Love the new Royal! Was great before, but amazing now. Staff is so friendly and welcoming. Bartender Alberto is the best we've had in Old Town. Can't say enough good things about this place. Highly recommend. read more

Staff is always friendly. Food is on point. Not a long wait if you arrive before 11. Omelettes and Waffles are made to order and are very tasty. The coffee is even good here. Always on point. I wish they'd add wings and other pieces of chicken to the brunch menu instead of just legs. Try to be seated in a booth because the tables are way close to each other. read more

3.5 stars, roundup to 4 Good location, 2 blocks from water! Weekend brunch is always packed, above average foods, attentive services, would recommend it & repeat! read more

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My brother and I went to check out this place. It's located in Old Town Alexandria, it's on a corner lot, only a few parking spaces in the rear of the building but mostly street parking. It's approximately 3 blocks away from the Oronoco Bay Park. Reservations are recommended. They have both interior and exterior seating. The staff are friendly and attentive. We order 4 items: 1) Pineapple glazed chicken skewers 2) Royal smashed sliders 3) Chicken and waffles 4) Smoked brisket hash. The chicken skewers were okay, they were well charred and tender but lack flavor. The chicken and waffles were different. When this dish arrived to the table, I was surprised to see the waffle was soggy due to the ancho chili honey that was drenched on top. This sauce was not sweet though it stated it had honey in it. I wish it was served on the side and allowed the patron to drizzle it. The smoked brisket hash was recommended from our server but unfortunately the potatoes were burnt and brisket lack flavor. The highlight were the smashed sliders which comes in 3. This is a must dish. The meat was flavorful and amazing. read more

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Great food. Decent service. I don't really like to have to flag down for a refill for the check but after not being checked on for 20 minutes I felt necessary read more

Update: received an incoherent direct message yesterday. From Royal? What a ridiculous way to respond to a customer's complaint. Really hope it's not from the restaurant. Thought since the restaurant had new ownership that things might be different, but no. How long is appropriate to wait for a greeting at a restaurant while staff pretend not to see you? One minute? Two? How about four? And how long before you leave after being told by the same staff (whom you had to flag down because they were pretending not to see you) "wait" when you ask if there was someone who could seat us? One second did it for me. My family and I will take our money someplace we are welcomed. This place always has been and I guess now always will be racist af. Beware, Black folks, they don't want us here. read more

Royal Restaurant - Sincerely hope this direct message is not from this business. - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

Great meal, fantastic ambiance and I'm coming back. I wouldn't change anything about The Royal Restaurant. Randomly stopped in here for dinner after hearing that they had reopened and was blown away. The restaurant has a dark, upscale diner vibe to it and served up some delicious, American food. Amazing tasting pancakes on the kids menu for dinner, fancy looking hamburgers that taste like Mc Donald's. Yes and yes. Can't wait to come back to this kid friendly neighborhood restaurant. read more

Started our day today in Alexandria and needed some breakfast. We wanted to keep it simple and Royal Restaurant seemed to fit the bill. We arrived about 9am and we were able to park on site and we're seated immediately. I'll start with the coffee...it was actually quite good and the refills were plentiful. Wifey had a bacon egg and cheese on a biscuit with home fries, My daughter had two scrambled eggs with home fries and white toast, and I had two eggs over hard with bacon, well done home fries, rye toast, and a side of grits. The food was delicious, the service was great (our waitress was a sweetheart), and the prices were reasonable. They also have a bar here and the mimosas and Bloody Mary's were only $6 (we didn't partake...sadly). If you like a good diner...come to Royal instead of a chain-it's worth the effort. read more

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ROYAL SMASHBURGER*. Delicious!! The staff was excellent. Kimberly, the hostess and Gabby our waitress were super accommodating and friendly!! ! My rating mostly reflects our overall experience because of the exceptional service! read more

Royal Restaurant - ROYAL SMASHBURGER* - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

Best place for any meal. Great service, great food & great prices ! We always have our breakfast there whenever we're in Alexandria! Highly recommended! read more

This place is a mystery. The food is good for a diner. The style of the building is very interesting, kinda like a big restaurant that is downsizing. The service is good and responsive. I typically get breakfast from here and sometimes they do a buffet style offering. Easy to get up and get your food without the hassle. Still a mystery but for easy food it's a good spot. read more

We had a wonderful time at Royal. Our server Nicole was great she was very pleasant and attentive. The food was great, I had the short ribs which were tender and juicy. My husband had the lamb burger which he enjoyed . Mac kenzie received our feedback very well. This is a great place, clean and a good atmosphere. We highly recommend it. read more

