rt's restaurant

great food and service.  had the fried oyster appetizer and red fish dinner special, both superb.  it's an old, neighborhood place, so not upscale ambiance.  went there on a week night, so it was not busy.  very friendly staff and fellow patrons, who all made a point of telling my wife and i how they had been coming there for years, and how consistentlygoodit was.  they all made a point of asking us to come back.  i highly recommend it.

gone downhill. grade: c-

we have visited rt's many times over the years, and we used to love some of the dishes. today, though, we either hit them on a bad day or they’ve gone downhill. i doubt the former, as we were the second table to be seated after opening. in any case, especially since returning from new orleans a week ago, we were very disappointed.

first thegoodnews. their crawfish & shrimp beignets are wonderful. wrapped in angel hair pasta and deep fried, they are addictive with the garlic mayonnaise. a half-dozen unspecified oysters on the half shell were decent as well.

now the bad news. the trout orleans was unsavory. atop the fish was a combination of shrimp and lump crab that was seasoned with something that browned the combination and made it bitter. thought i saw part of a mushroom in there but i’m not certain. blanketing the whole was an alleged hollandaise sauce, which was too thick and heavy and didn’t taste like hollandaise. this sauce suffocated the shellfish topping and i tried to remove as much as i could with only limited success. in any case, i could not taste the trout at all and could not finish the dish.

equally clumsy in preparation was the cajun veal oscar. a tough piece of veal was covered with what appeared to be the same shellfish topping as the trout. the béarnaise sauce drowning it looked the same as the hollandaise, but at least there was some difference in taste. also like the trout, it was too heavy and impossible to finish.

the side dishes weren’t that great either. a soup of thinned cream made the pale white corn mix taste like a bad canned dish. cajun onion straws were in fact a plate of floured, deep-fried onion slivers and rings that did nothing memorable.

after tax & tip, this was a c note down the drain. and the unpleasantness lingered.

i actually wanted to e-mail this to the proprietors but could not, after 15 minutes of searching, find any address whatsoever, and the contact section on rt’s website listed driving directions, a phone number, and a fax number. guess they can read it here instead. sadly, i don't know if we'll be back...just maybe for the beignets.

don't judge a book by its cover--goodfood is served here. you can park in the autozone lot across the street. once inside fresh seafood and a skilled hand in the kitchen combine for a great meal. took our kids and the chicken nuggets were real chicken.

food wasgoodbut a bit over priced. $4 for a pbr seems a bit expensive. oysters and crab soup were great, but the "death" by gumbo had some under cooked rice and wasn't the biggest portion. love the fact it looks like a dive bar. might go hear again if it was cheaper

great food with a local feel. this was my first time at rt's and i really enjoyed my experience. i would not have stopped there given my first look at the exterior, but it's really one of those hidden gems. my group tried the she crab and alligator soups - both very very flavorful. the crab soup was so thick and creamy the spoon wouldn't sink, and it had plenty of crab. we then had the special (sturgeon) as an entrée which was verygoodas well - more of a delicate twist that some other dishes. the spicy pecan encrusted haddock was a bit more "spiced" and equally flavorful. the desserts are actually a prettygoodsize - key lime pie and bread pudding were both wonderful.

as for the drinks - the two to try are the abita turbo dog (flavorful, dark, stout, bit of a bitter aftertaste) and the rt special (amber red ale - lighter weight,goodflavor and body). specialty coffee is also top notch though there is no set menu for these - you just have to know your drinks and request through the bar.

while the service seems to have had some mixed reviews in the past, i would say that it was perfect. attentive servers that are quick to remove items, refill drinks but that don't hover too much like in really expensive restaurants. rt's does seem to have two "sides:" one seems more formal with darker lighting and tableclothes while the second appears more casual though presentable all the same. i can only speak for the "nice side" service.

price is a high moderate. however, given the quality, the fact it is fish, and the area (it is alexandria after all) i think it is well within reason.

all told, i will definitely go back and recommend it.

decided to take my wife out for our first dinner on the town since relocating from tx. disappointed is an understatement. with no reservations we sat at the bar waiting for a table and the lady bar tender summarily ignored us for the entire 15 mins we sat there. not even a glance of acknowledgement ! the manager eventually sat us and even made our drinks on the house. i guess the bar tender doesn't serve african americans was our assumption because the food wasgoodbut we left with a bad taste in our mouths. racist employees should have no place in public establishments

jambalaya was incredible, great spicy sauce, served with penne instead of rice was agoodchange up from traditional. jack daniel's appetizer had a yummy sauce too. t-bone was on special and very tender throughout. friendly staff, cozy quaint place. glad i picked this instead of just a seafood place.

best soup on the planet. it's a carbon copy of the warehouse in old town just in a less posh environment. if you get the she-crab soup and don't like it, i'm afraid that there is no help for you.

it's a $50 dinner but if it was 6 blocks south it would be packed every single night. del ray has 4 real options for excellent "fine dining", along with del merei, la strada and evening star this is your othergoodoption depending on what you like. i usually get the rather boring filet chesapeake (not boring to eat,-it's delicious i just order it every time). if it wasn't too weird i'd probably just order 14 bowls of their she-crab soup.