DINING OUT THE GASTRONOMES
CHADWICK’S 203 THE STRAND OLD TOWN ALEXANDRIA 703-836-4442 CHADWICKSOLDTOWN.COM
I
Mimosa & Bloody Mary 30 | August 2021
Shrimp and Grits
French Toast
came to Old Town in 1977. The town was a lot different then. Old Town was only 7 blocks long running from Union Street to a few blocks the other side of Washington Street. The waterfront was cluttered with old warehouses that were critical to Alexandria’s early seaport history. One of these warehouses on The Strand was taken over by the chaps who owned Chadwicks Restaurant in Georgetown. They wanted to bring their successful concept to the “new” emerging business district of Old Town Alexandria. As I remember, the Chadwicks in Georgetown had the bar on the right as you entered and stairs leading to the second floor. When they did the buildout of the Old Town store they copied that same floor plan except the stairway in Old Town became the center piece and dominating feature as you entered. The extensive build out took some time but Chadwicks Old Town finally opened in January of 1979 and it snowed on opening day. A friend and Rugby teammate of mine and I decided it was wise to take a sled as transportation down to Chadwicks opening. As I
said, Old Town wasn’t very big in those days, and we weren’t very smart at times. The place was packed and quickly became a favorite watering hole and dining spot for regulars. That remains the same today. The first meal I had back in 1979 was brunch on the second floor so I could walk up that staircase. When we decided to write about Chadwicks we decided to return for brunch 42 years later. We arrived at 1:45 thinking that the brunch crowd would have thinned out. We were wrong. We joined long time bartender Karen at the bar for a mimosa and Bloody Mary while we waited for a table, which took about 30 minutes. Once again we were seated on the second floor. A couple of the four tops were empty, however there were two large groups (one a table of eight and the other a table of 10) of people each enjoying family, friends and brunch. The four tops filled up as we dined and it didn’t appear to be slowing down upon our departure. The interior photos accompanying this write up were taken mid-afternoon on DINING OUT > PAGE 31
Old Town Crier
