The Birchmere — Restaurant in Alexandria

I have patronized the Birchmere for many years and I love it. It is my favorite venue. Love the intimate setting; not a bad seat in the house. Great sound system. The food is basic but fresh, well prepared and tasty. The wings are especially yummy!! Love that there is lots of free parking. This rating is only for my experience at the October 21 7:30 pm Whispers show. It was a disappointing night. My party of four arrived at the venue at 5:15 pm. Went inside to get a line number, had already purchased our tickets online. The employee (a male) who works in the ticket office and gives out the line numbers-----had a very nasty attitude. We stood at the window for an unreasonable amount of time-----while he was preoccupied with doing something else. He looked at us but never acknowledged us; after waiting patiently, I finally asked him to please give me a line number;----- All he had to do was reach up---grab a line number and hand it to me. He ignored me. I had to ask him for a line number several times. Finally he rolls his eyes at me----and with the nastiest attitude----snatched the line number from the holder---glared at me like I was inconveniencing him----- and gave it to me. This employee should not be dealing directly with patrons. His temperament is offensive. Secondly, my party was seated in the back near the sound crew. There was a crowd of patrons who left there seats at a table-----and were standing behind my table -----very close to us in our personal space-----dancing and singing and talking really loudly in our ears during the performance. The wait staff could not freely move about because these patrons were standing in the way. This should not be allowed. Patrons should be expected to be seated at a table so that everyone can enjoy the performance. Also several patrons were standing up at their tables in order to record the performance with their cellphones. Ridiculous!! If people are standing up during the performance----obviously not everyone will be able to enjoy it. Lastly----the Whispers only performed for an hour. For a party of four--we spent nearly ($89.50 + fees per ticket) $500 for the tickets-----we did not get our money's worth and for sure-----we will not return for another Whispers show--ever!!. I don't know if an hour performance is the new standard at the Birchmere or if this was just an anomaly for the Whispers show, but contractually the expectation established by the Birchmere with artists ------on behalf of its patrons====should involve a longer performance. an hour performance at this cost is outrageous!! Not worth my money or my time! Disappointed!!!!! I will give the Birchmere another chance-------again, I am hoping that this experience----was just an anomaly!!...

I have never been a fan of the Birchmere as a venue. If you want a really good seat, you likely have to arrive early at the ticket office before 5 pm to try to get a number for entry. The numbers get called in order starting at 6 pm, so you can't really leave the venue and have nothing to do until 6 p.m. They then call you by number and you speed to the best table. If the show is at 7:30 or 8 p.m, you are trapped at that table, and if hungry you have to order their food, which is not very good and is expensive. That is their business model. All that having been said, recently I went there with friends to see the Zombies. We got No. 11 and until allowed in, we drank a bottle of wine in the car to save money. Once inside, we were happy to get a table up front and we did order some food. After what seemed to be about an hour, the show was cancelled because a Zombie was evidently in the hospital. My friend, who bought our tickets through Ticketmaster, has yet to be reimbursed, although it has been two weeks. Ticketmaster refused him because they said the show was postponed, not cancelled. When my friend phoned the Birchmere to ask them to take care of this, he was told very rudely it was not their problem. This rude woman said she would have her manager call but that has not happened. Meanwhile, I was the one who paid for food and drink, and I am angry because I think The Birchmere had to know this show wasn't happening, but allowed us to order dinners and drinks while wrongly believing we would see a show. None of my group wants to go to the...

I saw Luther Re-Lives, and it was fabulous!!! The sound was good, The singers could saaaaaang, lol. He made me miss Luther Vandross even more than I did. I like that the venue has the feel of the Detroit Style Cabarets that were held in venues with large open areas with lots of tables that seat 6 . The food was excellent! I had the fried catfish with red beans and rice. This is a grown and sexy venue. That means it's for adult crowds that come to respectfully enjoy the entertainment without anyone acting a fool. It's a place for a lovely night out, to look good, relax, and not feel worried about whether or not someone would start fighting. When my family and I arrived, we went to the ticket window to show our tickets and were given a number. The earlier you arrive, the better choices of seating you will have. An announcer will call the numbers at a certain time to begin letting people in to find a table. We were there at 6 and the show started at 8. However, the numbers start at A1 -A50 (I think) and follow suit for each letter of the alphabet. My group was F-35, and we sat at table 218. So it's a must to arrive at least 2 hours early to get a good seat, order your meal and drinks, and use the restroom before the show begins at 8! Most of the tables have a good view of the stage. There was adequate parking behind the building as well as on the side and across the street. The only con was the use of the smoke machine on stage. Don't forget to use the Waze navigation app to plan the drive. DMV traffic is awful and...