chart house

excellent food, great view, a bit too pricey. grade: b

we had wanted to do something in old town alexandria and, after looking through the extensive list of restaurants, realized we'd never been to the chart house.

this chain restaurant manages to provide a seemingly endless number of tables that have a view of the potomac, giving a great deal of charm to the site. looking around, you saw many couples and families coming to celebrate some special occasion. without reservations on a saturday night you might not be able to get a table - we heard people coming in at 6 that there was no open seating until 9:30.

classic seafood dishes mix with house specialties, making an appealing menu. we chose the oysters rockefeller, hot and tasty with fresh spinach. the three soups - clam choweder, crab soup, and gazpacho - are available together in sample size as the "best of soup." all three are excellent, the clam chowder with smaller potatoes and clam pieces, the crab soup with plenty of crab meat and the right amount of sherry, and the gazpacho finished with a dab of sour cream.

the maine seared scallops were beautifully cooked but not particularly large and were served with a huge amount of buttered green beans and a ginger saffron risotto. very good - just not for the price ($27.99).

my entree, the salmon rockefeller, was stuffed with jumbo lump crab pieces, spinach, and bacon and topped with sauce bearnaise and accompanied by a pyramid of rice. as a kind of antithesis to my wife's dish, i suppose, mine was served with two pieces of asparagus. the flavors all worked wonderfully and made for a great dish. again, though, a bit expensive at $29.99.

the only dish that didn't come together well was the yukon gold mashed potatoes. stodgy and unseasoned, they seemed an afterthought to the kitchen. fortunately, our waiter adjusted the bill accordingly.

note: a list of side dishes is listed on the menu (such as the mashed potatoes listed above). most entrees, though, come with some form of sides, so it is best to ask your server about your meal's sides before ordering one a la carte.

overall, we absolutely loved the food and the view of the water made for a very pleasant evening. the only thing we didn't like was the price.

my husband, sister in law, brother in law and i had dinner at the chart house last night. one word that comes to mind expensive! my husband and my bill was $150.00 for a very small portion of ahi tuna and mahi. just not worth it just for the atmosphere.

disappointing. my wife and i went there for our anniversary. it is supposed to be an upscale restaurant. we ordered margaritas to start. not cheapies, but the $12 each kind. mine was nothing but mix. i told the waiter and he pretty much said," you want me to do something about it?" he did get it replaced (slowly.) i ordered a new york strip ($32.99) and baked potato. my potato was colder than room temperature. i had to have it replaced. my steak was overdone, but i ate it anyways because you can only complain so much without looking like a crank. my wife ordered the oscar medallions. you couldn't feed a midget with what they served her. 3 tiny slices of beef, each about the size of a half dollar, with a tablespoon of sauce that had one scrap of crab in it. $36.99. her garlic mashed potatoes were cold, too. we weren't at some chain restaurant serving $10 steaks, everything should have been perfect the first time. then - get this- they tried to sell us a restaurant membership for $25. you join, then get $25 off your next meal. wow. it was like a cheap timeshare sales pitch. unbelievable! upscale, my patootie! we won't be back.

fine dining favorite. this place is a favorite for fine dining, great food, excellent service. the salad bar is quite impressive as well. this visit, my guest had a shrimp pasta dish declared outstanding! my steak was very good also. i would like to mention that our server was very attentive. we will be back again soon!

disappointed. made a reservation for 7:30. we were not seated till 7:55. took another 10 minutes to get water. 15 minutes till our waitress arrive to take our drink order. service was very, very slow and lag time between courses. waitress was constantly up selling us and pushing certain menu items. the food was okay nothing really fabulous. my soup was hot. my crab cake tepid. my specialty martini was wilting and not really cold when served. other choices in daytona at these prices$$$$$

my husband and i ate at this restaurant late on a saturday night and loved it. the atmosphere is romantic with a nice view of the marina. the food was delicious and the service was great too! we both had mid priced entrees with a nice glass of wine and dessert totaling a little bit over $100.00. this is a great place to celebrate a special occasion.

the quality has really gone down since our last visit. we were (and i stress were)chart house club members and have eaten at there other establishments in new orleans, jacksonville, and daytona...the price does not match quality. if i wanted that quality i would have just gone to a golden corral. i have only been once to a golden corral

we had reservations and showed up on time but still had to wait over 30 minutes. once seated we waited another 20 minutes before the waiter took our order. they forgot to bring our appetizers and brought the wrong entrees. poor management, service and bad experience.

disappointed. made a reservation for 7:30. we were not seated till 7:55. took another 10 minutes to get water. 15 minutes till our waitress arrive to take our drink order. service was very, very slow and lag time between courses. waitress was constantly up selling us and pushing certain menu items. the food was okay nothing really fabulous. my soup was hot. my crab cake tepid. my specialty martini was wilting and not really cold when served. other choices in daytona at these prices$$$$$


-----12 may, 2014-----

disappointed. had a reservation for 7:30 was not seated till 7:55. waited another ten minutes for server to take our drink order. order was slow to come out of the kitchen. huge lag time between course. will not be back

went two times food was not good my meal was dry and over cooked. waitress had the manager come over and he told me he would get me prime rib .if i wanted prim rib i would have ordered it . i was offered a free app for my next visit with 2 dinner purchases. the next time my order never came out my wife was finished eating when the waitress came around .no meal for me that night never again . go to hyde park instead,

great happy hour with $5 lettuce cups and $7 shrimp tacos. i love the location right on the waterfront. the food menu is around seafood, but they have other options too.

an oldie but a goodie, although i'm not giving it too high of a rating because of the paid parking.
went there for happy hour, the parking was empty but still had to pay 6$ for the parking. my friend is a regular here. the menu is good and diverse enough for the happy hour and the prices are very good. service is just ok.

i had the grilled chicken cesaer salad. portion was good size. chicken had a good grilled taste with not too much seasoning. dressing was good and not over powering. we sat on the patio overlooking the potomac.

gotta taste for seafood, dine here! had the pleasure of dining here for our thanksgiving dinner. i opted not to have the traditional dinner, but it was on the menu!! we decided on seafood and was not disappointed. enjoyed.

lastly, we shared a trio of soups aka ménage soup. the clam chowder was the best, while the cream of crab was subtle, and the cold gazpacho packed lots of bright tomatoes and peppers. i enjoyed the soup with the fresh bread rolls, and was full by the end.

overall, we had a lovely lunch of wine and appetizers at the chart house. i was happy we were able to enjoy the waterfront views without having a large meal or buffet. the service was just as accommodating and the ambience was pretty classy inside with amazing water views outside.