11:30pm girls - Alexandria’s on Second
What: Alexandria’s on Second
When: Tues, Jan 25, 8pm
On weekends there was always a line, so Tuesday seemed like the perfect night to try out Belltown’s new-ish addition. The food is “upscale southern” so we wore loose fitting clothes, just in case. Any kind of southern is something we can eat a lot of.
We sat in the bar area, just a table away from the live jazz band – drums, stand up bass, keyboards and something that was either a xylophone or a vibraphone (every person we asked gave a different answer). The other half of the restaurant was a more formal dining room.
The food was plentiful - most of the entrees came with two generous sides. And it was mmmm, mmmm gooood. We had the spicy catfish with a side of perfectly cheesy mac 'n cheese and perfectly chewy black eyed peas. Our friends both ordered the chicken rib combo, and between all of us we sampled nearly ever side on the menu. The glass of wine we ordered was the heaviest we'd ever lifted. We couldn't figure out why (was the glass heavy, was it fuller than usual?), then stopped caring when the complimentary corn muffins arrived.
What struck us more than the food, however, was the atmosphere. The view from the bar was very Harlem meets Havana, circa the 1930s – we expected guys in fedoras and trumpets to jump out from behind the neon-accented bar. And despite the band that was smooth jazzing it up so close to us, not once did we have to shake our heads in desperation and mouth to our friend, “We can’t hear you.”
Caveat: you either need more self control than us, or this is not the place to have a full dinner before going out. Cuz you ain’t goin’ nowhere but home to rest on your couch after eating here. We were on the couch by 10.
More details: 2020 Second Ave, Belltown. 206-374-3700. Sun 11 am-3 pm, Sun-Wed 5 pm-midnight, Thu-Sat 5 pm-2 am. Live band nightly.
