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

A coalition of organizations and City agencies has put together a survey to assess the quality of housing around the city.

Alexandria’s Healthy Homes Network is launching the engagement project to both gather information on issues like mold and pests and to help residents become more aware of home hazards.

Housing conditions have been at the forefront of several fights between renters and property owners around the city. According to a release:

The first phase of this community engagement work will set priorities on home condition topics such as mold, pests, accessibility, aging in place, and working heat and air conditioning. The second phase will explore the causes behind local home hazards, including public and private policies or systems that make the issues worse. This second phase will also focus on developing solutions for the priority areas. The community engagement effort will go through spring 2024.

This community discussion is part of Alexandria’s larger Healthy Homes Initiative. The initiative is working to ensure all Alexandrians have healthy and safe, hazard-free housing. Work is facilitated by the Alexandria Health Department along with local partners in Alexandria’s Healthy Homes Network. Other efforts include the development of metrics to assess the quality of local housing, tools to catalog existing home safety resources, and programs to respond to health issues created by unhealthy homes.

The survey is available in English, Spanish, Amharic, Dari and Pashto. The survey will be open until Jan. 3, 2024.

ALXnow needs your hottest takes.

We are conducting our annual reader survey to get your feedback on our reporting, our website, and ideas for the future. The survey is short and anonymous, and it will only take a few minutes to complete.

Your feedback is important to us, and it will help us improve ALXnow and refine our local coverage. You’ll also finally have that chance to tell us whether you think we report too much on Old Town and Del Ray.

To take the survey, click here.

ALXnow has grown significantly in the last year, but we want to do even more to serve the Alexandria community.

That’s why we’re again conducting out annual reader survey. Your feedback will set the stage for everything we do over the next 12 months, including adjustments to our news coverage mix and the addition of new site features.

If you enjoy reading ALXnow and want to have a voice in how we can best serve your needs, please click the button below.

This year’s survey will close after March 6. It should take an average of three minutes to complete.

Thank you, Alexandria, for helping us continue to improve and grow.

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Alexandria is reclaimed its third-place ranking in this year’s Condé Nast survey of best small cities in the United States after being bumped down to fifth.

The city took 5th place in last year’s survey after winning 3rd in 2019. The survey tallied over 800,000 votes, the publication said.

The publication’s description of the city seems to be almost identical to previous years but adds a few new notes like suggesting a tour of the Torpedo Factory Art Center and visiting Gadsby’s Tavern:

Washingtonians are all in on the secret, but it’s no surprise the rest of the world is catching up: Alexandria, Virginia, the charming, historic city just across the Potomac River from our nation’s capital, draws travelers and would-be residents alike. Most folks start to imagine moving there just after setting foot in Old Town, once they’ve strolled the red-brick sidewalks, clocking street after street of perfectly preserved rowhouses from the 18th and 19th centuries. When you visit, scope out King Street, packed with boutiques, restaurants, and specialty shops; then land at the waterfront, where you can watch the boats bobbing on the water before touring the Torpedo Factory Art Center, a collective of galleries and artists’ studios. End the day at Gadsby’s Tavern, where some of our founding fathers used to drink–don’t mind the actors in colonial garb.

Not mentioned is the city’s new Potomac Yard development or sewer tunnel, but maybe next year.

As in previous years, the city still lingers behind Charleston, South Carolina, in the number two spot. This year’s number one spot went to Aspen, Colorado, citing primarily the city’s access to ski slopes and fine cuisine.

Just announced! Alexandria is a 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟯 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨.𝗦. alongside Aspen and Charleston, according to the Condé Nast Traveler (@CNTraveler) 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards. #RCA2021

👉 https://t.co/shDD9oZopJ pic.twitter.com/jispRdJSGK

— Visit Alexandria VA (@AlexandriaVA) October 5, 2021

Elo’s Italian pop-up opens in Live Oak space — “The owners of Live Oak in Del Ray have opened a pop-up Italian restaurant in the Live Oak space in Del Ray. Chef Justus Frank is offering family Italian fare Tuesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. Brunch is ‘coming soon’ according to the owners. The menu includes a variety of appetizers, flatbreads, paninis, seasonal pasta dishes, fish, chicken and more. A kid’s menu is available.” [Alexandria Living]

Police asking for help finding robbery suspects — “APD is following active leads and working with neighboring jurisdictions on the investigation into 2 armed robberies that occurred on May 5. One happened at 12:15pm on E. Oxford Ave. The second happened at 12:40pm in the 3900 blk of Courtland Cir… Witnesses and anyone with security video should contact Det. Stephen Riley at [email protected] or 703.746.6225. Even the smallest details can be significant.” [Twitter]

Chamber ALX releases City Council candidate survey results — “The Alexandria Chamber of Commerce recently asked all announced candidates to complete a survey of critical business issues facing our city. In order to ensure our members are informed prior to entering the voting booth, the Chamber is providing the candidate’s responses.” [Chamber ALX]

