ALEXANDRIA, VA – It’s been 68 years since there were waterfront restaurants on the Potomac River in Alexandria. Given this opening, I should quickly start my definition of waterfront dining:
- Open air: You sit outside; e.g. on a balcony, terrace or deck;
- Unhindered: No need to park a street, pedestrian walkway, marina or park to get to the river.
- Sea level (ish): Don’t get me wrong, I love a rooftop terrace. I just don’t think of it as a dinner by the water.
- Open to the public: Private clubs do not count.
- On the Potomac: It must be on the actual Potomac River, not on a tributary, bay, port, or other river.
The last time we Alexandrians had a place to eat that met all of my criteria was in 1953 at the Beachcombers Restaurant pictured here. The city of Alexandria has done some wonderful research and recorded much of the history of the Beachcombers restaurant [PDF]. This passage below is an oral excerpt from that research, and it caught my eye:
We enjoyed eating outside with our parents on the high terrace of the Beachcomber Restaurant. There were few lights on the Maryland coast, and the silence was broken only by the distant hum of the rare cabin cruiser passing by, its blue-green and red navigation lights glowing in the deep darkness. The rhythmic lapping of the small waves on the river bank was almost the only other sound, as there was no Wilson Bridge with its noisy trucks at the time. Air traffic from the National Airport was just picking up, but the sight of planes taking off at night was unusual. I can barely remember the sight of seaplanes rocking on their pontoons and moored at the old ferry dock on Strand Street, where the Norfolk-Washington steamship used to call.
The postcards and photos below are just a few of the everyday waterfront dining items from the OurHistoryMuseum collection. They transport us to another time.
It’s worth noting that I (like everyone else I know) look forward to the spring opening of Barca Pier & Wine Bar, ARP’s newest venture. This is the first Potomac River Waterfront Dining anyone has experienced in Alexandria since Beachcombers Restaurant. It will be one of the first truly waterfront dining experiences in the region in a long time, maybe since 1953. I’ll add a portrayal of Barca at the end of this article. If Barca is something like the recently opened, absolutely amazing and adjoining Ada’s on the River from the same owners, it will be very popular.
The Beachcombers Restaurant opened in 1946.
(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)
(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)
(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)
Beachcombers Restaurant lasted until around 1953 when the owners closed the business. A fire consumed part of the second floor in 1954.
(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)
(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)
The Alexandria Motor Boat Club was one of the many boat clubs in Alexandria during the 20th century. This is not the Old Dominion Boat Club. The steamship is the Charles MacAlester, probably on its way to Mount Vernon.
(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)
(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)
This is the recently built Old Dominion Boat Club, which is essentially a reconstruction of the Beachcomber restaurant.
(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)
Here are pictures of Barca that have just opened.
Barca Pier is on the beautiful Potomac River between Duke and Wolfe Streets. (Photo by Susan Fleischman / The Zebra Press)
Barca Pier is inspired by Barcelona’s beach bars and serves tapas, small plates of delicious, ingredient-based food. (Photo by Susan Fleischman / The Zebra Press)
Conditions on the Alexandria coast have certainly improved since this photo was taken.
(Photo: Ken Lopez, OurHistoryMuseum.com)
MORE: PHOTOS: The Barca Wine Bar joins the Alexandria Waterfront