Smoked tater tots with cob-smoked bacon and chipotle salt now sit alongside the retained Greek omelet at The Royal Restaurant in Old Town Alexandria. The diner at 730 N. St. Asaph St. has operated for almost 120 years, and its latest chapter pairs a modernized menu with a building and neighborhood shaped by generations of local history.
That history stretches back to a founding by the Pikrallidas family in 1904, when the business opened as a café at 109 N. Royal St. next to Alexandria City Hall, according to The Zebra. The original location did not survive the city's mid-century redevelopment push: the North Royal Street building was torn down in 1964, and the owners moved the restaurant to its current St. Asaph Street address in 1965, as reported by The Zebra Press, which noted the move was managed by Richard Pikrallidas and his nephew, Charlie Euripides.
Euripides became a partner in the restaurant and later joined it full-time, eventually shaping its identity for decades before he was named an Alexandria Living Legend, according to the seed reporting. His path there was anything but ordinary: he immigrated to the U.S. from Cyprus in 1951, worked as a dishwasher at the Royal Café while attending citizenship classes in Del Ray, and served as a translator in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War before taking over full-time restaurant operations after returning from Navy service, according to ALXnow.
A Landmark Changes Hands
Under Euripides' watch and beyond, the restaurant built the kind of reputation that gets you a formal legislative shoutout. The Virginia House of Delegates' House Resolution No. 749 recognized The Royal as a dining destination for figures including former President Gerald Ford, actress Elizabeth Taylor, and entertainers Bob Hope and Sammy Davis Jr., while noting its popularity among local police officers, judges, and politicians.
The redevelopment context
The Royal's 1964 move took place amid broader changes to Old Town's commercial landscape. According to the City of Alexandria, the Gadsby Commercial Urban Renewal Project changed and demolished portions of multiple Old Town blocks, including part of a racially mixed neighborhood. The project illustrates the redevelopment pressures surrounding the restaurant's relocation from North Royal Street.
Alexandria has also developed tools intended to support businesses and historic properties, though none guarantees that a restaurant will remain open. City records show that eligible businesses could receive up to $7,000 through the 2024 Small Business Resiliency Grant Program. Separately, the city's Historical Restoration and Preservation Commission administers easements intended to protect the fabric of historic structures, according to the City of Alexandria.
The family sold the landmark business in October 2023 to Alexandria Restaurant Partners and Matt Sloan of Sloan Hospitality. Family trustee Demetry Pikrallidas, who had overseen operations after Euripides passed away in April 2022 at age 89, said selling was a difficult decision but that ARP was uniquely qualified to preserve the 120-year-old restaurant's community legacy, per ALXnow's reporting.
The deal fit a pattern for ARP, which has built a habit of buying real estate to anchor its Old Town concepts long-term. The company also counts Mia's Italian Kitchen at 100 King Street among its Old Town restaurants, ALXnow reported. ARP's Old Town footprint also includes Ada's on the River, Barca Pier & Wine Bar, Vola's Dockside Grill, Joe Theismann's Restaurant, and The Majestic, according to Patch.
Renovation and Reopening
The Royal closed for renovations following the sale and underwent a three-month redesign led by D.C.-based interior architect David Anthony Chenault. The work added a walnut-colored bar with a stainless steel top, handmade Soho tiles, reupholstered blue tweed and leather booths, and a 56-seat outdoor patio with a retractable awning, per the same ALXnow account. Sloan Hospitality founder Matt Sloan, who co-purchased the restaurant, previously served as general manager at ARP's Ada's on the River before opening Matt & Tony's All Day Kitchen and Bar on Mount Vernon Avenue in a building leased from ARP; Chenault led The Royal's redesign.
The Royal reopened in April 2024 with a revitalized space and menu. New hours brought dinner service seven days a week for the first time — a shift from the restaurant's traditional breakfast-and-lunch model, running 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Old Favorites Meet a New Menu
Brandon Whitestone, ARP's senior culinary director and chef, approached the menu as a balance between continuity and change. The revised dinner offerings include globally influenced dishes such as lobster spaghetti diavola with Maine lobster, chitarra spaghetti, Calabrian peppers, tomatoes, basil, and lemon, as well as tuna poke tacos with ginger-marinated tuna, pickled Fresno peppers, sriracha aioli, avocado puree, tobiko, macadamia nuts, and crispy wonton shells.
The expanded menu also includes roasted corn deviled eggs, crispy fried cauliflower with curried chickpea puree, and a smoke beer-braised beef short rib with roasted corn-chipotle grits. A lamb-and-beef burger, the Royal Club sandwich, and an updated Royal smash burger extend the restaurant's offerings beyond its earlier breakfast-and-lunch identity.
Dessert changes include house-made Twix bars, a lemon chess tart, blueberry pie, and a caramelized banana split, giving the reopened restaurant a broader menu through the final course.
The kitchen nevertheless kept several of the dishes associated with The Royal's long-running identity. The reopened restaurant retained menu staples including the original Royal Breakfast, Belgian waffles with whipped butter and maple syrup, and a traditional Greek omelet with home fries, while adding more brunch choices. The result is an operating model that asks the restaurant to serve both longtime diner regulars and a newer dinner crowd.
