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Alexandria food Matthew Eng northern virginia

Defining the “Irish Exit:” Fiona’s in Kingstowne 

By Matthew T. Eng, Offbeat NOVA

“Irish Exit” – Leaving a social gathering without saying goodbye. Also known as an “Irish Goodbye.”

Picture this. It’s Saturday night. You’re in your late twenties at a party with your friend. You only know a few people. It’s been over half an hour since you talked to somebody you knew. Every attempt to converse with strangers near the beer cooler had mixed results. Most of the time, you stare at your phone while the people you know engage in meaningful conversations. And then it happens: an idea. At that moment, you see the door to the apartment, with some delicious takeout and reruns of The Office within an hour in the comfort of your own home. You take your chance. You rush towards the door…to your freedom. 

You did it. You performed an “Irish Exit.” 

Now, you only have time to think about that brief moment before COVID-19 when a local Northern Virginia restauranteur performed the perfect LITERAL “Irish Exit:” Martin White and Fiona’s Irish Pub. 

Fiona’s Irish Pub opened at 5810 Kingstowne Centre in May 2014 in Alexandria, across from America’s first Top Golf. The new restaurant replaced one of the area’s King Street Blues locations. Martin White, owner of King Street Blues, chose to shutter the barbecue and southern food experience for something more authentic to his native Ireland. White is no stranger to local eateries in the region. Arriving in the United States from Ireland in 1986, White quickly started working in the restaurant business at the Hamburger Hamlet. Since then, he worked his way up in the industry, eventually buying four King Street Blues locations and developing Donato’s Pizza (several still exist in the area). He became a U.S. citizen on St. Patrick’s Day in 1996 and served as the parade’s Grand Marshal that year. According to an Eater DC article, opening an Irish Pub has always been his dream. “My desire is to continue to pass my good fortune forward through ongoing support of the local and Irish community,” White said. 

His wish finally came true with the opening of Fiona’s. From the start, the reviews and responses to his menu were favorable. White modeled the food and decor from his hometown of Dublin in a cozy and relaxed atmosphere. The description of the restaurant read: 

“Catch the Irish Spirit at Fiona’s Irish Pub. Fresh, authentic Irish Fare—fresh seafood stew, lamb chops… 14 draft beers, 20+ bottles, extensive Irish Whiskey and Scotch collection.”

A Yelp review from “Marissa D” boasted about the restaurant’s family-friendly atmosphere on top of the Guinness stew and Dublin mixed grill. The restaurant maintained a four-star rating throughout its time in service. As the business owner, Martin commented on people’s food ratings on Yelp, from the positive to the slightest of negativity. Despite some negative reviews, the Dublin transplant operated well on the surface.

The Guiness Stew looks….good?

Things were going so well that White opened a second Fiona’s location on 23rd Street in Arlington’s Crystal City, along the busy row of restaurants in April 2019. According to an Arlington Now article, White stated that things were “going gangbusters” at the Kingstowne location. 

Things were not going well. Fiona’s official social media accounts last posted on April 29, 2019, primarily about the opening of the new establishment. Within two months of opening a new location in Arlington, Fiona’s in Kingstowne closed without warning. 

Patrons (and employees) came to work on June 10, 2019, to locked doors. A small printed sign on the door read: “Due to circumstances beyond our control, Fiona’s Irish Pub is permanently closed.” Their website also had a short message thanking patrons for their support. According to a report from Alexandria Living, an employee of a tenant next door did not know why they closed either. The biggest news was that the owner of Fiona’s exited the company. No explanation. 

The Crystal City location on 23rd Street in Arlington was also closed, but they initially reported that it would reopen after resolving some issues with the building. To say the closure was unexpected and abrupt is an understatement. After everyone lamented the closure of their favorite local watering hole, questions began to arise as to WHY. Thanks to Nextdoor and Reddit, some of the proposed questions have answers. 

