News

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.


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An event space just off the Mount Vernon Trail at Canal Center is looking to undergo a small expansion to make the Old Town North location a little more exciting.

Chalkboard Canal Center LLC, is proposing to add two temporary trailers to the event as well as a permit for live music to create a venue called The Bike Club.


News

Big changes are coming to Village Brauhaus at 710 King Street in Old Town.

The new owners will close the doors of the restaurant for three weeks starting Tuesday, June 20, and will hold a grand reopening on Thursday, July 13, in a newly renovated and renamed Alexandria Bier Garden, managing partner Fito Garcia tells ALXnow.


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(Updated 9:55 p.m.) Alexandria’s Planning Commission voted to recommend eliminating outdoor music at Hops N’ Shine (3410 Mount Vernon Avenue) and the restaurant owners faced some withering rebukes from Planning Commissioners.

The bar failed to get a recommendation for the outdoor live entertainment or outdoor cooking conditions, two of the major components of the special use permit (SUP) application.


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Chadwicks (203 Strand Street) is about to get really busy.

From now until mid-August, it’s the strong season for the unpretentious Old Town staple that has graced the Alexandria waterfront since 1979. From the menu to decor, not much changes in the restaurant/bar (except a recent price hike) as owner Trae Lamond keeps his proverbial ship afloat through a gradually evolving seashore.


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Sharp words are being batted around Alexandria, as the fifth annual Del Ray vs. Old Town Softball Battle is intended to settle a few scores.

Thursday’s contest pits a number of Old Town businesses against neighborhood rival Del Ray, and the series is tied at two apiece. Del Ray won the first year, followed by two consecutive Old Town wins, and then Del Ray took back the John Porter cup in a win last year. The cup, which was created by Old Town metal artist Chris Earny, now sits behind the bar of Pork Barrel BBQ, which is owned by Del Ray’s coach Bill Blackburn.


News

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.


News

After seven years in retirement in Italy, Franco Abbruzzetti is back at Trattoria da Franco in Old Town.

Last fall, the 85-year-old bought back his restaurant at 305 S. Washington Street from Michael Strutton, who bought it in 2017 and renamed it Michael’s Little Italy. Abbruzzetti and his wife moved to Rome, adopted a young boy, Bruno, who is now five years old, and got bored being away from his business.


News

Do you take your yoga with coffee or tea?

By this summer, the Harold family of Alexandria want to add a third business in Old Town — Connect & Sip Cafe at 1320 Prince Street. The proposed cafe would be located next door to their PIES Fitness & Yoga Studio at 1322 Prince Street. If all goes well with the permitting process, they’d like to open up by mid-summer.


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