A sprawling new seafood buffet has taken over the King Street storefront that sat dark for nearly two years after TGI Fridays closed its doors. Umi Seafood Buffet opened on September 12 at 4650 King Street, just east of Baileys Crossroads, bringing hot pot, sushi, ramen and towering displays of snow crab legs, oysters and shrimp to a corner of Alexandria's West End that had been waiting for a new tenant since October 2024.
The location, at the corner of King Street and Beauregard Street, previously housed TGI Fridays, which closed in October 2024 as part of a broader national retreat, according to Annandale Today. That closure came ahead of parent company TGI Fridays Inc.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in November 2024, a process that culminated in a bankruptcy court approving a liquidation plan in July, according to Foley & Lardner LLP.
A Costly Transformation of a Long-Vacant Storefront
Turning the empty restaurant into Umi's multi-station concept wasn't cheap or quick. City of Alexandria permit records show a $150,000 new-tenant upfit permit for the address was filed in July 2025 and issued that November, followed by additional electrical and fire-suppression permits processed into 2026, per the same permit filings. The renovation equipped the space with built-in tabletop burners for individual hot pot service, a made-to-order ramen counter, a sushi bar, and an iced seafood display stocked with snow crab legs, oysters, crawfish and razor clams.
Umi has since grown to more than 30 locations nationally, with Alexandria and Henrico, outside Richmond, as its Virginia restaurants, plus a Maryland outpost in Rockville.
Buffet Pricing, Hours and House Rules
Weekday lunch runs $25.99 and is served Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Dinner and weekend pricing jumps to $39.99, covering Monday-through-Thursday dinner service from 3:30 to 10 p.m., Friday dinner from 3:30 to 10:30 p.m., and the all-day Saturday buffet from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Seniors and military members receive a 10 percent discount off those prices.
Diners should plan around the venue's structure: Umi enforces a strict two-hour dine-in limit, automatically tacks on a 15 percent gratuity for parties of six or more, and folds self-serve specialty drinks like bubble tea, Thai tea and fruit tea into the base buffet price, the report notes. The restaurant claims its seafood is flown in fresh daily, and it says its rotating menu includes more than 200 items across the day, according to Umi. The restaurant also operates on a walk-in-only basis, with no online reservations or advance waitlist, which drove heavy crowds during opening week alongside unannounced specials like lobster and king crab.
Part of a Bigger Buffet Boom
Umi's arrival lands amid a documented surge in appetite for fixed-price dining. Consumer searches for local all-you-can-eat buffets jumped 252 percent between September 2024 and August 2025, according to Yelp's 2026 Trends Forecast cited by Tasting Table, a trend the outlet linked to diners seeking value and variety amid broader restaurant menu inflation. Umi charges $39.99 for dinner.
The King Street location sits near Baileys Crossroads, where Hoodline previously reported on a nearby Route 7 revival. Whether Umi's high-cost raw seafood offerings and two-hour dining limits can sustain that $39.99 price point long term remains to be seen as the restaurant settles into its new King Street home.
