Certainly one of Alexandria’s Oldest Eating places Will get a Facelift

A 100-year-old Alexandria stalwart has been remodeled right into a swanky all-day spot, after a long time of serving breakfast buffets for diners in basic purple cubicles. It comes courtesy of Alexandria Restaurant Companions (ARP), who’ve introduced the updates throughout The Royal Restaurant’s constructing with a brand new floral mural by artist Amuse126. The restaurant that’s been right here since 1964, and dates again to 1904, has a model new brunch and dinner menu to mark the ending touches of the rework.

“We’ve targeted on reimagining The Royal, paying homage to the numerous years of historical past there, and simply bringing it as much as 2025, so to talk,” says Dave Nicholas, ARP managing accomplice.

It’s a change years within the making. After the demise of The Royal’s longtime proprietor, Charlie Euripides, in 2022, the group behind the family-owned restaurant and ARP engaged in talks in regards to the restaurant group taking on. The ARP group has been managing a fleet of Alexandria eating places, like The Majestic, Mia’s Italian Kitchen, Barca Pier and Wine Bar, and extra, for a couple of decade.

“I stated to them for nearly 18 months, ‘if you happen to’ll promote us the actual property, then we’re ,’” Nicholas tells Eater. Since sealing the deal in 2023, ARP has been working to offer the constructing a intestine renovation right down to the studs and fully reinvent the menu with a roster of contemporary American dishes.

The restaurant reopened in April 2024 after closing for 3 months and has been slowly updating the brunch menu and workshopping a brand new dinner menu because the final particulars of the redesign (just like the floral mural) fell into place.

The Royal’s replace entails buying and selling out an old-school breakfast buffet for the likes of acai bowls and swapping a parking zone (a rarity in Outdated City) for an 80-seat patio. Additionally new: dinner and cocktails. The Royal presents dinner for the primary time in 30 years, and the constructing’s renovations created the chance so as to add a bar. The drinks program additionally spans a “boozy brunch” which ARP felt was lacking within the rapidly-developing North Outdated City neighborhood.

Nina Palazzolo

Nicholas and company operations chef Santiago Lopez went on a North American meals tour from New York Metropolis to Texas and Florida to achieve inspiration for The Royal’s menu of American staples, hitting as much as 10 eating places a day on their journey. “I feel our focus right here has been hyper-seasonal, recent, vibrant meals,” Lopez says.

For instance, mushroom ravioli is dressed up with a dried porcini mushroom crema, filled with a mushroom combine, and accented with maitake mushrooms which were marinated and grilled. A basic cheeseburger contains house-cured bacon flavored with maple syrup, whereas worldwide influences embody deviled eggs topped with roasted corn and tajin or a dinner dish of char siu pork with fried rice. Brunch contains staples like steak and eggs and blueberry pancakes, choices like cinnamon-molasses butter-topped oatmeal pancakes and avocado toast with marinated burrata, plus decadent dishes like bananas foster French toast, or hen and waffles with chorizo gravy.

Nina Palazzolo

Nina Palazzolo

On the 80-seat patio, diners will discover a very 2025 innovation with seasonal decor designed by artist Naii Vegas ​​of Inventive Buildr, who created a floral arch that’s begging for social media selfies. Within the eating room, there’s room for 100 diners, together with a small non-public room with 20 seats. The decor performs up Alexandria’s historical past as effectively, with newspaper-inspired wallpaper and touches of Americana nostalgia.

Nina Palazzolo

Nina Palazzolo