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Del Ray Pizzeria, a fixture on Mount Vernon Avenue since 2010, is officially operating under a new name and an expanded menu.
Visitors to delraypizzeria.com this week were greeted with a transition notice announcing that the restaurant has been "re-established" as Del Ray Public House. The owners describe the change as a new frontier — one that moves the grill to center stage while keeping, in their words, "the legendary pizzas that put us on the map."
The pizzas are still very much on the map.
The new menu still lists more than a dozen specialty pies under the heading "DRP Specialties," available in hand-tossed 10- and 14-inch sizes, pan-handled thick crust and gluten-free options. Longtime favorites appear to have carried over, with names like the Bulldog, the Al Capone and the Barack My World sitting alongside newer additions like the Sweet Thang — a combination of olive oil, goat cheese, ricotta, bacon, glazed pecans, blackberries and hot honey. The restaurant announced recently on Facebook that it is also bringing back a Tuesday pizza deal for a limited time, alongside a new weekly Tuesday Country Fried Steak Dinner.
That Tuesday steak special speaks to the broader ambition here. The owners say the new menu and atmosphere draw from two distinct sources: the high-desert landscapes of the American Southwest and the tradition of the classic public house. The result is a menu that ranges from Chaco Canyon Chilaques — tortilla chips simmered in New Mexican chile sauce, topped with refried beans, eggs, cheddar, onions, sour cream and cilantro — to a steak and eggs plate built around a 5-oz. sliced Sedona sirloin, available at weekend brunch. Starters include Green Chile Fritas con Queso, Stuffed Avocado and Firecracker Fried Brussels. Burgers on the lunch menu carry names like the Roswell Burger, topped with Hatch green chile, and the Original Las Vegas, smothered in a green chile tomatillo avocado sauce.
The steak program, described on the website as featuring hand-selected, hand-cut beef carved on site, is positioned as the centerpiece of the rebrand.
Beyond the menu, the owners are pitching DRP as a gathering place in the broadest sense — hosting themed trivia nights and family pizza nights alongside sit-down dinner service, with an eye toward the kind of programming that keeps regulars coming back through the week.
The building itself has been doing exactly that, in one form or another, for well over a century. According to historical research compiled by the Town of Potomac Historical Association and featured on the restaurant's website, the structure at 2218 Mt. Vernon Ave. dates to 1908, when it was built as both the residence and medical office of Dr. Robert Yates, the town's first physician. Dr. Yates later served as mayor before his death in 1925. Over the following century, the address housed a real estate firm, professional suites, a hot tub showroom, a consignment shop and art studios before Del Ray Pizzeria moved in.
The owners say they are conscious of that lineage. Their website frames the rebrand not as a departure but as the next chapter of a story that has been unfolding on that corner since the neighborhood itself was born.
A note for anyone who searched first
Google tells a different story. Type "Del Ray Pizzeria" into a search bar this morning and the result is unambiguous: permanently closed. For a neighbor who hadn't caught the news, it would read as an ending. It isn't. The doors at 2218 Mt. Vernon Ave. are open, the kitchen is running and the pizzas are still coming out of the oven. The new Facebook page is facebook.com/delraypub. The new website is delraypublichouse.com. The internet will catch up eventually.
Del Ray Public House is located at 2218 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. The restaurant is open Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Tuesday from 4 to 9 p.m.; Friday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Weekend brunch runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Happy hour is Monday through Friday, 4 to 6 p.m., with $2 off draft beers, wine and select food. Capital Bike Share is located across the street. Phone: (703) 541-9412.