Some users on Reddit said the lease was up, and White could not pay the high rent due to the raised prices in recent years. Others said it was as simple as a lease agreement. With the other Fiona’s restaurant closed, the questions kept coming. Some claimed he went to Florida to start fresh. User “Technoslave” had a much more concise (and plausible) reasoning:

“The owner absconded with rent money, plus whatever else, since I think October, probably back to Ireland. Landlord/Management/Owner of the property finally went through all the processes necessary to get the place shut down. Sheriffs came in and closed the place.”

Reddit User “Technoslave” re: Fiona’s Irish Pub Closing

According to a user on Nextdoor, Martin was over $450,000 in arrears on his rent “based on the judgment entered against him in Fairfax a few years ago.” If that is true, the opening of a completely new restaurant in a busy and expensive area of Northern Virginia makes it sound all too wild and financially irresponsible. But everybody has to dream. Mr. White dreamed a little too big.

Former Fiona’s location under construction for new “mystery” project, 2022.

Whether he left back to his home country or not, Martin White, the once-celebrated pillar of the Irish community in Alexandria, made an exit for the ages. To this day, no information exists on his whereabouts or location. Only months after its closure, the second Fiona’s location never reopened, with its reporting that it had closed for good by June 12. The location remained an Irish pub, albeit mediocre, called McNamara’s. 

What happened to the Kingstowne location?

In February 2022, Fairfax Now announced that, despite delays, Chick-fil-A planned to open a 5,200-square-foot location in the former location of Fiona’s, a formerly popular Irish bar. Plans to build the Chick-fil-A at this specific location date back to April 2020, when plans were initially filed. The plans were to include a wrap-around drive-thru similar to the nearby Springfield location. 

The new restaurant opened on May 26, 2022, with a balloon arch with black and white “cow” balloons, reminding you, amongst other things, that their advertising works. Eat More Chicken. The Yates gas station across from the new restaurant even put a large banner on the back of their garage welcoming Chick-fil-A into the shopping center.

Individuals who purchase food there can bring a receipt for special discounts. When I saw that, I couldn’t help but think of the George H.W. Bush “Mission Accomplished” banner aboard USS Abraham Lincoln back in 2003 when I saw. And for the restaurant chain, maybe the mission is done. If Martin White exited the area without a word, fast food chicken made an entrance that greets countless customers today. Unfortunately, the fast food chain does not sell Guinness stew or shepherd’s pie. That is a distant and fond memory for all who once went to Fiona’s.  

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. When you leave a party without letting anyone know this year, remember to do it without skipping out on the bill like Martin did. 

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Arlington food history Matthew Eng

A BLT in 1949 Would Cost You a Pretty Penny

By Matthew T. Eng, Offbeat NOVA

If you are one of the many individuals who have since gone back into the office in the past year or months, you have undoubtedly forced yourself to talk about SOMETHING with your coworkers. Or if you are like me, you get Covid within three weeks of going back to work in a tight office stuffed to the gills with people coughing in their cubicles. Corporate cringe be damned, we are in it for the culture:

Of course, there are always the staples: the weather, the score of a sports game, and of course, the ubiquitous weekend plans. I always have the yardwork talk locked and loaded for such an occasion.

Lately, a lot of the water cooler talk (and we call it that only as a reference, because who the hell is still using a water cooler and talking near it in 2023) has been about the price of food. It’s the perfect conversation starter while you are waiting to heat up your sad, lukewarm leftovers. In recent months, going to the grocery store in Northern Virginia will net you about $50 a bag (and you better bring your own, too — we aren’t animals).

And let’s not even talk about Costco. I know some things there are necessary, but if I come out of there spending less than $300, I will chalk it up as a moral and financial victory. I need my Babybel cheese, damnit.

I was looking through some Northern Virginia history books I checked out from the library that completely blew my mind and put the current inflation going around the United States in perspective.

Towards the back of Arlington County, Virginia: A History, published by the Arlington Historical Society, is a chart comparing the price of common goods between 1939 and 1949 in the post-war years. While many well-known items were rationed during the war years like sugar, coffee, and meat, the hope was that prices would return to normal after V-J day. It was once patriotic to collect your used household fats. You know…for victory.