Alexandria resident Brian Hooks named to Time100 Next list — “Brian Hooks wants to change the country – but not by himself. An Alexandria resident, Hooks was named one of Time Magazine’s next 100 most influential people in the world in February for his work as the chief executive officer of nonprofit Stand Together.” [Alex Times]

City seeks input on American Rescue Plan Act funding — ” The City will host virtual meetings on Saturday, May 8 at 10 a.m. and Monday, May 10 at 7 p.m. to review the funding guidelines and discuss project proposals. The input will be used to inform a spending plan, and the deadline to provide feedback is Thursday, May 13.” [City of Alexandria]

Resurfacing work temporarily closes portion of Mount Vernon Trail — “In a step to prepare for an upcoming $6.5 million Mount Vernon Memorial Highway Trail Project on the south end of the Mount Vernon bike trail, a portion has been blocked off to bicyclists while crews resurface a portion of the trail between the Mount Vernon Plantation and Richmond Highway.” [Gazette]

Today’s weather — “Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours will give way to cloudy skies and rain in the afternoon. High 66F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch… Rain showers early with clearing later at night. Low 44F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.” [Weather.com]

New job: Temporary COVID POD vaccinator assistant — “Are you a hardworking individual who is eager to join our efforts to augment and expedite vaccinations in the community? Does your passion drive you to commit to a cause that could have a positive impact on many? If this is you, we invite you to apply to one of our temporary City of Alexandria Vaccination site opportunities. One of which is the Vaccinator Assistant who assists the Vaccinator in efficiently dispensing COVID-19 vaccine according to existing protocols at PODs (Points of Distribution).” [Indeed]

ALXnow needs your help in order to better serve the Alexandria community.

No more than once a year, ALXnow conducts a reader survey. The eight-question 2021 ALXnow Reader Survey should take no more than 5 minutes to fill out, but will have a big impact on the site.

The survey asks about potential new features, adjustments to our news coverage, and your satisfaction with our Alexandria reporting. We’ll put the responses into action throughout 2021.

We would greatly appreciate if you would take the time to tell us how we’re doing and what we can do better, by taking the survey. Thank you!

It’s been a little more than a month since school started virtually, and thousands of students, teachers and families are divided over the Alexandria City Public Schools’ VirtualPLUS+ program.

On Thursday, the Alexandria School Board will publicly review survey responses filled out by 5,952 students (53% of students grades 3-12), 2,060 teachers (77% of full time employees) and 7,439 families (48%) on their VirtualPLUS+ experience.

There are 15,579 students currently enrolled in ACPS, and student screen time was listed as the top challenge by 48% of students, 56% of staff and 51% of families.

“Most families (65%) and students (58%) feel that the amount of teacher–led live instruction time is ‘just right,'” according to ACPS. “Staff were almost equally divided between feeling that the amount of teacher–led live instruction time was too much (48%) and just right (47%).”

Younger grade levels also reported having more challenges with screen time than any other age category. Younger families also reported needing child care.

Additionally, 56% of staff reported they would be very or somewhat likely to go back to school in the event of facilities reopening with COVID restrictions, including face masks, distancing and other measures.

See the full survey results here.

Photo via ACPS/Facebook

Alexandria is working with regional partners to determine the challenges facing families needing childcare amid the pandemic, and have released a survey to the public.

The survey, which is open until August 30, has 12 questions and asks respondents how many children they have, the hours the adults in the home work, and about the challenges facing them with childcare.

The survey is part of a collaboration between the Emergency Child Care Collaborative and Smart Beginnings Alexandria.

“The results will help the task force and local partners better understand the needs and preferences of Alexandria families as they work with child care providers to develop and provide child care offerings,” according to the city.

Survey Shows Discontent Among APD Officers — “A survey that the Times acquired from a former Alexandria Police Department officer revealed that several APD officers are unhappy with Police Chief Michael Brown and the culture of the department.” [AlexTimes]

Nearly 1K Families Supported in ALIVE! Food Distribution — “929 households were served at today’s ALIVE! Food Distribution! Thanks to all those from @Volalex, @AlexVASheriff, @AlexandriaVATES who helped in the hot weather today to supply groceries,(meat,eggs,produce and more) masks and hand sanitizer to people in need.” [Twitter]

Police Warn of Phone Scam — “If you receive a call, the individual says that there are warrants for your arrest. Next, instructions are given on how to pay a large sum of money. Then your call is forwarded to another person who explains a ‘surety voucher.'” [Zebra]

New Fire Station Construction is Coming Along — “The @AlexandriaVAFD Station 203 is coming along on the corner of Cameron Mills & Monticello….getting ready for its close-up! [Twitter]

Today’s Weather — It will be mostly sunny throughout the day, with a high temperature of 97 degrees. [Weather.com]

New Job: Freelance Photographer/Videographer — “We need someone with a strong work ethic who can go to job sites pre remodeling, during work, and at completion to take photographs and a short video clip for uploading to youtube.” [Indeed]