Cafe 44 — Restaurant in Alexandria

If I could give this place a zero, I would. Myself and 5 friends made reservations at this place for 12pm, we were promptly seated in a nice location, which is about THE only thing that went right with this experience. It took over an hour to get our food and when it was received 3 of the 5 orders were incorrect, some things that we ordered didn't even come at all. The waiter never refilled our drinks, even after being asked/reminded repeatedly. We explained the situation to a manager after getting no results from our server and he stated they would make it right and see what they could do about the bill. We kindly explained it wasn't about that we just thought he should be aware of the atrocious service we received and we would just like our check. We asked for individual checks, to which he said no problem, he would let the server know. 30 minutes went by before our server comes back and hands us 1 check stating they don't split checks. I'm sorry but if you don't split checks, why did it take 30 minutes to bring 1? In an effort to get us out of there as fast as possible (we had a wedding to be at and had already been there for 2 hours) we wrote the name of each individual cardholder on the back of the receipt along with the amount to charge each and provided 5 cards to the server. The server came back after 15 minutes and says, you gave me 5 cards right? To which we replied yes and he said he would be right back. Another 20 minutes go by and at this point we are late for other appointments, so we go to the front to inquire about our bill, only to be told that the server has lost one of our credit cards! Now why on earth would you have not told us that and instead make us sit and wait? To make things worse, 2 of the staff members had the audacity to catch an attitude with the friend whose card was lost when she expressed her displeasure over the entire situation. After 3 hours we finally were able to leave and the food wasn't even that good. I would never return here and would suggest that the management do some house cleaning and hold their staff accountable. To top it all off we had to pay mandatory gratuity that most certainly...

Great food, great atmosphere, great service! My friend and I came here for a girls' night out, after our dear friend and her (now) fiancé got engaged! We actually stumbled upon Cafe 44, because we thought the proposal was going to be taking place inside of the restaurant, but we were mistaken! So glad we got turned around here, because we ended up having dinner here afterwards. Starting off with the drinks: I ordered a mojito, and my girlfriend ordered a skinny margarita (just like a regular margarita, they just use agave to sweeten the margarita instead of overly sugary simple syrup) - we were both in love with our drinks; they were strong, refreshing and hit the spot. For an appetizer, we got the crab dip and you could actually taste the crab, which was a plus. I never had crab dip served with blue corn tortilla chips. I was pleasantly surprised, but would have loved if the crab dip came with small crostini or a baguette. Now on to the main dish: my girlfriend and I both wanted to try the short rib (I get short rib whenever I can at any restaurant) and it was fall off the bone amazing. So tender, so juicy, so wonderfully seasoned. The mashed potatoes paired with it made for an amazing fall dish. We got a side of chef's veggies to share, and I was underwhelmed. The veggies had no seasoning or flavor and were a waste of money in my opinion. We finished with a glass of sparkling rose. Our waitress, Megan (and her colleague, Jacob) were incredible and super interactive, honest about the menu since it was our first time here and kind. We sat outside at the bar (I'd recommend alternate seating next time since our backs were turned to the stunning view), but the vibe was incredible nonetheless. I can't wait to go back for a date night with my boyfriend before the weather gets cold! Thanks to whomever was working the front host stand for being so accommodating for a walk-in; we didn't have any reservations and were able to be sat...

First off, let me say.. I have been dying to try this place out! So I came in for a Sunday Brunch and I have to say when I called early in the morning the staff was super helpful and fit us in! So that was extremely appreciated!

We sat outside and had a great view. The food was decent, typical brunch food and plated nicely. You are definitely paying for the view but that’s what I expected.

The part that frustrated me the most was that, compared to most restaurants I have been to, they seem to have plenty of staff but our waitress attended to use three times. She came by and gave us our waters, took what felt like 10 minutes to come back and take our order. Our food came out promptly but no one ever circled back to ask if we wanted more to drink or if there was anything else we needed. Believe me, I wanted to drink more but the wait for the drink was a buzz kill since my drink was gone after I ate my eggs. Looking around wait staff seemed to me checking in with other tables frequently enough but ours was nowhere to be seen. We really wanted another round and we finished our meal with hopes that she would come back and never did. We waited about 10 minutes after our meal was finished and then we stopped a guy passing who happened to be the manager.

The manager preceded to take care of us and give us the next round on the house which was much appreciated and definitely the reason for a 3 over the 2. Then the host brought us the bill and we paid with the QR code. We never saw our waitress again...

I will say, while I understand the reason for the QR code for a menu and payment for as contactless as possible. It is definitely not as fun as perusing a menu so I do hope that when this is all over they hand back menus out! We do our best not to be on cellphones when...