Illinois Digital Archives

The Office of Price Administration was established in 1942 as a safety net for price controls on these goods. For the most part, the Administration did its job, keeping inflation in check and prices reasonable. But as the book pointed out, “prices did rise during the decade, especially after controls were lifted.” The book included a chart from the Arlington Sun on comparative prices between 1939 and 1949. At first glance, the prices seem normal; cheap even. It’s only after you use the CPI Inflation Calculator from the U.S. Bureau of Labor that things get interesting.

If we use the calculator to adjust for inflation, the cost of some of these items would make the “egg crisis” of 2023 look like a doorbuster deal on Black Friday. Keep in mind, America was going through a recession that began in November 1948 that lasted until 1949.

Right now, the average consumer cost for a dozen eggs is $2.66. That cost, adjusted in 1939 has the same buying power as $5.00. Once prices rose after the restrictions were lifted, that same carton of eggs would cost you $8.74.

If you wanted to make a BLT sandwich, it’s going to set you back $6.21 for the bacon and $5.32 for the jar of mayonnaise. The bacon is shockingly the same as the 2023 average, which makes the 2023 inflation nearly consistent with that of 1949. As global markets continue to slide and talk of “recession” remains at the top of the news (unless you like Titanic and Russian coups), it’s always interesting to see how far the American dollar has stretched across time. At least when I make an egg salad sandwich this summer, I will have some perspective. I’ll make sure to have my “Ok, boomer” commentary locked and loaded at the office microwave because the high prices have always been something to complain about.

Categories
Alexandria food Matthew Eng

Steak and Ale Alexandria: The End of the Casual Food Chain

“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang, but a whimper.”
– The Hollow Men, T.S. Elliot

By Matthew T. Eng, Offbeat NOVA

When I was a kid, I didn’t eat out that often. Most of the meals I ate in the late 1980s and early 1990s were served by my parents at home, often around 6:00 pm with military precision. If we did go out to eat on an evening that: 1. Wasn’t someone’s birthday, 2. Wasn’t a parental work celebration, or 3. Wasn’t an easy alternative with friends our family from out of town, then we would most likely go to a chain restaurant. And you know what, I was okay with that. I’m still okay with it. Hell, even in these times of Corona, our favorite go-to is TGI Friday’s (don’t sleep on the cobb salad).

At some point between going off to college and starting a job, I noticed a large number of these restaurants began to vanish like a Marty McFly polaroid. While some of these establishments are still around and going relatively strong (Chili’s, TGI Friday’s, Outback), others are struggling (Applebees, Ruby Tuesday, Red Lobster). There are a few from my childhood, like Bennigan’s, ShowBiz Pizza, Pargo’s, and Chi-Chi’s, that are no longer around at all—relics of a forgotten past.

These are, of course, just establishments that are from my own personal life. A cursory look on Wikipedia shows nearly 100 now-defunct restaurant chains in the United States alone.

One of these chains that have not weathered the financial storms of the past two decades was Steak and Ale.

First opened in Dallas, Texas, in 1966, Steak and Ale was billed a casual dining steakhouse chain that would offer “an upscale steak experience at lower prices.” Popular dishes over the years included the New York strip, Hawaiian chicken, and Kensington club. Notably, it was also one of the first chain restaurants to have a salad bar. Several opened in Northern Virginia over the years, including at least one in Alexandria on the busy intersection of Kenmore Avenue and Seminary Road near Interstate 395. 

Abandoned Steak and Ale in Alexandria, VA (Matthew Eng/Offbeat NOVA)
Abandoned Steak and Ale in Alexandria, VA (Matthew Eng/Offbeat NOVA)

Unfortunately, there isn’t much information available online about that particular Steak and Ale Restaurant. One source about the property’s history said the familiar tudor-style facade was built in 1975, which was likely when the restaurant opened. The entire plot measured 34,848 feet, which included 91 parking spaces. one commenter on a website called menuism.com had this to say about the former establishment: 

“Great location for a new restaurant. I say keep the building and decor and do something interesting with it. German Bierhaus?”1 

menuism.com

The restaurant likely closed around 2008 when the company that owned Steak and Ale, the S&A Restaurant Corp, filed for Chapter 7, 2008. By the end of July 2008, all of the remaining Steak and Ale locations closed as part of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding.2 

Although the restaurant chain folded over twelve years ago, the building and adjacent parking lot still stand today. The restaurant plot is located in the Mark Center area of Alexandria, an area that has no doubt seen better times. Much of the Mark Center of Alexandria is on the verge of reinvention and construction, which are just fancy words in Northern Virginia for “gentrification.” 

