Get your Santa hat ready, because the Del Ray Pop-Up Bar plans to reopen with a Christmas-themed “Joy on the Avenue” concept in two weeks.
The bar aims to return during the weekend of Friday, Nov. 21 at 2312 Mount Vernon Avenue, replacing its spooky “Nightmare on the Avenue” pop-up that closed after Halloween, owner Bill Blackburn told ALXnow.
Thousands of superheroes, witches, princesses, and other costumed revelers attended the 29th annual Del Ray Halloween Parade along Mount Vernon Avenue Sunday afternoon.
The grand marshal of the parade was Mount Vernon Community School 5th grader Linci Campos Cifuentes, who rode with her principal along the parade route. The event is one of the best Halloween parades in the country, according to USA Today.
A popular beer garden in Del Ray will remain open in the winter as its owners fight a legal battle with their landlords, who are seeking to evict them.
For the last five years, Jeremy Barber and Justis Frank, the owners of The Garden (1503-1505 Mount Vernon Avenue), shut down during the winter and reopened in the spring. Their landlord, Twenty-Third Street Corridor LLC, is seeking to evict them, and previously deferred their rent during those months, but no longer. With all parties returning to the General District Court on January 8, Barber and Frank will pay monthly rent and plan to keep a heated area in the back of the property open.
Get your running shoes ready, because the Saint Rita Catholic School 5K and 1K Kids Fun Run are returning to Alexandria on Saturday, Nov. 15.
The races are a fundraiser for the school, and the course starts outside George Washington Middle School (1005 Mount Vernon Avenue), then heads down tree-lined Main Line Boulevard and Potomac Avenue, and returns to GW. More details on the races are below.
Welcome to Friday, Alexandria! Here’s a look at ALXnow’s top stories of the week.
With less than a month until the Nov. 4 general election, this week’s most-read story is on the controversy surrounding Virginia’s Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones. The National Review broke the news last Friday (Oct. 3) that in August 2022, Jones sent text messages to Del. Carrie Coyner (R-75), “fantasizing about shooting then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert and his children,” according to the Virginia Mercury story posted on ALXnow.
After months of interior renovations, Pak Soii Izakaya and Bar is soft-opening at 1909 Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray on Saturday, Oct. 17.
Owner Jay Chainam tells ALXnow that it’s been a lot of work to get the restaurant up and running, and that he and his staff are excited. Earlier this month, Chainam and restaurant co-owner Supattra Pummora held a pop-up to finalize the menu for Pak Soii Izakaya and Bar at their sister restaurant, Gin Ramen & Asian Tapas (500 John Carlyle Street).
The Del Ray Farmhouse Market and Garden, located at 1913 Mount Vernon Avenue, has just opened a small grocery store inside its premises.
Owner Jay Portlance soft-opened the grocery store today (Oct. 8), selling vegetables, fresh bread, and eggs. He said that the store will support local vendors and farms. Portlance noted that the store is a “micro-version” of a standard grocery store and plans to expand its offerings over the next several weeks.
The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a report that an employee at a popular Del Ray bistro recorded customers using the bathroom on Saturday, Sept. 20.
Karim Mashmour, the owner of Gustave Boulangerie & Brasserie (2213 Mount Vernon Avenue), states that the employee has been suspended pending the outcome of the APD’s investigation, while police indicate that it is an ongoing investigation and that no charges have been filed.
The Alexandria General District Court held a preliminary hearing on Wednesday on the eviction lawsuit against the owners of a popular Beer Garden in Del Ray.
In late August, Jeremy Barber and Justus Frank, the owners of The Garden (1503 Mount Vernon Avenue) filed a lawsuit in the Alexandria Circuit Court against their landlord, who listed the property available for rent on Sept. 1. The landlord, Twenty-Third Street Corridor LLC, then filed an eviction lawsuit in General District Court. Barber and Frank want both cases heard simultaneously and contend that their case was filed before their landlord. The pair is trying to get their landlord’s case dismissed, and all parties will go back to General District Court on Friday, Oct. 10, Barber told ALXnow.
Here’s a rundown of our top stories.
Our top story this week is on the Thursday, Sept. 11, announcement that Systems Planning and Analysis (SPA) will expand its Alexandria headquarters and create 1,200 new jobs over the next five years as part of a $46.9 million investment across Northern Virginia. The defense contractor bought, and will renovate, a 239,000-square-foot office building at 2001 N. Beauregard Street. Attendees at the announcement included Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay.
A popular open mic night in Del Ray is celebrating its third anniversary next Wednesday (Sept. 17).
Greg Roth and Gabe Fry started the What-Have-You open mic at Evening Star Cafe (2000 Mount Vernon Avenue) in September 2022, and since then — with the exception of January — have hosted the event from 8:30 to 11 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. Next Wednesday’s event has a numbers, acronyms, and abbreviations theme, with musicians asked to perform hits from bands like R.E.M., AC/DC, INXS, and the B-52s, among others.
