use their outdoor smoker, Del Ray’s Hi/Fi Tex Mex BBQ is now asking after-the-fact for approval of their electric sign.
The restaurant opened in the backyard of Evening Star Cafe (2000 Mount Vernon Avenue) in 2022, and got after-the-fact permission from the City Council to operate their outdoor smoker grills, despite complaints from neighbors. Last December, Washington Post food critic Tim Carman labeled the restaurant as one of the top ten best casual restaurants in the region.
There’s nothing like numbing your aching body with a hot toddy after a long day on the slopes.
That’s the vibe that the owners of the Aspen on the Avenue popup (2312 Mount Vernon Avenue) have in mind. There’s a two-seat gondola parked outside the restaurant and bar greeting customers as they walk into a warm environment with a fake fireplace, a fake brick wall, lots of skis and two giant backlit photos of idyllic snowy scenes.
