Walk south down Mount Vernon Avenue on a Saturday morning this fall and you will pass three storefronts that have changed hands or changed names since last October. Two of them are run by people who already had a restaurant on the block. That is the story of Del Ray in 2026: the Avenue is turning over, but it is turning over inward. The operators who invested here first are taking the vacancies instead of letting new arrivals fill them.
For a neighborhood that could easily coast on Cheesetique and Evening Star, that quiet consolidation is worth paying attention to. It changes what a Saturday walk actually looks like, which weekends are worth blocking off, and which addresses to give an out-of-town friend when they ask where to eat.
The 1500 Block Kept It In The Family
The most talked-about opening of the year happened across the street from its own sibling. Little Birdie, the newest restaurant from the team behind Matt & Tony's All Day Kitchen + Bar, cut its ribbon on Mount Vernon Avenue after months of interior renovations at 1504B Mount Vernon Avenue. The address matters. The space was formerly occupied by Benny DiForza's Pizza, which opened in February 2024 and closed last October. Matt Sloan and Eric Brannon signed the lease before the dust settled.
Rather than expanding to a new neighborhood, they picked the shuttered pizza shop 40 feet from their front door.
What that gets residents:
- A second concept from the same kitchen discipline. Matt & Tony's is currently a finalist for a 2026 RAMMY Award for Best Brunch, one of the Washington region's highest restaurant honors.
- A menu built around chicken, seafood, and Southern-inspired flavors, with fresh seafood, oysters from the Chesapeake, Shlagel Farms produce, and bread baked in Virginia coming through an open kitchen.
- Hours designed for the neighborhood, not the tourist. Little Birdie's proposed hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday through Saturday. A weekday breakfast counter and a late-ish weekend dinner from the same address is a pattern Del Ray did not previously have on this block.
The thing worth naming out loud: two of the four corners at Mount Vernon and Bellefonte are now run by the same two people. That is unusual for a commercial strip this small.
A Pizzeria That Became a Roadhouse
A block and a half north, another familiar storefront quietly rewrote itself. Del Ray Pizzeria is now Del Ray Public House, "a neighborhood restaurant with a roadhouse soul and a deep love for Alexandria." The pivot is more than a name change. The kitchen shifted from Neapolitan pies to the high desert.
If you have not been in since the rebrand, the menu now reads like a road trip through New Mexico:
- Green Chile Fritas Con Queso, and The Roswell, a half-pound patty with fresh onion, cheddar, and Hatch green chile sauce.
- Chicken Adovada, marinated and slow-cooked in New Mexico red chile sauce, served with refried beans and Spanish rice.
- A menu of "steaks your way," including the 32-ounce Four Corners Feast for Two.
- Country Fried Steak dinners every Tuesday.
The address, 2218 Mount Vernon Avenue, is the same one families have been walking to for years. The 1908 building has its own history, which the new owners lean into on the restaurant's site. For residents who had written the space off as "the pizza place," this is a genuine reason to walk back in.
The Quieter Additions Since Last Fall
Two more openings from the last twelve months are worth logging if you missed them. The Del Ray neighborhood welcomed Pak Soii Izakaya in October 2025, adding Japanese small plates and a lively dining option along Mount Vernon Avenue. Izakaya is a format Del Ray did not have before: shareable plates and a bar to sit at rather than a table to book. It plays differently than Evening Star or Cheesetique on a weeknight.
The dessert list also grew. Sweetside Café & Creamery opened in September in the north Del Ray/Arlandria area, serving ice cream and baked goods in a friendly setting. If your usual walk stops at Braddock, it is worth pushing a few blocks north on a warm October afternoon.
The Fall Weekends Worth Blocking Off
Del Ray's calendar in fall runs on a small number of anchor dates. Here is the short list, in the order they arrive:
- 6th Annual Bands & Brews Bar Crawl, Saturday, August 15, 12:30 to 6 p.m. The Del Ray Business Association's signature community event transforms Del Ray into a celebration of live music with 30+ artists, 15+ local restaurants, costume contests, and a raffle, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Scholarship Fund for Alexandria. Pre-sale is $15 per individual ticket or $50 per 4-pack.
