Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray Alexandria
It should be no secret to our loyal readers that We’re Out of Here are huge fans of Anthony Bourdain. On one recent episode of his show No reservations, Bourdain explored the outer boroughs of his hometown of New York City. In keeping with the theme of copying everything Tony does, we decided to explore some of the lesser known “outer boroughs of the DC area. First up in this series is Del Ray, Alexandria.
Welcome to Del Ray
Del Ray in Alexandria is the definition of “cute.” Think a compact version of Old Town or a smaller Clarendon without the Whole Foods or the Crate and Barrel. But unlike those two neighborhoods, Del Ray is not a destination neighborhood. You won’t see former frat boys or tourists here. This does, however, mean that you will have to contend with lots of small children and gigantic baby buggies. The focus of Del Ray is a roughly mile stretch of Mount Vernon Ave. colloquially known as “the avenue.” Here you will find a number of locally-owned boutiques, restaurants and too many yoga studios. Here are some highlights:
Around the neighborhood
Cheesetique – This tiny storefront’s business focuses mostly on, you guessed it, cheese. A huge variety of specialty cheeses can be purchased from the counter to go or as a small meal served with a variety of breads, crackers and spreads. Cheeseqtique also has a great selection of wines and a small, but pretty darn good selection of craft beers.
Dairy Godmother – This charming shop serves Wisconsin style frozen custard. It garnered a lot of local attention when President Obama took Sacha and Melia here on Father’s Day last year. The shop even decorated the chair that he sat in so that patrons can feel presidential as they eat their creamy custard. The always-tasty rotating flavor is usually your best bet. However, even the plain vanilla is great, so you really can’t go wrong.
Pizziolo Café – At the northern end of Mount Vernon Avenue below the Calvert apartment building (the one that looks like it was made out of legos) is a nice little pizza café. They exclusively serve Neapolitan and New York style pizza, so don’t expect to get a pie covered in red sauce and pepperoni. With half-priced appetizers, such as antipasto and fried calamari, available everday for happy hour, there really is no bad night to visit Pizziolo. However, we recommend going on Tuesday night when all pizzas are buy one get one free.
Undiscovered neighborhoods part I: Del Ray
Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray Alexandria
It should be no secret to our loyal readers that We’re Out of Here are huge fans of Anthony Bourdain. On one recent episode of his show No reservations, Bourdain explored the outer boroughs of his hometown of New York City. In keeping with the theme of copying everything Tony does, we decided to explore some of the lesser known “outer boroughs of the DC area. First up in this series is Del Ray, Alexandria.
Welcome to Del Ray
Del Ray in Alexandria is the definition of “cute.” Think a compact version of Old Town or a smaller Clarendon without the Whole Foods or the Crate and Barrel. But unlike those two neighborhoods, Del Ray is not a destination neighborhood. You won’t see former frat boys or tourists here. This does, however, mean that you will have to contend with lots of small children and gigantic baby buggies. The focus of Del Ray is a roughly mile stretch of Mount Vernon Ave. colloquially known as “the avenue.” Here you will find a number of locally-owned boutiques, restaurants and too many yoga studios. Here are some highlights:
Around the neighborhood
Cheesetique – This tiny storefront’s business focuses mostly on, you guessed it, cheese. A huge variety of specialty cheeses can be purchased from the counter to go or as a small meal served with a variety of breads, crackers and spreads. Cheeseqtique also has a great selection of wines and a small, but pretty darn good selection of craft beers.
Dairy Godmother – This charming shop serves Wisconsin style frozen custard. It garnered a lot of local attention when President Obama took Sacha and Melia here on Father’s Day last year. The shop even decorated the chair that he sat in so that patrons can feel presidential as they eat their creamy custard. The always-tasty rotating flavor is usually your best bet. However, even the plain vanilla is great, so you really can’t go wrong.
Pizziolo Café – At the northern end of Mount Vernon Avenue below the Calvert apartment building (the one that looks like it was made out of legos) is a nice little pizza café. They exclusively serve Neapolitan and New York style pizza, so don’t expect to get a pie covered in red sauce and pepperoni. With half-priced appetizers, such as antipasto and fried calamari, available everday for happy hour, there really is no bad night to visit Pizziolo. However, we recommend going on Tuesday night when all pizzas are buy one get one free.
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