Epicure on King — Restaurant in Alexandria

My wife and I live in Old Town and have enjoyed eating at Michael’s on King twice in the past two weeks and both times we had a really nice experience. Besides the great food, the service was exemplary, and the prices were very reasonable.

Our first visit was late as we were returning from a flight into Dulles (!) at 2130 hrs and knew many restaurants would be closing soon. We picked Michael’s since it was on our way home, just a few blocks from our home, and we hadn’t eaten there in a while. As an aside, we find it hard to return to restaurants often because there are so many good choices in our city. Anyway, when we arrived only three tables were eating in the downstairs area, and we were quickly greeted, sat, and ordered immediately since it was late. There were no complaints from our server despite our late arrival. The ambience was old school Italian restaurant, with the audible but not too loud music to match. We were brought fresh bread which we were told was baked at the restaurant, and we were given a spicy olive oil mix to dip our bread into. It was delicious! We ordered drinks, and were quickly brought from the upstairs bar a very tasty Aperol spritz (my “go to” for an Italian cocktail) and a Pinot Noir. The food came out quickly and was hot. I had a delicious lasagne (apparently the owner’s grandmother’s recipe) and my wife loved her mushroom ravioli. A split tiramisu capped off the evening, and I could tell it was made in house since real coffee soaked the bottom of my dessert. The price was very reasonable, at $130 for two entrees, two drinks, one dessert, and an excessive tip because of our late arrival.

Our second visit was only a week or so after because we had a such good time on our first visit. I’m clearly a non-foodie idiot because I had the lasagna once again, but in my defense it was really really good. Once again we had a great meal with even better service, with manager/head server Michael, who is not related to the owner also named Michael. Just a nice fellow who provided quick efficient service, especially considering that the restaurant was much more crowded since we had reservations at 1800 hours. Prices again were very reasonable for the high quality of food we received, spending $170 for an appetizer, two entrees, four drinks (I know, I know), one dessert to split, and again an excessive tip because of the personable service. Another great date night for us.

My wife and I definitely recommend Michael’s on King. We enjoyed both of our meal experiences and think you will too. Try it, you’ll likely be very...

READ the other negative reviews about CHEATING AND OVERCHARGING!!!. Went there with a group of 5... and split the bill 3 ways: the tip of 20% (including on the TAX) for mediocre service (had to ask twice for a coke) was added automatically (most places do this for 6 or more and usually 15-18%) not only did the split charge slip NOT mention this, but there was a nice blank line for you to add a tip... sleazy but not exactly dishonest then the size of the bill still seemed pretty high, so, having noticed the negative reviews, I went to the manager and asked for an explanation of how a $134 bill got split into 3x$69??? .... $207 is adding a LOT more than 20% in my book. He seemed somewhat flustered, made ME add things up on my calculator, then told the waitress to fix it I was not offered any apology, no free dessert, no discount on this or a future visit, no real excuse. Note: I specifically pointed out the previous reviews. I have been short-changed in convenience stores, almost certainly intentionally with the clerk saying "Oh sorry" and giving the correct change IF you caught him.... this experience FELT like that, especially given other people's experiences. I WILL NEVER GO THERE AGAIN! and I am definitely going to check the credit card bill to make sure the initial $69 was refunded for all three of us.

Decor was nice

Food was adequate but overpriced, even without the overcharges ($16 for a plate of lettuce??, I mean, really.) My sister says this review was accurate but that she would probably have been a little nastier. ... especially since she had recommended that...

Our first time at Michael's on King. We chose to have our family Christmas Eve dinner here because of the Feast of the 7 Fishes (not too easy to find!). First off, the restaurant was very accomodating with our modifying our reservation.

Atmosphere: restaurant is very "Old Town charming" with booths and tables, like you are in a really nice house.

Our waiter Felicitano (sp?) explained the food and drink menu and gave us wonderful service!

Food: SUPERB all the way around! The Feast of the 7 Fishes was the best we had ever had (largest mussels ever, Atlantic cod, cockels, bay scallops, etc (with the tastiest seafood broth, perfect to dip the homemade bread in!), served with homemade wide egg noodles pasta and arancini (fried rice balls) over marinara sauce.

Other entrees at the table: steak and fries, Atlantic cod with risotto (perfectly cooked cod with capers and butter), pasta with bolognese were all hits with our family.

Desserts: The tiramisu lovers in the family are picky and they all said it was extra good. The cheesecake pleased 2 really picky cheesecake lovers (including me!). Cheesecake is my fav and this was even better than my top pick in NYC!

Beverages: very reasonable glass of white merlot (first time having!), red wine and aperol spritz.

We all agreed that we love Michael's on King and can't...