The 6,800-square-foot building and its attached parking lot property, according to realty website XOME, is worth approximately $4,667,781 and was last sold in November 2013 for an amount of $3,835,348. The owner is a real estate company known as HSRE-Capmed Alexandria Land, LLC. The plot of land is now known simply as “Colonial Parking Station 483.”  The increase in price and the eventual construction of Amazon just a few miles away in the upcoming years almost guarantees that the projected demolition will not only occur, but will occur soon.3 According to the Construction Journal, as of February 13, 2020, the project demolition of the Steak and Ale building on 4661 Kenmore Avenue is delayed still to this day. One other source online has put in an approved request to turn the area into valet space for the 91 car parking lot.4 

Visiting the location today is eerie. The lot sits abandoned with a hotel, medical officers, and a shopping center nearby. Several apartment buildings can be seen across from Seminary Road near the interstate. Evidence of the valet parking is already evident, as there is one Colonial Parking sign near the vacant valet stand directly under the still-standing Steak and Ale neon sign. Any visible lettering has been removed from the large sign near the valet stand, but you can still see the rivets where the neon lighting for “Steak and Ale” must have connected to circuitry. Still visible beneath it, a smaller sign reads “Immediate Seating.” 

The facade is in fairly remarkable condition, considering it has been closed and vacant for over a decade. The windows are boarded up and much of the roof has been stripped down to the wood. One can only assume there is massive mold and water damage inside. Signs for no trespassing dot the front facade of the building where so many happy families like mine once entered its doors to share a meal. 

There is a elevated walkway leading to the other side of Seminary Road around the back side of the building. Walking up it gives you a great view of the still visible “Steak and Ale” sign, albeit faded, as it once displayed on the roadside. The lettering has been removed, but you can still see evidence of what it once was. in a way, that statement is reminiscent of the entire restaurant — with everything removed, those familiar with the restaurant chain could still pick it out easily.

Elks Lodge #758, formerly the Jolly Ox (Matthew Eng/Offbeat NOVA)
Elks Lodge #758, formerly the Jolly Ox (Matthew Eng/Offbeat NOVA)

You will be incredibly hard pressed to see the inside of a Steak and Ale restaurant nowadays. Although the company, which also owns Bennigan’s, had made plans to revitalize the chain, we have yet to see anything of that bearing much fruit. Thankfully, one such establishment does exist bearing the bones of a former Steak and Ale off Interstate 1 in Fairfax County, Alexandria (7120 Richmond Highway). Back then, the restaurant was known as the Jolly Ox, as it was custom to remove the “ale” from the name in Virginia. Driving by it, however, you can see all the old familiar tudor-style facade wrapped around the building. The building is now the Elks Lodge #758. A look at the Lodge’s facebook page shows that they have retained much of the restaurant’s facilities, including its kitchen and horseshoe bar. Even during a pandemic, the Elks Lodge #758 regularly hosts weekly events, although it mostly sits vacant and unassuming during the day. 

The Steak and Ale in Alexandria will eventually go away entirely. It’s property will be swallowed up by gentrification. For businesses, this is the circle of life. COVID has only accelerated the process.

Footnotes:

  1. Menuism, “Steak and Ale Alexandria,” LINK.
  2. Jeffrey Mccracken and Janet Adamy, “Dining Chain Shut Doors,” Wall Street Journal, July 30,2008. Accessed 13 February 2021, LINK.
  3. XOME, “4661 Kenmore Avenue, Alexandria,” LINK.
  4. City of Alexandria, “Application for Valet Parking,” LINK.