The completely wrong place in Alexandria for me to be picking

[sweth]

I've somehow been tasked with picking a place for dinner tomorrow for 5 adults and 3 young kids (oldest is 4) in Alexandria. The criteria I've been given are: room for 8 on a Friday evening without needing a reservation; with high-chairs; not too noisy; and with at least some whitebread options for less adventurous diners. I'm usually a solo diner; I have never needed a high-chair so I don't notice what places do/don't have them; I don't particularly mind noisy places; and the whitebread-options request came after my initial suggestion of a meal full of tripe and blood at Sakulthai--so I'm pretty much the worst person to be tasked with this decision.

So I instead turn to the hive mind here at chowhound. Where should we go?

[weezycom]

I'm thinking Faccia Luna, Union Street Pub, Vaso's Kitchen, Del Merei Grille, maybe Tempo up on Duke closer to Landmark. Tha'ts off the top of my head.

[Steve]

If you go to Del Merei Grille, make sure you get the frickles and the deviled eggs.

[theoneontheleft]

You've eliminated some of the better places with your criteria. So, I assume you're looking for servicable, rather than "the best place in Alexandria". Some additional family-friendly places that might fit the bill:

King Street Blues (American)
Hard Times (Chili)
Generous George's (Pizza...used to be great YEARS ago. Kids seem to enjoy it. Stay away from the stinky basement though!)
Ted's Montana Grill

I've always been surprised how many kids you there are at Clyde's in West Alexandria.

If you want to travel a bit further in what is generically called "Alexandria," there's a Moby Dick's in Kingstowne, as well as another King Street Blues that's generally less crowded than it's Old Town counterpart.

In Belle View, there is a VERY family friendly restaurant called Primo's. LOTS of family there, diner-style Greek/Italian food.

A bit further south, near the Mt. Vernon Center, there's the Original Italian Pie -- which we know as the "pretty good pizza place that never is crowded." Another Greek/Italian place just opened nearby -- Momma's Kitchen. We ate there this past weekend and it was very yummy. Still, it's probably too new to give a full endorsement.

BTW, from our experience, although it's both yummy and as noisy as noisy can be, Faccia Luna isn't good for large groups. The restaurant is configured in such a way that there are only a couple of tables that can accommodate more than 5 people. Maybe a reservation will solve that problem. But, if they don't take reservations, I wouldn't chance it

-----
King Street Blues
112 N Saint Asaph St, Alexandria, VA 22314

Hard Times Cafe Alexandria
1404 King St, Alexandria, VA 22314

Ted's Montana Grill
2451 Eisenhower Ave, Alexandria, VA 22314

Generous George's
3006 Duke St, Alexandria, VA 22314

Clyde's At Mark Center
1700 N Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA 22311

Moby Dick
5900 Kingstowne Towne Ctr Ste 110, Alexandria, VA 22315

King Street Blues-Kingstowne
5810 Kingstowne Ctr, Alexandria, VA

Primo Family Restaurant
1636 Belle View Blvd, Alexandria, VA 22307

[theoneontheleft]

Oops! One more just came to mind. Last summer, we took visiting young relatives to Hana Tokyo in Foxchase. Decent sushi and teppen/hibachi. Our young visitors enjoyed the show the chefs put on.

-----
Hana Tokyo Japan Steak House
4603 Duke St, Alexandria, VA 22304

[crackers]

Stardust Restaurant - corner of St. Asaph's and Montgomery on the northern edge of Old Town. I don't know about seating a table of 8 without a reservation on a Friday evening though - what restaurant in Alexandria that's halfway decent doesn't fill up on a Friday evening?

http://www.stardustrestaurant.com/abo...