We made it to Friday in Alexandria! Here’s a look at our top stories of the week.
Our top post was on the plan to close Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park for two years. It’s part of the city’s efforts to fight flooding by rebuilding sections of sea wall and installing a pump station to recirculate floodwaters to the Potomac River.
A new Vietnamese-themed restaurant is under development in Arlandria.
2D Noodles (3823 Mount Vernon Avenue) ‘s interior renovation is nearly complete. The restaurant’s location in the Del Ray North shopping center is two stores down from Sake Express Japanese Hibachi, which is owned by the same local restaurant chain that owns Sake Japanese Steakhouse & Bar at 2016 Eisenhower Avenue.
What a busy week it’s been in Alexandria.
Our top story was on big changes planned for 400 King Street in Old Town. The building takes over an entire city block and is currently home to The Alexandrian Old Town Hotel at 480 King Street and Southern restaurant King & Rye.
It’s been 16 years since Generous George’s Positive Pizza & Pasta Place closed, and only a few months before it reopens as a Japanese sushi restaurant.
After an extensive interior renovation, Umiya Alexandria is expected to open by August, a contractor working on the project told ALXnow.
Saigon Rolls, a new restaurant with pho, banh mi and more is now open at 606 King Street.
The restaurant is filling a space previously occupied by another Vietnamese restaurant, Pho Nam, which opened in 2020, and Breugger’s Bagels before that.
Next week the Planning Commission is scheduled to review a special use permit that could bring the French Toast food truck and a new salad restaurant Salad Topia to Del ray.
The special use permit is for 1506 Mount Vernon Avenue. the restaurant would be inside the building while French Toast would operate from trailers behind the building.
Just as the Delian League brought together an alliance of Greek city-states, The Big Greek Cafe is uniting SouvlakiBar locations around the region under a new banner.
Patch reported that SouvlakiBar, which has a location at 2732 Richmond Highway in the Potomac Yard neighborhood, will be transitioning to The Big Greek Cafe, a Maryland-based local chain with nine locations
The former Java Grill space in Old Town could be turned into a sushi restaurant.
A new permit filed to the City of Alexandria requests a change of ownership of 611 King Street from Java Grill — which closed in 2021.
An “Asian and Japanese restaurant” wants to open in the former Red Lobster on S. Van Dorn Street.
The owners of Yami Buffett recently filed a special use permit application for change of ownership and increased seating at 555 S. Van Dorn Street. That’s the former longtime home of Red Lobster, which abruptly closed on Aug. 31.
Baku Delicious, a Fairfax cafe and bakery specializing in Azerbaijani cuisine, is opening a new location at 711 Pendleton Street next year.
Owner Sevda Tahirli filed a permit with the City of Alexandria to open an “art cafe, serving freshly baked pastries, coffee and teas.”
A Japanese steakhouse is opening a new location in Arlandria.
Sake Express Japanese Hibachi will open within the next two months at 3827 Mount Vernon Avenue, staff told ALXnow.