- Art on the Avenue, first Saturday in October, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Held annually on the 1st Saturday in October on Mt. Vernon Avenue in the historic Del Ray neighborhood, it is an award-winning regional multicultural arts, crafts, food and music festival for the whole family. If you have out-of-town guests visiting any weekend in the fall, this is the one to time their visit to.
- Del Ray Halloween Parade, late October, 2 p.m. The 30th year of a parade that runs along Mount Vernon Avenue beginning at E. Bellefonte Avenue and ends with live music and an award presentation at the Mount Vernon Rec Center field, named one of the 10 best Halloween parades in the country by USA Today. Children, pets, and decorated strollers are invited to march and show off their costumes.
- The recurring dates that make up the rest of fall. The Del Ray Vintage & Flea Market, named the best flea market in the state by Domino magazine, takes place the second Saturday of every month from 9am to 2pm, with over 50 vendors at three locations along Mount Vernon Avenue. The Del Ray Farmers' Market runs Saturday mornings at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square at Oxford and Mt. Vernon. The Gustave Art & Craft Market sets up second Saturdays at Gustave Jardin, 2213 Mount Vernon Avenue.
Read the second Saturday of any month as the busy one. The flea, the craft market, and the farmers' market all land the same morning.
Small Rituals That Are Easy to Miss
The Avenue's texture is not only the big weekends. A few standing dates that show up on the calendar for regulars:
- Cheesetique wine tastings. A recent one paired five wines with five bites during a guided Meet the Winemaker session at Cheesetique Del Ray, 2411 Mt Vernon Ave, exploring Labouré-Roi of Burgundy, described as an educational evening exploring one of the world's most celebrated wine regions. These sell out; check the shop's calendar.
- Piece Out collaboration dinners at 2419 Mount Vernon Avenue. Recent examples included a one-night collaboration dinner featuring a multi-course menu inspired by Southeast Asian flavors alongside a specialty beer brewed just for the event, with bold dishes, craft beer, and unique pairings.
- Del Ray Café wine dinners. The 2026 series kicked off with Nicolas Dornic, president of Dechaunac Importers, presenting five wines from Domaine Specht alongside a five-course menu, with wines offered for sale at discounted prices during the dinner. A fall dinner with Holly Feraci in her role as Chief Sommelier for Barboursville Vineyards on Wednesday, October 15th, presenting five wines alongside a four-course fall menu, with tickets at $140 available exclusively through Eventbrite.
- The 2026 Del Ray Explore Card. Ten local Del Ray businesses, 10% off at each one, with free shipping when you use the code 'exploremore'. If you eat, drink, or shop on the Avenue with any regularity, the math is straightforward.
One Thing That Is Not Happening
If you looked for it last spring and could not find it, you were not imagining things. The Del Ray Business Association has decided to pause the Well Ray Festival for 2026, taking time to evaluate the needs of the businesses and the community. The Wellness District storefronts along the Avenue are still open. The festival specifically is on hold.
The Take
The easy read on Del Ray in 2026 is "another year, more openings." The more accurate read is that the Avenue is doing something a lot of small commercial strips fail at: when a space empties, an operator who already lives inside the ecosystem takes it. Little Birdie went to the Matt & Tony's team. Del Ray Public House went to the group that had already been running the pizzeria. Pak Soii and Sweetside filled formats the neighborhood did not have.
For residents, the practical implication is that the walk you already take on Saturday morning now has a different rhythm than it did last October. The 1500 block is a two-restaurant destination instead of one. 2218 is a New Mexico kitchen instead of a pizza counter. The 2200 block picked up an izakaya. The second Saturday of the month is louder than the third. And the last Sunday in October is still the day the whole neighborhood puts a child, a dog, or a decorated stroller on Mount Vernon Avenue at 2 p.m.
If any of these shifts have you thinking about the block you actually want to live on inside Del Ray, or about what your current home would trade for in a market where the Avenue keeps getting denser, Jessica Richardson and her team have been advising Alexandria buyers and sellers on exactly this kind of neighborhood-specific decision for 27 years. Book an appointment when you are ready to talk.
