On Saturday, after taking the kids to the movies, we decided to have dinner at La Strada in Del Ray (Alexandria). La Strada just opened its doors last Wednesday so we thought we should go and check it out. I was expecting to see a restaurant in soft opening mode which is normal for any restaurant just 5 days in business. To my pleasant surprise, everything was in order.

La Strada is located at the old Los Amigos location at 1905 Mount Vernon. They transformed the old Mexican restaurant into an Italian family restaurant with authentic Northern Italian cuisine. They use the freshest ingredients with a lot of heart healthy options on their menu.

The restaurant is owned and operated by the Scott family. With Chef Stephen Scott, formally at Zola and Galileo, at the kitchen, his sisters Courtney and Kristin, father Stephen and mother Diana are outside greeting the customers and making sure every single client is feeling at home. And honestly, we really felt at home.

The restaurant is divided into two rooms. The first room, on your right, as soon as walk in is a communal table for families or even strangers who want to feel at home and share a good meal or a friendly conversation. The communal table is very common in Europe where a lot of cafes don't have a lot of space. The communal concept works for all occasions. For a big family, it is fun to gather around the bench style table and have different delicious Italian recipes that you can all share. But even if you are going on your own, there is nothing better than having the option to read a book or strike a conversation with others and make new friends. The second room is orginaized into tables with a view of the chef preparing his delicious Italian recipes.

I was expecting service to be slow knowing they just opened, but no the servers where so professional and friendly. I later told Stephen that it is amazing to have a restaurant that is that new with servers that make you feel at home and know their menu by hard. The menu is good but needs some work. They need to add some more vegetarian options. They also need to have more variety when it comes to the salads. The menu is well priced with appetizers at $8 and main coursers averaging $15 per person and $26 per family portions. Wines glasses are $8 in average.

We had the angel hair pasta in truffle oil with exotic mushrooms and the Linguini al Frutti di mare while our kids had the penne pasta. They were both great and the portions where very generous. I would recommend sharing a family portion if you both feel like the same dish. You will save money and enjoy sharing with each other.

The décor and ambiance are really friendly and fun. The place can get load but a good load. The noises you hear when having a good Italian dinner with family and friends at home.

La Strada is reflection of the Scott’s family in very sense of the word . La Strada is friendly, service oriented and welcomes every member of your family.

I know I am going back, not just for the food, but also to see the Scott family again.

La Strada
1905 Mount Vernon Avenue
Alexandria Virginia 22301
(703) 548 – 2592