Visit Alexandria has announced new details for the next Alexandria Restaurant Week, scheduled for Jan. 21-30.
The week (give or take three days) is a twice-annual event in Alexandria where around 70 restaurants across the city offer $35 per-person dinners.
There will soon be a second Chewish Deli bagel shop in Old Town, as the company officially announced it is working to open at the former Dunkin’ Donuts space at 1640 King Street.
Chewish Deli opened its first brick and mortar at 807 Pendleton Street in the Braddock area in October 2020. It began seven months before that as a food truck selling bagels, hot pastrami and Reuben sandwiches.
Local restaurants to require vaccination proof in January — “At least a few restaurants are asking diners to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination before dining indoors.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
COVID-19 cases more than doubled in past week — “Cases of COVID-19 in Alexandria more than doubled in the seven days ending on Tuesday, apparently fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variant combined with indoor holiday gatherings.” [Alexandria Times]
The Sushi Bar at 2312 Mount Vernon Avenue is closing for good tonight (Dec. 7), and will soon reopen as a Christmas-themed pop-up bar, owner Bill Blackburn informed ALXnow.
“Joy On The Avenue – A Christmas Pop-up Bar” will open in its place sometime next week, Blackburn said.
George Washington’s Mount Vernon releases first 18th century-inspired beers — “George Washington’s Mount Vernon is releasing its first 18th century-inspired beer. The first two releases are Mount Vernon Virginia’s Porter and Mount Vernon Rye Cask Aged Porter.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
Audrey Davis talks about museums and black history in Alexandria — “Audrey Davis, director of the Alexandria Black History Museum, stops by Speak Easy this month.” [Alexandria Times]
School Board discusses SRO return, updating police MOU — “…the School Board discussed the short-term, and potentially long-term, future of the [School Resource Officer program] at a meeting on Nov. 11.” [Alexandria Times]
Restaurants in Alexandria offer Thanksgiving packages to go — “You can explore multi-course Thanksgiving menus and special to-go offerings from a variety of Alexandria restaurants.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
Hank’s Oyster Bar moving to Old Town North — “Award-winning Chef Jamie Leeds spoke up on a social media post this morning to confirm that yes, Hank’s Oyster Bar is moving to the Old Town North neighborhood, into the space formerly occupied by Hank & Mitzi’s, an Italian restaurant named after her parents, that she closed in June 2020.” [Zebra]
Safeway donates to ALIVE! — “This morning, [the] Safeway Foundation presented ALIVE! with a $9,159.38 grant to ensure children in the City of Alexandria, VA have access to a healthy breakfast this fall 2021. [ALIVE!/Twitter]
A Fairfax County man was arrested and released multiple traffic offenses in Old Town on Oct. 10, including driving while intoxicated, driving under a revoked/suspended license and two counts of failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
The 59-year-old suspect allegedly hit three vehicles and drove off while attempting to park in front of The Light Horse Restaurant at 715 King Street, according to a search warrant affidavit.
For the first time in more than 50 years, a member of the Severson family is not making Philly cheesesteak sub sandwiches at Al’s Steak House in Del Ray.
Nelson Rodriguez says it’s regrettable that Bo Severson, the son of former owner John Severson, and cook Mark Williams didn’t work out. It was only a month ago that Rodriguez took over at the Del Ray institution, and at the time he said he was going to keep the old hands to ensure that the cheese steak tradition continues.
Dreams of the long-planned Yates Pizza Palace (3000 Duke Street) are likely dead as the owner of the stalled development has filed a permit to sign the location over to be used as a hub for food delivery, the Washington Business Journal reported.
The Business Journal reported that a change of ownership permit indicates that the pizza restaurant — formerly Generous George’s Positive Pizza & Pasta Place — will be owned by a company affiliated with Reef Technology, a firm that converts spaces into neighborhood kitchens.
It takes less than five minutes to make most orders at Don Taco. The restaurant and tequila bar at 808 King Street also claims to make the best margaritas in Old Town, and that combination of making quick to-go orders with alcoholic drinks to wash it all down has been their secret to success during the pandemic.
“There’s not much of a profit margin on food costs,” Don Taco’s General Manager Tracey Deiderich told ALXnow. “As far as alcohol is concerned, that’s where restaurants make most of their money. Allowing restaurants to do this just weeks after we had to shut down was a huge success.”