Disappointing. The food is fine, but the service is unacceptable. My food came with the wrong side. I pointed that out, and they inexplicably took the entire plate away ... and never came back. Note that the swap was simple - the requested orzo instead of fries. Not a special order. If anyone actually did their job, it would have taken seconds. Around the time that my family was finishing their dishes, we were asked if everything was OK, despite the obvious lack of any food in front of me. Then the Pythonesque comedy began, as three different alleged managers appeared. #1 was vaguely apologetic but didn't actually seem to move things along. #2 was confrontational and seemingly unapologetic. Only #3 actually seemed to have any basic management skills. And to top it all off, I was explicitly told that I would have to wait even longer to get my food, since it had gotten cold while sitting in the kitchen. In the interests of full disclosure, they ultimately comped the entire table. But I didn't ask for that. I wanted a pleasant meal - and I want them to actually learn how to properly run a restaurant. I didn't get the former, and have serious doubts about the latter. Some tips for the management company, ARP: * If the wrong side is delivered, your servers should trained to leave the dish and get a replacement ... not take it all away. * If a dish does go back to there kitchen, the fix needs to be prioritized. Whoever ignored it at the Royal needs to be fired. * And managers need to actually have management skills. #2 in particular (Hawaiian shirt guy) clearly shouldn't be in any position of authority - when your staff screws up, he should be holding them accountable, not trying to protect them. I suspect he may be the one to have set the wrong tone for the entire place, and probably should be kicked to the curb ASAP. The Royal gets 2 stars only because of the food. But I see no reason to ever return. There are many alternatives with food as-good or better but which are competently run. read more

Second time here since they relaunched under new ownership. Food has been phenomenal both times, and the service is exemplary. Have had the chicken enchiladas and the skirt steak fajitas, both are tops. The corn relish is to die for, and their shoestring fries are perfect. This new version of the venerable Old Town North staple is a revelation!!!! read more

The food and service is great here. I really enjoyed the shrimp and grits for brunch. Jersey was an amazing food tour guide during our dining experience. We will return. Please note that I had the sausage removed from my shrimp and grits. My son loved the mocktail. read more

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This restaurant is an enigma. There were 3 of us dining. Two of us were served with our entrées, but the third entrée never appeared. Fifteen minutes passed and I went inside to ask the manager for the status and it looks like the waitress just failed to order the third entrée. As a result, we sat while two of the entrées got cold until the third entrée was finally brought - at least 30 minutes after the other entrees were served. A dessert was offered to the person whose entrée was missing to offset the inconvenience. Nothing was offered to the two of us who ate cold food. The waitress pushed the wine hard and was quick to ask for wine refills but totally ignored non alcoholic refills until asked. I think the food here is generally very good. I think the atmosphere is good as well. But there's a real disconnect in providing a nice evening out. Our experience was known to the manager, whose help I sought, but there was no effort on his part to even apologize. read more

The burger and mojito were delicious! Based on reviews seems like a good breakfast spot but was good for dinner as well. read more

Royal Restaurant - ROYAL SMASHBURGER* - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

We returned to the Royal Restaurant after a ten year hiatus. The new Royal delivers a wonderful breakfast. We had the Royal 1804, eggs easy over, hash brown potatoes are the Royal way. The potatoes taste like spice wedges with onions soft cooked. You will need ketchup. The toast and bacon cooked just right. Service was excellent. I am cautioning Royal booth guests that the booth table has an obtrusive black metal pillar under the table that will ding your leg if you slide in the booth without looking. The Royal now has a beautiful outdoor patio. All in all we are glad the Royal is back. The music is electric. read more

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The food here is fantastic and the owner is super friendly! We get the vampiro breakfast burrito every time, if you haven't tried it yet you need it now. This place is always in demand and their renovations are such a cool vibe! read more

Royal Restaurant - VAMPIRO BREAKFAST BURRITO and the FRENCH ONION GRILLED CHEESE - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

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The revamped decor and service where A+, the young blonde waitress was very attentive, gave a good appetizer recommendation and was very nice to both me and my daughter, however, I think I may try again for brunch, that chicken schnitzel with gnocchi was far from impressive. I believe we had about five maybe six pieces of brown butter gnocchi on the dish which was very disappointing as that was one of the reasons we were drawn towards it also the chicken was dry and rubbery, we did possibly eat about four bites between the two of us, we did let the waitress know but for the 26 ? dollars we paid for it and the fact that didn't even eat it or take it with us was definitely not worth a return visit to try again for dinner. read more

The interior of the restaurant has been updated but retains the ambiance of the original restaurant. The breakfast food menu has been updated. Additional menu items have been added but there are no outstanding dishes. The meal prices have doubled. I did enjoyed my sandwich and the service was outstanding. read more

Amazing food, great service and ambiance! First time I tried since the renovation and I will be back. Best MEATLOAF in the world! Really topping of corn and string onion rings make this a favorite! Come check it out for yourself! read more

Royal Restaurant - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

Great servers, home town feel, the food is incredible! Happy Hour has some of my favorites too.

