Al's Steak House — Restaurant in Alexandria

A former coworker of mine told me this place was good, so I decided to give it a try.

First thing I noticed was their claim to serve authentic Philly cheesesteaks, but they're served with lettuce, tomato, and mayo and no peppers. That's not a cheesesteak, it's a steak sandwich. Not a good start.

I ordered the large steak and American, sans the lettuce, tomato, or mayo, with a fry for $23. The cashier advised me that the large was large, which honestly kind of stunned me. Don't talk me out of my order, I know what I'm doing.

The order was ready in roughly ten minutes and I made my five minute car ride home. I open up the bag and see my sandwich and fries wrapped in butcher paper, which is a nice touch.

I unwrap the fries and they're a soggy mess. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that if I'd have eaten them right away, they'd be better.

I turn my attention to the main attraction, the cheesesteak. I unwrap it and immediately notice that half the mass of the sandwich is grilled onions. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the sandwich alone was $17 pretax, so this was aggravating.

While taking a bite, I note that it tastes kind of weird. The meat is nice, and the roll, while not Amoroso quality, is pretty good. So that narrowed it down to the cheese. I open up the sandwich and am horrified to discover that they used YELLOW AMERICAN CHEESE ON A CHEESESTEAK!

Going back to the authenticity issue. In Philly, the main cheese options are wiz, which some would say is effectively yellow American but is really it's own thing, white American, and provolone. Perhaps it's my fault for assuming an authentic Philly cheesesteak shop that is in no way authentic would use white American and not Kraft singles, but they are shameless with their insistence on claiming to be authentic when they so clearly aren't.

If you're looking for an overpriced steak sandwich misrepresented as a cheesesteak, this is your place. I will not...

July 25th 2019 around 7 p.m. Today my friend and I came to have dinner here in Alexandria Virginia to visit a childhood carryout called Al's Steakhouse here at 1504 Mount Vernon Avenue. The greeting started out great she asked how can I help you right when we walked in the door and I'd say give me a moment let me look at the menu and and she did so she was carrying on what she was doing in the back then a gentleman came in and I was still looking at the menu I wasn't ready to order at that moment but apparently he had called his order in so that took priority overtaking my order 15 minutes went by I'm still waiting for her to finish the order the guys waiting and wake owl Stevenson used to do it he take all his orders and he do the orders as they come in she wasn't taking any phone orders there was only three of us in the carry out and she still refused to take my order by stating to me while I waited for you and you weren't ready so I have to fix this order and you just have to wait. I said this is how you treat your customers it would take you a second to take my order that way you can continue fixing to order that you're fixing she sighed like I was interrupting her day. When I ask for the manager she looked over her shoulders and said something to the gentleman that was there and he didn't come say anything to me I said well you know what that's okay I don't want to eat here and I won't come back. I would not recommend anyone to come here when those two were here because used to service is awful their phone orders are more priority over any person that walks through that door even though they weren't taking phone orders. Worst experience I've ever had. And when the experience of my childhood favorite carryout I'll Steakhouse it will now...

First time back since John's passing and it's not what I remember. They need some serious work to get things up to par.

First, the customer service was good. Everyone was friendly, helpful and attentive.

Now that was the good. Here's the bad...

I didn't get my order properly. I ordered a cheesesteak with mushroom, peppers, lettuce, tomato, mayo, onions and provolone. What I got was mushroom, onion, mayo and provolone. To me it seems like a lack of verification or simply a broken system/workflow in the process from prepping.

Next, let's address the bread. They need to find some better bread. The bread is too soft and becomes very soggy and falls apart.

If you don't have good bread, you don't have a good cheesesteak. You want a hard outer and soft inner (italian roll). You also want to toast the inside which wasn't the case.

Now let's move on to the steak. The steak was flavorless. They need to add a little salt and pepper so the steak itself has some flavor. Mine was very bland and the only flavor came from the mayo.

Also, the steak was too finely cut. It was minced steak to the point where it looked like ground beef. The reason for cutting the steak is to allow it to cook more evenly, faster and so that you're not having to tear it apart with your teeth as you bite into the sub. The steak needs to have some texture to it and feel like you're eating a piece of meat, not ground beef.

The steak is the champion. It has to have flavor and texture.

While the community will support the local establishment, those who don't live there will also need to support the restaurant. If the masses don't like it and have better options, it won't last.

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