A Pennsylvania man was arrested for his third driving while intoxicated offense in five years and driving on a suspended license after allegedly crashing his car into The Majestic Restaurant’s outdoor patio and a number of other cars in Old Town on Thursday, Dec. 28.
The incident at The Majestic occurred at around 1:30 a.m., and the 25-year-old suspect was later arrested at around 6:30 a.m. after allegedly crashing a 2002 Camry with temporary tags into two unoccupied parked vehicles near the intersection of Commerce and S. Payne Streets.
The damages are estimated at around $15,000, according to Scott Bogue, the restaurant’s manager.
“That includes propane tanks, heaters, crowd control barriers, planters, not to mention the time it too the gardener to buy the plants and plant them,” Bogue said. “He hit every single table, every single chair. You would have thought that an 18-wheeler plowed into the restaurant.”
Bogue said that police linked the suspect’s car by a portion of the front bumper that was left in front of the restaurant. Bogue said that Alexandria Restaurant Partners, which owns The Majestic, is not pressing charges and is getting compensated through the suspect’s insurance.
The suspect was charged with driving on a suspended license and for his third DWI in less than five years, which is a Class 6 felony punishable by up to a year in prison and/or a $2,500 fine. He was released on a $1,000 bond that afternoon and has his first court appearance on Friday, Jan. 5.
A group of mystery writers are meeting together at Elaine’s (208 Queen Street) this month for a discussion about writing the genre’s archetypal characters.
Elaine’s, once a restaurant called Bilbo Baggins, opened last year with a second floor designed to hold literary events like author interviews and book launches.
The event, called ‘Writing Cops, P.I.s and Reporters for Fun and Profit,” focuses on tips for writing characters like reporters or private eyes, as well as distinctions between those professions and genres.
“Join mystery writers Dana King, Rick Pullen, Austin Camacho and me for an authors discussion, moderated by Jeffrey James Higgins, on similarities and differences in writing police procedurals, journalistic heroes and private eyes,” author, former police officer, and former reporter Mark Bergin wrote on Facebook.
The event is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 28 at 1 p.m.
A barbecue restaurant in Old Town is keeping the same meat-focused menu but with a new visual and branding overhaul.
Myron Mixon’s Pitmaster Barbeque at 220 N. Lee Street filed a special use permit to change to Mystic BBQ & Grill.
The permit also notes a change in ownership, with RT’s Restaurant owners Ralph Davis and Matthew Davis taking over the restaurant.
According to the permit:
There will be no changes to the existing business other than a name change and some cosmetic changes to the facility, including painting, refinishing floors and changing out some decor.
It will continue to serve BBQ with some additional items similar to what was on their menu the first couple of years they were open.
Get your palate ready, because Restaurant Week is returning this winter to more than 70 Alexandria eateries.
The bi-annual event will be held from Jan. 19 to 28 in neighborhood restaurants throughout the city, which will offer $30, $40, or $50 in-person dinners for one.
Deals include a $30 dinner for one at Barca Wine Bar, a $50 dinner for one at Brabo and a $50 dinner for one at Josephine Brasserie and Bar.
Restaurant Week is held every summer and winter and was created in 2009 by Visit Alexandria.
“In addition to serving as an economic driver for Alexandria restaurants, Alexandria Restaurant Week bolsters the city’s reputation as a culinary destination,” Visit Alexandria said in a release.
A culinary staple is closing its doors this week after nearly 30 years in Old Town.
The outside signage of Faccia Luna (823 S. Washington Street) has been taken down, and customers have been handed a note that says the following:
Dear Faccia Luna guests,
After 27 years in Alexandria we are closing our doors on Saturday, Dec. 23. Thank you for all of your loyal patronage.
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
-Dr. Seuss
Update (12/16)
We are trying to keep up with the recent outpouring of support! Thank you for your patience and understanding!
Penn State grads Bill McFadden and Joe Corey opened their first Faccia Luna in Old Town in 1996, and later opened locations in Arlington (closed in 2018) and back home at State College, Pennsylvania.
After this week, the State College location is their sole pizzeria. No reason for the closure was given.
In 2015 and 2016, Faccia Luna’s signature pies earned back-to-back top marks by being voted “best pizza” from the Washington City Paper. After winning the distinction, the restaurant released the following statement:
Pizzerias have come and gone, presidents have come and gone, even those critically acclaimed pizzerias have come and gone and still Faccia Luna has met the “Taste of Time.” It is a neighborhood kind of a place serving excellent pizza. It is a destination first-date restaurant with over 300 first dates that have led to marriage. So as we look forward to another quarter century of serving local Washingtonians, we urge those who haven’t dined with us to come in and get the “real deal!” Super good pizza, the Faccia Luna way!!! If It Ain’t Faccia Luna, It Ain’t Pizza.
Faccia Luna is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and from 2:30 to 10 p.m. on Saturday.
Washington Post food critic Tim Carman cited Del Ray’s Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ (2000 Mount Vernon Avenue) as one of the top ten best casual restaurants in the region.
