Pizzeria Paradiso

Pizzeria ParadisoPizzeria Paradiso
Pizzeria ParadisoPizzeria Paradiso
Bar, Eatery

124 King St
Alexandria, Virginia, 22314-3208
United States

// CLOSED //
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.19
Reviews:
19
Ratings:
39
pDev:
7.88%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by jaymo18:
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Rated by jaymo18 from Virginia

4/5  rDev -4.5%

Nov 06, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.16 by Zonian1 from Ohio

Jan 10, 2018
 
Rated: 4.31 by srw from Virginia

Nov 03, 2017
 
Rated: 4.03 by seanchai from Virginia

Oct 22, 2017
 
Rated: 4.14 by Big_V from Maryland

Apr 30, 2017
 
Rated: 4.5 by Mpontiakos from Virginia

Mar 20, 2016
 
Rated: 3.55 by dexterk1 from Illinois

Jan 10, 2016
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Reviewed by ThaneMcC from Germany

4.45/5  rDev +6.2%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.25
This is a very pleasant pizza/ brew pub on King street. An easy walk from the King Street Metro station.
Staff are friendly and attentive - the food (pizza etc) are really good and the prices are reasonable.

Solid selection of draft and bottled beers - easily the best craft and imported beer place in Old Towne Alexandria.
Consistently good - prices are reasonable - though as previous reviewer noted - happy hour prices only apply to those at the bar - those dining at the tables will pay full fare.
Dec 30, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by brandoman63 from Illinois

Dec 15, 2015
 
Rated: 3.72 by Craft_Imperial from Pennsylvania

Nov 08, 2015
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Reviewed by BLebowski from District of Columbia

4/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Could be the best craft beer place on King Street in Old Town. My only warning - Happy Hour applies only If you are sitting/standing in the bar area. Eat and order in the dining area, and it's full price.
Oct 04, 2015
 
Rated: 4.28 by Parigee from Virginia

Sep 23, 2015
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Reviewed by VABA from Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.25
A great pizza joint wit very good pizza and a great selection of beer on tap. Close to all the major tourist spots so it is easy lay accessible and easy to get to.
Sep 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4.09 by djhowell from Wisconsin

Apr 30, 2015
 
Rated: 4.75 by Afroman from Arizona

Sep 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by bellbw from Virginia

Aug 13, 2014
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Reviewed by wisrarebeer from Wisconsin

3.76/5  rDev -10.3%
vibe: 3.25 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4 | selection: 3.75
I've been to Pizzeria Paradiso a number of times and always find something interesting on tap. In July 2014 the restaurant had July PA Festival with nearly all IPAs on tap out of 13 taps. Waitstaff are knowledgeable but seem a bit rushed during busier times. Nothing much to speak of for atmosphere and it can be quite load during evenings. Free small plate of olives for munching is different.
Jul 19, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by Scarney321 from Virginia

Jul 16, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by Uf0T0fU from District of Columbia

Jun 28, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by SteveBrew from Virginia

Jun 17, 2014
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Reviewed by Drinkstout from Virginia

4.7/5  rDev +12.2%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.5
I live in Alexandria and this is my go-to bar. What I like about Pizza Paradiso is their ever revolving tap selection. Other beer bars have standard year-round selections and rotate some of their taps. Paradiso rotates all of their taps so that each time I go, there is a completely different tap menu. They sometimes do themes depending on season or have tap takeovers.

Also very kid friendly if you want table service, and there is an expanded bar area where they have good happy hour specials.

I personally prefer this to other the Alexandria beer bar, Rustico, mainly because the food is better and also it is easier to get a seat and more conveniently located in the heart of Old Town (so I can walk/stumble home).
Jun 02, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by Saudereth from Virginia

May 26, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by DavidHume from Virginia

May 18, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by MattNelson from District of Columbia

Nov 11, 2013
 
Rated: 4.25 by billab914 from Virginia

Oct 24, 2013
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Reviewed by 1sophrosyne1 from Minnesota

3.63/5  rDev -13.4%
vibe: 3.25 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 3.75
This Old Town location is a nice lower-key, lower-volume alternative to the Dupont Circle experience. The attention to a quality beer experience is consistent across this local chain, with variety and solid presentation here in Alexandria. Servers are not enthusiastic, but still useful and knowledgable. The food, being of a single type, limits pairing experiences, but it is tasty. And considering the location and surrounding culture, it's not a bad overall value. I'd certainly return.
Aug 08, 2013
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Reviewed by russpowell from Arkansas

4.24/5  rDev +1.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.75
A lucky find a few weeks back while here on vacation/family obligations. I was relying on mass transit, so this was convenient to get to...

