A La Lucia is the only Italian restaurat in (Old Town) Alexandria, VA.

     In an attempt to get back into the blogging spirit, I decided to do another restaurant review for the local followers.  I have to warn you, this restaurant is so good that I ate lunch there on Friday and took my wife there for dinner on Saturday night.  I am serious when I say that this is the only Italian restaurant you should eat at in the (Old Town) Alexandria, VA area. 

     I will begin with the best lunch I have had in ages.  You can get lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.  They offer an amazing pre-fixe menu that consists of an appetizer, entree and dessert for $19.95.  For my appetizer, I had a caprese salad with wedges of fresh mozzarella cheese with juicy tomatoes, fresh basil and a wonderful drizzle of olive oil.  For the main course, I opted to have the home-made veal raviolini.  To say that these mini bites of tender veal were anything less that spectacular would be a critical oversight on my part.  The pasta was cooked to perfection and I wish I could remember the sauce it came with because it was decadent.  For my dessert I decided to truly test the Italian roots of the restaurant and chose the pistachio gelato.  The only thing I can say is that I have only had better gelato in "Italy," via Disney World.  I cannot begin to describe to you how breathtaking this dessert was.  Creamy, icy, pistachio deliciousness with every bite and it was not a small serving.  Now, I was on a business lunch so I could not partake in the secret I am about to share with you.  For lunch, if you decide you do not want the gelato, home made canollis or the divine chocolate mousse, you can forfeit your dessert for a glass of wine.  You read that correctly, a glass of wine fro lunch in lieu of dessert!

     Onto dinner.  Dinner is served from 5:00 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday.  Again, they offer an amazing pre-fixe menu that consists of an appetizer, entree and dessert.  Dinner is a little more expensive, obviously, but is still only $32.95.  Danielle and I decided to use Open Table to make our reservations, to get the points, and it turns out we made a great decision.  There was not a single open table in the entire restaurant and there was quite a line of people waiting to get in as well.  We walked in, sat down and began the arduous task of deciding what to eat.  I started off with a double cream version of mozzarella that they make at the restaurant.  Only one word can describe how amazing this cheese was.  Yummy.  The main course was a dazzling mix of herbs, pasta and cream sauce and I went back to the pistachio gelato for dessert.  When something is that good, you don't want to stray away from it! 

     Bottom line, if you are anywhere near the Old Town Alexandria area this is the only place you should go to eat Italian food.  I have been extremely disappointed in most of the "Italian" restaurants in the area but this one is the exception.  I can honestly say that this restaurant is comparable to ones I have eaten at in NYC.  

Here is their website http://www.alalucia.com enjoy!