Great customer service and a very clean place. Used to regularly eat here when we lived down the street. I really like the menu. The smoked Mac and cheese was incredible. Everyone loved their breakfast food. Their buffet used to be top notch, not sure if they do it any longer. read more

Had breakfast at 11am and EVERY bite was excellent. Omelette with potatoes toast latte. Keith our server was very professional and pleasant. Absolutely worth a visit. read more

BLUF: Nothing special. Didn't live up to expectations A friend of mine recommended this place so we went there for brunch on Sunday afternoon. Two of us got the breakfast buffet, one got the avocado eggs benedict, and more got the lamb hamburgers The hamburgers were okay. Not seasoned very well and pretty dry even though we'd ordered them cooked medium. The tzatziki sauce was pretty sparse on them and they didn't fill the bun. They came with a house salad which was a pretty generic iceberg lettuce, one piece of tomato, and some red onion. The avocado eggs benedict was actually pretty tasty. The people who got the buffet were disappointed. It was 1 hour until the buffet was due to end and it became obvious that the restaurant stopped refilling the buffet. Things ran out and weren't refilled. In addition the fried chicken, which look delicious, had pretty much no seasoning on it. Our service was adequate but slow. I don't think I would go back again. What we had there I think we could get about anywhere at the same quality read more

They have done a wonderful job with the renovations! The bartender was working really hard for happy hour, and also seemed to be a personable guy. The drinks were fantastic and happy hour was a good deal! Cons: At the bar area tables it takes forever to get service. We eventually moved to the bar to get service from the already overworked bartender. The bar is too small for the happy hour they've promoted. Food: My husband loved the HH sliders. I got the HH tacos. Good flavor but the greasiest thing I've ever had. They need to fix that asap. It was gross! All and all, I want them to succeed. If they are serious, with just a few adjustments would make it great! read more

We loved the ambiance and vibe at this place. Scarlett was our server and she was incredible! She answered our questions and gave us great recommendations. We will be back! read more

Meh..? I did not feel entirely comfortable eating in here. There was not a ton of distance between tables, but employees were good about keeping their masks on. Coffee was good and hot and refills were frequent and without request so that was nice. I had the chicken and waffles. The waffle was nice and crispy yet fluffy on the inside. The chicken was definitely frozen from a bag akin to what you might get if you ordered chicken strips from the kids menu. All in all not terrible, but not great either. I think we will be skipping this in the future. read more

Hadn't been here in two years and the changes made to the facility have it a wonderful upgrade. The food was delicious and the service was impeccable!! read more

Again, they are still maintaining the classic American style breakfast - Big and family style. I like the new outdoor section which wasn't there from the last visit. Overall a great place for weekend brunch. Parking is easy and you should able to find something on the street, too. Service might need some improvement. Our server was very kind, but appeared forgot the some of the detail on our order. Just another observation that a table sat next to us had been waiting for their food over 15 to 20 mins, and the server returned that might need to wait for another 10 mins! Now, I was thinking about it that we already waited for 20 minutes before we get our disks, too. Anyway, if you are craving for classic foods, then this the place. read more