Upscale pizza/watered down sports bar vibe, but family friendly & a great mixture of other folks in there

All beers were in great shape with the exception of the oliver cask ales on offer, none of them really wowed me. Was there 4 nights in a 6 day period, saw several beers rotate in & out

Service was friendly, prompt & knowledgeable about their beers on offer

Roughly 16 taps, plus a cask offering. Very nice bottled selection, was tempted to spring for the $30 bottle of Founders Doom, but I was doing alright as it was. Nice mix of local to imports

Food was good; pizzas & a few other Italian dishes were tasty

This place was a little pricey compared to some other places in old town, but not too harsh

If ever back through I would surely come here again
Jul 08, 2013
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Reviewed by Jester from North Carolina

4.15/5  rDev -1%
vibe: 3.25 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.75
I've gone there with friends for (pretty good) pizza before, but what I really enjoy is their selection of beers and their knowledgeable beer tender. They give tasters (of their drafts) and they are the only place outside the Pacific-Northwest I've seen someone serving beers from the Full Sail Brewery!!
Jun 08, 2013
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Reviewed by Chaney from District of Columbia

4.18/5  rDev -0.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
Atmosphere: Primo location in Alexandria, VA, almost right on the water. Right up the road from the very touristy, "Torpedo Factory," and two or three restaurant spaces up the hill on King Street. On the inside, head left (you can't miss it!) for a chalk board fill with the day's goodys. Head right, or wait to be seat.

Quality and Service: Pretty awesome at this place, where the service is always great and geared to me your needs on the beer end, and the quality of the beer and food has pretty much been covered, reviewed, and praised by every beer geek that comes to the area.

Selection: Really nice, however, I will say this about this particular location: They only get stuff distributed to the Virginia side of the Beltway. Since I live in VA, I personally don't get as many cool entries compared to the other two. Still, there are plenty most distro entries that the other two locations don't get (eg. Terrapin, Aleswerks, etc.).

Food. The pizzas here are great, gourmet in nature, and my wife loves them. That's good enough for me.

Value: Always expensive in the DC metro area, but still right on par with the rest of the establishments. Sigh...

If you're in Old Town and love beer, this is your Valhalla...
Feb 23, 2013
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Reviewed by Sludgeman from District of Columbia

4.61/5  rDev +10%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.75
Visited with the family on Jan 13 for lunch.

A - Its a pizza place with great beer. Kid friendly. Not too noisy. Certain areas can be a little cramped. Three bathrooms! Not the biggest place around. I could see where there would be times when you can't get a seat to eat. Bar itself was short, but the area around it was large and spacious with additional stools.

Q - Some nice beers available with the beers I had tasting fresh. Used proper glassware. Stout probably served too cold, but nothing a little patience won't fix.

S - Great service. Waitress was nice and attentive. Good with the kids. Patient with the dad who could not make up his mind.

S - Huge bottle menu, about 50, with a wide variety. About 15 beers on tap, a good variety but could be better (e.g. nothing special or unusual especially with regard to Belgium). Had a North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout (bottle) and a Brouwerij Hof Ten Dormaal Blonde (tap).

F - The 4 cheese white pizza, to which we added sausage and more cheese (goat) was out of this world. Crust was good, but I've had better - a little doughy. Kids cheese pizza was good as well.

V - Two kids and three adults drinking beer and wine (2 each) with pizza for $106. Many of the bottles are way over priced, so try to avoid those unless its absolutely necessary.

I will go back.
Jan 14, 2013
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Reviewed by TheFunGuy from Virginia

4.28/5  rDev +2.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
Really good pizza type products. Great service, if you waitress does not know she will find out quickly and correctly, fast service.

Beer selection is advertised at 150 craft beers, actual list looked to be less. Nice cross section of beers on tap, with the bottles costing more.

