Vaso's Kitchen — Restaurant in Alexandria

Never got to my meal because I left due to incredibly rude service. Had reservations for two. Walked up to the restaurant and waited out front for a couple minutes as servers saw us and just kept moving along. I wondered where a host or hostess was, so we stepped inside. It was pretty busy, and servers continued to make eye contact with us and just ignore us. After another five minutes, I stopped one server and asked if we could sit at an open table outside. He pretty sharply told us that we just needed to give him time and then condescendingly asked if we had reservations. He finally relented and let us sit outside. We got the menus quickly, but another 15 minutes went by with no service. I asked one server who passed by if we could put our order in...he just stared at us and told us to wait. Another few minutes went by. I saw the guy who originally seated us come outside...he avoided eye contact with us and was about to go back in when I asked him if we could put an order in. Again, he sharply told us that we needed to give him time and to wait. The situation was not worth getting mad over, so I simply said it was fine but that we were going to leave because we had been waiting too long. Instead of just accepting that we were leaving (or apologizing for the slow service like at a normal restaurant), he said pettily that it was fine we were leaving because he had other customers to serve who had more patience than us. I'm just a military member trying to host my friend who is visiting Old Town for the first time. We didn't deserve to be spoken to that way and insulted in front of...

The location was great! Very cute outside setup. We drove over a hour to get here because we love Greek food and the reviews spoke highly of this establishment. The trip was disappointing. We started with the Saganaki. This dish tasted fine but the server who was preparing it table side was stopped by another server who was guiding on the proper way to light the dish (instructing was also fine) but what was not fine was that the lemon used to later to be squeezed on our meal was taken off our plate (bare hands) and put directly onto the general serving tray (gross). We waited around a hour for meals (they were busy and that is understandable). The rolls served were generic like something you'd get at Giant, nothing I would expect from a Greek/Mediterranean establishment but again no big deal. The entrees....fried softshell and stuffed shrimp..the softshell crab ($34) was so soggy. Nothing crispy about it to the point that the coating and the sauce had started to turn mushy on the plate. The shrimp was okay but nothing I couldn't do at home. These dishes were served with a portion of boxed pasta and tomato sauce. Pretty bland. Also both entrees were served with a garlic white wine sauce... definitely didn't compliment with the tomato marinara. This review is purely our experience for one visit. However we will not be returning and will be looking to other establishments that present more authentic and quality...

SOME.DAMN.GOOD.FOOD. (looka there, it made me swear publicly. Proof)

So, this place not only SMELLS amazing on the inside, but it TASTES amazing on the outside. Yep - we sat outside. It was gorgeous!

So we walked up, tried to figure out how/who you kiss to get a table. It took about 5 minutes, but they sorted us out. I would have liked it to be a little hastier but I digress.

We sit down at an outside table. The breeze is moderate. The table wobbled (omg taking part of a star for this HUGE pet peeve of mine). The water was iced, it was cold. The umbrella in the table was closed, so that was kind of annoying. We had to keep bobbing and weaving to see each other's faces.

So, if I recall, I got a fish. Not "The" fish as people like to say, but A fish. It wasn't the unholy ruler of fishes - Don't be silly now. It was stuffed with crab tho, so...mind blown! It was super delicious!

We got some white wine. Shared that! Then, um, more food, etc. Shared some cannoli too! BAM! Stuff was good. Like, not as good as Basil Thyme (food truck), but pretty dang good.

All in all, food was great. Service was service...meh. Atmosphere is legit. It's like walking into some old lady's dining room, but with...