Mason Social — Restaurant in Alexandria

My husband and I were looking for a good dinner spot near Braddock Road Metro Station since we already had tickets to a special event at Captain Gregory's Speakeasy on a Friday night. We had an enjoyable brunch at Mason Social a couple years ago and figured the location would be good for dinner; especially since it is practically across the street from Captain Gregory's. We had a reservation for dinner and were seated almost as soon as we walked in. The only reason we waited at all was because the couple of folks in front of us did not have a reservation and from the conversation about the wait, I'm glad we paid attention to COVID guidelines and planned ahead. The staff was really friendly and took our drink orders right away. It was social hour, so we ordered the Old Fashioned and Turnt Grapefruit (lots of grapefruit flavor) cocktail specials. I also tried the Celtic Cooler. The drinks were delicious and served promptly, which gave a nice flow into our appetizer and main course orders. We sampled the carnitas nachos, honey walnut salmon, and fried chicken dishes. For dessert, we ordered the toasted marshmallow tres leches, which was so good! Overall, the presentation and quality of the food at Mason Social is excellent. This business specializes in southern soul food; the menu reflects this specific specialty; some diners might see the menu as limited, but I view it more as focused. Know the business before you go and you won't be disappointed. Mason Social also offers the mood lighted dining experience, which is becoming more common in certain areas around DC. I'd just call it low lighting, which is pleasant enough, though can make it a little difficult to read menus. Fortunately with digital menus during COVID; this was not an issue. The menu is as bright as you want your phone screen to be. :-) Thanks for a great evening...

Some friends were in town and we wanted to check out somewhere with outdoor dining. I was able to get a reservation for 8pm on a Friday. A small concern was since we went through OpenTable, I could put a preference for outdoor, but not confirmed. I did try calling to see if I could confirm outdoor, but only for the answering service and I never heard back on the message I left.

We arrived at about 7:40pm to check-in and I asked about outdoor. The hostess was very nice and said we may have a part ahead of us, but she'll keep an eye out. We were fine waiting a little longer if needed. Well like five minutes later she pops out to meet us and says, "We have a table ready." We only had four of our party, but were sat and ordered drinks (I had the Ruby Roja.) Our remaining two arrived at 8pm and we ordered some more drinks and appetizers (I didn't get pics of them all.) Two orders of fried, green tomatoes, the Mason tuna, and the spinach & artichoke dip. We really enjoyed it all. I'd go between the tomatoes and the tuna as my fave (the corn with the tomatoes was a nice addition.)

For my meal I got the blackened mahi-mahi sandwich with Old Bay fries. Flavors were great, though the piece of fish could have been slightly larger (didn't quite cover the bun). Fries were just right and not overly seasoned. One of my friends had the meatloaf which was a good choice. Not as dense as it looked and seasoned perfectly.

We went with desserts, and they were ok. I had the chocolate meringue tarte. Flavors were spot on, nice crust, though it was like just ever so slightly frozen in the middle still. I'm guessing they're kept frozen/chilled on-hand and taken out as needed.

Service was really good, perfect evening for being outside, and we enjoyed...

There are much better places, similarly priced, in this town.

First and Last time coming to Mason Social tonight. The server may have been new, but he was completely unable to answer basic questions, like "How much soup do you get in a standard order?" and was spending more time flirting with the hostess than paying attention to the only table he had in the whole restaurant. It was mind-boggling that a section of 4 tables had three servers, without even looking at the other 3/4ths of the restaurant.

Food was mediocre at best. On top of getting a disappointing portion of soup, maybe a full 8 oz with no bread or accoutrements as a main course for my partner; the Mason Tuna appetizer was served too cold to taste and the concoction clearly needed citrus, hell maybe even a marinade of the tuna to give it any sign of life. The Marrow Burger was a $3 upcharge gimmick, that in reality was a watery tasteless burger with no personality with a stretchy and salty sourdough bun to add insult to injury. Fried onions weren't present, hell, what did I even eat, other than another grotesquely over-sized lump of inferior beef between two loafs of sadness? I can't tell you, I didn't taste anything else.

Overall, this place strikes me as the sort of restaurant where an owner pours a ton of money into, hires a great chef to develop recipes and open, but 6 month to a year later, both the owner and chef are on to bigger things and the management entrusted to continue their vision starts to let everything slowly slip and they have now reached the point of no return (literally). Two stars is charity.

P.S. I don't waste food, so yeah, I ate the entire awful meal with the hope that my gut will improve on it for the next creature in...