Good location, in the last two blocks of King Street. If not for Red Rocks 6 blocks away on the same street this would be my go to pizza place. As it is, PP has a better beer selection and is just slightly behind on pizza quality. This is because RR is so darn good, not a fault at PP.

The room is open with high brick walls and few dividers or art, so it gets loud with just adults. Add in three small children scattered around and it gets very noisy.
Jan 28, 2012
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Reviewed by Godot from Virginia

4.1/5  rDev -2.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
My wife and I go here regularly for happy hour (5-7) which they have now extended Monday through Thursday (it was only Tues. and Wed.). The happy hour special includes half off drafts and there are deals on food as well. However, you have to sit (or stand) in the bar area, which is problematically small. The establishment itself has a nice design and it is clean and stylish, but the bar area can be frustrating and packed.

Their draft selection is always good and constantly rotating. There has never been an occasion when I have gone and not found at least 3 or 4 beers I was excited about (not always rare beers, though you will often find them as well, just great quality brews you don't always see on tap). ~15 taps plus a cask. Beers are always served in proper glass and as close to proper temp as you can hope for. Great bottle selection though I have never bought a bottle. Bottle prices seemed a little high if memory serves.

Bar tenders are a mixed bag. There is one guy there who is very knowledgeable about beer, quick and attentive. However, I have been there a number of times when he was not and the service can lackluster. Generally they are well meaning, but I had one bartender tell my wife and I that he just didn't like beer (which is a problem when you are asking for suggestions.

Their food is good but not mind-blowing by any stretch (though much better than Rustico IMHO, which is about a mile up the street).

Definitely recommend checking it out if you are in the area.
Nov 18, 2011
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Reviewed by Eriktheipaman from California

4.15/5  rDev -1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I've been looking forward to this place since before I moved out here so I'm glad I finally got to check it out! At first it was packed (about 1 on a fri.) but it died down fairly quick after that. This place is LOUD, so forewarning on that.

The beer list is solid for sure and they have a huge bottle list as well, and don't forget the cask! The prices are reasonable for the area. I was used to paying no more than $5.50 for a beer but here it goes up to $7.50. I think mine was about $6 for a 16 oz serving.

The pizza was surprisingly good. Lighter than some but still with lots of flavor, which for lunch I was looking for.

I will go back for sure.
Sep 16, 2011
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Reviewed by Wegomlegging from Virginia

3.94/5  rDev -6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Clean, well-run little tourist nook in Old Town, a nice place. The quality of the establishment was good, and the beers on tap were of a higher class, nice. The bar location is almost an afterthought, so the designer gets a thumbs-down....just push your way past the tourist tables. The bartender was a total rookie, but a good dude who kept our glasses full, kudos to that. As pizza places go, the beer selection is top tier. Plenty of bottles in the fridge, and a respectable amount of quality quaff on the chalkboard. About 15 Belgians overall, and 3 or 4 hot ticket U.S. brews. I had no interest in the food, but I hear it's great.
May 10, 2011
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Reviewed by jayhawk73 from Maryland

3.75/5  rDev -10.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Stopped into Pizzeria Paradiso for lunch the other day. The restaurant is nice and open feeling w/ a giant window in front that really lets the light in. Very good atmosphere when I was there. It definitely wasn't packed, but there were quite a few people in there for lunch.

The beer list was good- lots of bottles, but the draft list was a little weak. They were also out of a couple beers I inquired about. Very nice list of bottles though.

The service was a mixed bag. My waiter was good service-wise, but had zero knowledge about a couple drafts I inquired about. He even stated later "Yeah, I'm just really not into beer". I almost laughed, but restrained myself. My first thought was- What are you working in a place like this for? Oh well- he was good other than that.

My food was excellent- the pizza and dessert I had were very good. Everything seemed somewhat reasonably priced considering its location. If you're in the area, this is a good place to go... Keep in mind though, that Rustico is 5 minutes away, and I believe their beer selection is better- especially drafts.
Apr 12, 2011
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Reviewed by PhillyStyle from Georgia

4.25/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Visited 3/2011:

The previous reviewers pretty well covered the layout of the place, as well as other aspects of the establishment.