The restaurant opened in the backyard of Del Ray’s Evening Star Cafe earlier this year. The restaurant later got after-the-fact permission from the City Council to use outdoor smoker grills despite complaints from neighbors.
According to Carman:
The barbecue that [Nathan Anda] and Marvin “Grande” Rivera produce already has identifiable signatures, such as the four-chile rub used for the spare ribs and chopped pork, making for flavor profiles that straddle the increasingly porous border between Tex-Mex and Central Texas barbecue. The barbecue can be ordered as part of a Tex-Mex platter, with housemade flour tortillas, smoked crema and pico de gallo. It can also be ordered by the pound. Most times, I’m going with the latter: I want little to come between me and the terrific barbecue at Hi/Fi.
The restaurant features a variety of Tex-Mex meals, from sandwiches and tacos to full BBQ platters.
Image via Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ/Facebook
Alexandria restaurant Thompson Italian, which also has a location in Falls Church, was voted as the second-best restaurant in Virginia by Washingtonian readers.
Thompson Italian took over 1024 King Street in 2022, formerly Hank’s Oyster Bar. The restaurant features a variety of dishes, from squid ink bucatini to crispy brussel sprouts.
“The newer Old Town location serves carefully crafted pastas, like the Falls Church original, but adds brunch and an attention-getting cacio e pepe gimlet,” Washingtonian wrote.
Thompson Italian beat out classic regional favorites, like three-Michelin-star restaurant The Inn at Little Washington, but couldn’t top Ruthie’s All Day in Arlington.
Andy’s Pizza, which has a location in Old Town, also got a slice of the action as the number one favorite pizza spot.
Image via Thompson Italian/Facebook
Joy on the Avenue is officially open to the public in Del Ray.
The Christmas-themed pop-up bar at 2312 Mount Vernon Avenue softly opened on Tuesday night, just in time for the long holiday weekend.
Owner Bill Blackburn said that the restaurant bar is the most festively decorated of its kind in Alexandria.
“It’s the same formula with the pop-up that we’ve followed the last two holiday seasons,” Blackburn said. “We have a very creative cocktail menu with some familiar favorites, some new creations this year and some nibbles to spread some holiday cheer.”
The menu (in the photo gallery above) includes concoctions like “We Forgot Kevin!” with Tito’s vodka, St. Germaine, cranberry juice, lemon, bitters, jalapeno honey, syrup and ginger beer.
It took nearly two weeks to get the annual pop-up ready, since Blackburn and staff had to pack away all of the Halloween decorations from the bar’s previous iteration as Nightmare on the Avenue.
Blackburn said that Joy on the Avenue will stay up until the first week in January, when it will wrap with the annual Festivus party.
Royal Restaurant, now under new ownership, is the latest Alexandria restaurant to seek permission to swap out some of its parking space for more outdoor seating.
The restaurant is hoping to trade 10 parking spaces for 60 outdoor seats. Another 30 seats will be added to an alley on the west side of the building.
The proposal would add an elevated deck outside the building on part of the parking lot.
Royal Restaurant isn’t the first to trade parking space for outdoor seating, several restaurants have turned parking areas into outdoor seating.
Outdoor seating took off in Alexandria during Covid, and the city has been working to make it easier for restaurants to make temporary outdoor seating permanent.
Reception to the change was mixed in the comments and on social media.
“Glad the restaurant is ‘evolving’,” one commenter said. “However I loved the small-town neighborhood feel of the restaurant… The parking really helped us. My parents are in their 80s and look forward to going to Royals. The changes will be hard for them.”
“How unfortunate,” a commenter on Facebook said, “parking was a major perk at the Royal since street parking options are limited.”
But others said the trade-off was a “no-brainer” and noted that there’s often ample street parking on N. St. Asaph Street and nearby streets.
“An additional 90 seats for paying customers at the expense of only a few parking spaces is a no-brainer,” one commenter said.
Image via Google Maps
Royal Restaurant (730 N. St Asaph Street) in Old Town North could swap some parking spots for 90 new outdoor seats.
In an application filed to the City of Alexandria, applicant ARP Royal OPCO LLC said the plan is to convert 10 parking spaces to the west and south of the building into 60 outdoor seats, with another 30 added to an alley on the west side of the building.
“The outdoor seating would be constructed on an elevated deck to maintain the existing surface water drainage pattern,” the staff report said. “A note on the proposed site plan indicates that a five-by-five portion of the decking will be removable to access the drain for maintenance.”
While some restaurants have had a contentious outdoor seating process, the staff report fully supports the application. According to the report:
Staff supports the request to add 90 outdoor seats to the existing restaurant. The indoor restaurant has operated successfully as a neighborhood meeting spot since 1950, and the addition of outdoor dining would enhance the business’s favorable position within the neighborhood. The new business owner, the applicant, has operated the business no violations.
The application is headed to review at the City Council meeting on Saturday, Nov. 18.
Image via Google Maps