Old Town Alexandria (VA)--recent recommendations?

Hot diggity goddamn! Four nights in Alexandria.

Breakfast and lunch are out of my hands ( ) so all I've got open are drinks and dinner and possibly a couple very early breakfasts.

There are scattered references to Alexandria in other threads and I am seeking any recs from the past year or two. I've already got reservations at Restaurant Eve and expect that will be the highlight of the trip. Current places in the running are Brabo (Belgian), Geranio, Grille at Morrison House, and Vermilion.

I am not interested in Washington recs, please. Yes, I know how close it is. Yes, I know how easy it is to get to. No, I do not want DC recs. I want to stay in Alexandria, period. Every time I go to DC, I'm kept too busy there to get to Alexandria, so this time I want to focus solely on Alexandria.

Thanks!
(I may even have to stop by Jackson 20 in the Hotel Monaco for ronnie since they are reputed to have a bar chock full of bourbon cocktails. )

thought you meant Egypt. can't help you here

I wish I meant Egypt; been once and found it absolutely fascinating. Fond memories of a seafood place on the water.... ah the good ol' days [sigh].

I've been to Alexandria several times over the last 2 years. I have not been to Eve on account of its prices being way higher than my clients are willing to reimburse. I have, however, been to The Majestic, which is owned by the same couple that runs Eve. The Majestic is quite different - a menu that changes monthly, with simple homestyle classics and occasional creative touches. Everything is made from scratch using top notch ingredients. The place gets insanely mobbed, but I've always managed to squeeze into a seat at the jovial bar.

The Majestic Cafe
911 King Street,
Alexandria, Virginia
703.837.9117

if you dont mind a little ride south of alexandria?prob. 2 hours
head to SOMETHING DIFFERENT COUNTRY STORE & DELI
BREAKFEST,LUNCH,DINNER
great sammy's . they are in the book
great american sandwich. for there virginia sandwich
smoked turkey &ham web site
pine3.info
3617 old virgina st
pine tree ,va
804-758-8000
2 miles north of urbanna,va.
owner dan gill
you will not be disappointed, also has bbq

Kennyz wrote:I've been to Alexandria several times over the last 2 years. I have not been to Eve on account of its prices being way higher than my clients are willing to reimburse. I have, however, been to The Majestic, which is owned by the same couple that runs Eve. The Majestic is quite different - a menu that changes monthly, with simple homestyle classics and occasional creative touches. Everything is made from scratch using top notch ingredients. The place gets insanely mobbed, but I've always managed to squeeze into a seat at the jovial bar.

The Majestic Cafe
911 King Street,
Alexandria, Virginia
703.837.9117

I used to live in Del Ray, just on the opposite side of the metro as Old Town. Never went to The Majestic, but only heard good things about it.

I did like having Evening Star Cafe in my neighborhood; they have great brunches [it's in the same restaurant group, Neighborhood, as several other Alexandria popular eateries, such as Vermilion, Tallula, Rustico, and new DC places Birch & Barley and ChurchKey]. Went to a dinner hosted by DonRockwell.com [the DC version of this site] at Planet Wine, a wineshop attached to Evening Star. It was fantastic. Rustico has a great beer list. Also in Del Ray is a fantastic frozen custard place run by a Wisconsin native, The Dairy Godmother. On one of my last trips there I missed the President by less than two hours.

On a more casual level, Eamonn's is a good place for a quick fish n chips. And next door to Rustico is Buzz Bakery, a coffehouse with good food, desserts, and cocktails/beer/wine. Restaurant Eve used to run very affordable lunch specials [not sure if they still do], I kick myself for never trying that.

Also in Old Town is a Violet Hour-like 'speakeasy', PX.

See more here:

http://www.donrockwell.com/index.php?showtopic=2342

Wife and I had lunch at the Majestic. Yeah-- totally solid, totally good. I don't know if I'd say it's the kind of place worth seeking out, necessarily, but I also don't know if our one lunch visit makes me qualified to judge its true worthiness. I do know that, after we left the Majestic, I did have this thought: I bet that was probably the best we could have done in a five block radius. I think it was a hot day, and they had some kind of delicious lemonade, maybe raspberry.

A very short drive (if you've got a car) from Alexandria is Del Merei Grill. I love it as a neighborhood restaurant joint. Also, just a few metro stops away from Alexandria, in Pentagon City, there's a Lebanese Taverna which is pretty solid.

I think you're going to love Eve. We've eaten at every high end restaurant in DC minus just a very small few that have opened recently and Eve continues to be our favorite. I didn't notice if you were in the tasting room or not at Eve, but if you can swing the splurge I think it's highly worth it. Little known, however, is that there's a super affordable way to eat at Eve- lunch in the bar used to (and I believe still does) have a <$20 menu of some of the same food on the bistro list.