As for my experience, I was there with a friend for dinner on a Tuesday night and sat at the bar. At the time that we arrived, the place was not that crowded. Upon sitting we were immediately greeted with beer and food menus, which is always a plus. As with both the Georgetown location as well as the DuPont Circle location, the bartender was very knowledgeable about the beers and offered some samples until my buddy found what he was looking for. I on the other hand went straight for the beer on cask. The quality of the beers seemed consistent with the other locations. I don't think that I spotted any on the menu that I wouldn't try from the extensive tap and bottle list. As noted above, the services, both food and beer was very good. I only had a pizza and it was dead on with others that I have had at the other locations. The prices were reasonable, but I also got there for the happy hour, which cut the price of my beers in half.

I think that the vibe of the place suffered a little due to it being a Tuesday night, but overall, I enjoyed the fact that the place was a little more subdued, as the other locations are typically hard to get into after 7pm.

Overall, the place appears to be pretty much be a carbon copy of the Georgetown and DuPont locations and I wish that there was a location closer to my house, as I would be there more often. I highly recommend this place if you are in the area.
Mar 08, 2011
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Reviewed by dedrinker from Kansas

4/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
I was on a very long walk when this place appeared before me. Being a fan of the Georgetown location I stepped inside. Friendly young staff, well lit, clean, lots of light colored wood, airy, and pleasant.

I sat at the bar and ordered some beers from the friendly bartender. Good selection of domestic crafts and imports. Lots of bottles. The bar is about the right size for a place that is first and foremost a restaurant.

Little cozy gas fireplace in the bar area, hidden from view of the rest of the place.

Pizzas are really good - they are kind of a gourmet style rather than anything someone from New York, Chicago, or Naples would recognize, so fans of those styles would be advised not to compare them to their hometown favorites.

Coming after the lunch crowd, but before the dinner crowd, I found the quiet and solitude I needed without sacrificing the service of a good bartender who was in and out, but always had his eye on me when my glass was almost empty. That's the way to be.
Jan 01, 2011
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Reviewed by Huhzubendah from District of Columbia

3.53/5  rDev -15.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3 | food: 2
I stopped in for lunch and a beer yesterday.

Located right in Old Town, Pizzeria Paradiso is an open and inviting space. The front of the restaurant has huge windows, creating a picturesque wintry scene upon which to gaze while enjoying a brew on a cold day.

When I mentioned that I was thinking about a stout, the server came back in less than a few minutes with two gratis samples of stouts from the draft list, which was very thoughtful.

The draft selection was decent enough. I was disappointed that their cask ale had run out. When I asked what the next cask would be, I was informed that there was no one currently working who could change the cask. I find this completely unacceptable. If you are employed as a bartender at an establishment that focuses on beer and always has a cask, you need to have the basic skills to change it out. Seriously...

My pizza was mediocre at best. Some of the other selections on the menu, like the antipasto, are much better than the pizza selections. The basil on my margherita pizza was scorched, which was a bummer. The crust just was not up to par, either.

The prices are OK, I suppose, though not great, but there wasn't really anything available on draft that I could get really excited about.

Regarding beer, the Old Town location is nowhere near as good as the Georgetown Pizzeria Paradiso.
Dec 24, 2010
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Reviewed by dtivp from Pennsylvania

4.45/5  rDev +6.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
Stopped in on a Saturday night during a recent visit. We got in before it got too crowded, there was a 45 minute wait to be seated when we left.
The atmosphere was a standard pizza/ beer bar decor. As with most places in Old Town Alexandria the eating area was small with tables very close and the bar area was very small.
The beer selection was very good, a nice variety of 14 beers on tap and 1 on cask. Very good bottle selection located in a very large cooler behind the bar. Beer prices are a little pricy which follows the Old Town price range.
The bartender was very friendly, has great beer knowledge and has a very strong passion for beer. He offered great suggestions and helped the beer rookies with their selections. Our waitress was very friendly, checked with us frequently and had good beer knowledge. She was able to describe items on the menu well and delivered beer, food very quickly.
The food selection provided a very nice variety of pizza, salads, appetizers and fresh baked bread. We selected the Atomica pizza which was excellent and splurged on a very nice desert "Salame di Cioccolato".
Overall our experience was great, the prices are reasonable for the Old Town area. I highly recommend the Pizzeria Paradiso if your looking for good beer and a great pizza.
Nov 22, 2010
Pizzeria Paradiso in Alexandria, VA
Place rating: 4.19 out of 5 with 39 ratings