Evening Star Cafe - Alexandria

First time visit. Great food and atmosphere. Would definitely visit again.

Celebrated our anniversary here and we were greeted with a private table and complimentary glass of Prosecco. Food was delicious. We will be back!

Amazing food, wonderful ambience my wife and I absolutely loved our experience here!!

Overall it was nice. Service was ok, he wasn't rude but we told him some of us were eating apps for dinner and yet he still brought out the small plates 10 min before the rest of the meals. He wasn't overly friendly seemed a little overwhelmed. Food was decent was surprised the steak didn't include any sides. Atmosphere was great.

We 've been there a few times years ago. Our most recent one of a few days ago was a disappointment. Our party ordered sottish salmon, tonnarelli with lump crab, chestnut soup and caeser salad. The food quality was generally good but nothing distinctive comparing to comparable restaurants ' in DC area. The volume of the food was about 60% of the comparable restaurants '! The restaurant 's menu sounds far more interesting than the food itself both in terms of quantity and quality. For example, my tonnarelli is supposed to have jumble lump crab meat, but I got none. What I got was a couple of tiny bits of crab meat with lots of fluff, such as capers and a pungent ingredient like garlic. You might as well call the tonnarelli as pasta with crab meat flavor . The Scottish salmon was tiny and thin, about the size of a palm. A glass of wine is about a third of an average-sized wine glass. The service was on the good side in terms of attentiveness. The greeting lady, the waiter, and the manager were welcoming. Attitude wise I give the service five star. The result wise I give three star. I never see a restaurant serving soup without a soup spoon! I was given a tiny tea spoon, which usually is used in stirring coffee in other restaurants. It took me a while to finish the soup, not a great feel in a cold day when soup gets cold fast. When the bill came, there was a kitchen appreciation fee added to the bill. When we asked the waiter and the manager what it was. They told us it was an item from Covid era to show appreciation to the kitchen staff. We paid it but feel not fair for three reasons: First, an item from Covid era to address a special condition is becoming a mandatory charge to customers to cover the restaurant 's overhead expense. It looks like either the owner has not paid enough to the kitchen staff or used the good will in Covid era to boost its profit. Second, if the restaurant really wants customers to show appreciation to the kitchen staff, it 's only fair to make it a voluntary tip, like the tip line added to the waiter, rather than a mandatory charge. Third, the kitchen charge is not disclosed on the menu or website. I do not view this practice as being honest. The manager said they were simply following a lot of restaurants ' practice in DC area. I don 't know how many are doing that as she claimed. Evening Star owns Vermillion in Old Town Alexandria, I guess that has the same practice. But I can tell Evening Star Cafe is the first restaurant I see that practice. In the recent months I 've been to five restaurants that comparable to Evening Star in Alexandria including Old Town and Del Ray, and also been to two restaurants (comparable to Evening Star) in D.C. None of them charged kitchen fee. Their food portion is much more than Evening Star Cafe 's. The restaurant 's ambience has changed from our previous experience. It used to be packed with people, a lively and funky atmosphere. We went there on a Thursday evening, expecting an average crowd. But the reality is the restaurant that night was more than two thirds empty! From where I can see, there were only six tables (including ours) occupied. It was dark and quiet, a bit sad. In sum, Evening Star Cafe is a lousy value hiding behind a paper-interesting menu, accompanied with old memory from its bygone funky and vibrant era. By sacrificing the quality and quantity of food, the restaurant was able to maintain a seemingly mid-price range in its menu. After adjusting for the mandatory fee and reduced quantity and quality of food, along with inadequate serving utensils, Evening Star Cafe is in fact far more expensive than any of its competitors in the same price range/class in the area. On that note, if one looks for vibrant atmosphere, good food with fair price, go elsewhere.