I wanted to love the new Majestic, aka the former Family owned Royal Restaurant. Gone is the 100+ year old Royal Restaurant I found 8 years ago when I moved here. Gone is the Royal Restaurant where we ate our last meal in March of 2020, in an old, red-vinyl booth before the world shut down a few days later for the Pandemic. Gone is the Royal Restaurant where we ate our first meal again when it reopened. Let's be real no one was going to the Royal Restaurant for fine, dining, and a 5* meal. What they did go for was the people, I knew them, they knew me. We came in for the feeling of being in a place that wasn't fancy, it wasn't pretentious, the coffee wasn't my favorite either but it was my FAVORITE place to be on a Saturday Morning. Their Sunday buffet was awesome too! Liz and Maria knew my order, they didn't even come to the table to ask, they stopped by for a quick conversation and catch up. I loved the tiled floors, the red vinyl booths. I loved everything about it. My eggs, home-fries and bacon were always great, my English muffin extra crispy, great. It was the total experience, the food was great, the service was fast, the people were awesome. The new Majestic spot, yes, it's pretty, they maximized the space, they provide next level food preparation, and a nice outdoor space. I can appreciate the attention to detail too. We arrived and expected to be seated in the almost empty dining room, instead we were ushered to the outside seating area because of the requirement to reserve a table to eat indoors. (!) the same dining room which remained almost empty when we left, while the outdoor seating was full of the rest of us who didn't have reservations. I could probably say more, change happens, I get it but sometimes it's nice to leave things as they were. Part of what makes a neighborhood spot so great, is the reliability, the people, the feeling of finding your "Spot" when you've moved to a new town, you can't replace over 100 years of that, you just can't. Even seeing Liz and a couple of the former Royal employees still on staff couldn't save the feeling that is gone. If I want to go the Majestic for a fantastic brunch/lunch/dinner, I'll go to the Majestic on King Street. This is not it, they should call the revamped Royal Restaurant, exactly what it is, another Breakfast spot owned by the Majestic. read more

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I have eaten here 4 times since the renovation and have had an incredible experience everytime. Their staff is kind and attentive. Their outdoor seating area is dog friendly and has fans/heaters. Also the drinks and food are great! The cherry guava marg is my favorite! read more

Solid breakfast. Eggs were perfect. Potatoes were very good. Bacon was done nicely. My son got the hash which he enjoyed. Attentive service. Nice old school vibe. Worth going to for breakfast. read more

I have been coming to Alexandria for business at least once a year for several years and the Royal was my breakfast go to. Yesterday I came with some colleagues as usual and we noticed that the menu had changed, and was much more limited for breakfast. For example, there was no choice of bread for toast, no option of ham as a breakfast meat, and the grits I requested came with cheese, no option for straight up grits, and the home fried potatoes were disappointing. The service is fine as usual : ) I returned this morning, and learned that there has been a change in ownership to explain the changes I noted above. Changes are fine with me, but please restore at least some of what has made the Royal such a wonderful place for breakfast. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, please! read more

So excited this is open under new ownership (and is the reason it was on our radar as we love Matt and Tony's). Husband and I went the other weekend and we just love the overall vibe and decor of the place. We sat in the bar area and even ran into some friends! The menu is intriguing, and we can't wait to try more. The chicken skewers and crab quesadilla as apps were . Burger was bomb. Cocktails were the cherry on top for our evening. Looking forward to going back! read more

Royal Restaurant - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

First timer to the Royal Restaurant and the good was delish, service was exceptional and the place is spot on. The Aperol Highball caught my eye - aperol, grapefruit, lemon and sparkling water. Very refreshing. My friend had a lemonade, which was freshly made. Both were so good. For main I had the French Onion Gilled Cheese which was yummy. The onions were carmelized, and there was no skimping on the Swiss cheese on toasted marble rye. The bread was crisp, the Swiss was creamy, the onions were savory. Together a great combination. We sat in a booth in the bar area, which was comfy. Definitely will return. Definitely will recommend. read more

Absolutely amazing! We went with a large group for brunch and they gave us a private room. Food and drinks were amazing and came out pretty fast. Zack was our server and he did an excellent job. Overall an amazing time! read more

Went for happy hour after work for my birthday. Very nice and cozy bar area. Had always wanted to try it back before it closed but never did. But I will definitely revisit this place again. First off a 7 days a week happy hour from 4-7 is great. I had the fries, wings, sliders & old fashioned. Hats off to the chef and bartender. Those wings were perfectly cooked and seasoned. Sliders were so good. Makes me wanna try a full size burger. Whatever the seasoning on the fries was needs to be sold commercially. Perfectly made old fashioned was the cherry on top (no pun). read more

I try to come by here a couple of times each year, and I've been coming here for at least ten years! This place is one o f the few real authentic old school restaurants that has been in business for over 120 years! The dining room still has that hometown feel, and the servers and employees are mostly mature individuals that take their job seriously. I came here just yesterday and ordered my favorite, the spaghetti with meat sauce platter. It included a nice house salad as well. My second favorite menu item is the gyro platter. I really need to have an empty stomach to handle this meal, and it includes a Greek salad. With the DC area becoming so gentrified, I am so glad that this place has remained old fashioned and authentic! In fact you can tell that a lot of their clientele probably have been customers for years. I will need to come back here one more time before I leave for another six months. read more

Royal Restaurant - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia