Clyde’s

This is one of my go-to’s in the Alexandria area. Everything is good and there is something on the menu for everyone. Whenever family is in town and you need a little something for everyone, this is the place. There is plenty of parking, which makes for a convenient night out. Whether I’m hitting this place up for happy hour or taking the family to dinner, Clyde’s seldom disappoints.

We took mom and my cousin to Clyde’s because i had a 20% off coupon if i paid with my AMEX card.
We ordered mussels, calamari, soup, and salad. They were delicious. The entrees were a different story. Mom and I both got the swordfish. My hubby and my cousin got the rainbow trout coated with almonds. The swordfish was bland, raw in some parts, and tough in other parts. The rainbow trout was better. It was crunchy from the almonds. However, the trout was still missing seasoning.
The service was excellent. Our wait staff paid attention to us and made sure we were okay.

All clyde are just amazing. When i go inside clyde i don’t even care about service, it’s just amazing stay inside. This one is a little gem, deserve to go even for get just a beer and with a book. Love it

First and foremost; the entire staff here is soooo pleasant & helpful. They all help each other which leads to great customer service. I was apart of a huge dinner party & everyone was adequately taken care of. The Clyde’s Chili was amazing. I’m not the one to have chili often since most times it’s a hit or miss. It was definitely a hit here. I had the Chicken #1 for my entrée, which was rather bland to me. For dessert I had the pumpkin cheesecake. I’m not fond of anything that has to do with pumpkins but decided to try something different that night & was not disappointed. Restaurant itself was quaint & quiet. Will definitely be back!

Excellent lump crab cakes! Great service. Nearly everyone complimented about their meals! Only one appetizer didn’t meet expectations.

Came here for a work lunch. We arrive to a CROWDED lobby and have to stand and wait as the wait staff tries to figure out who to sit…
The guy taking people to their seats was EXTREMELY RUDE! Totally obnoxious… As he «helped» an elderly woman to her seat it was like he was pulling her along as she tried to keep up. He returned to seat another group with the same attitude and manner: REASON FOR THE ONE STAR…
The food was just ok… the atmosphere was like a bait and tackle shop…
No need to return…

The restaurant has good service and the food is consistent bad you think it’s a little pricey for what you get we do love the crab cake

I went to Clyde’s for Christmas Eve dinner with my family.
Having been to other locations I was surprised that this location was getting high ratings. After visiting here, I can understand why. The ambiance of the restaurant is nice (and it feels much larger than the Clyde’s locations in Washington, DC) and has a nautical theme.
It is also great that is has a separate parking lot for its patrons.
Although our service started out a little scattered (with two separate people asking about our drink orders), it managed to even out as dinner progressed.
The menu is good for both meatarians and pescetarians. Everyone in my family had fish of some kind for dinner. I didn’t hear any complaints. I enjoyed my crab cake (and it was very consistent in taste to similar meals I had other Clyde’s). My only compliant (and admittedly its minor) is the crab cake felt smaller than what I had previously had at other Clyde’s locations.
My family had dinner at and/​or around 5:00 PM. Clyde’s got a lot more crowded when we left around 6:30 PM. I only mention this that if you’re going to Clyde’s on a holiday and don’t want to wait for a table (they don’t take reservations on Christmas Eve). I suggest getting their early. If you don’t mind waiting for a table, the restaurant appeared to do a good job of moving tables (so I wouldn’t expect the wait to be too long).
In a nutshell, this location of Clyde’s is a great representation of the restaurant group and I would consider it again to celebrate a special occasion (or for a larger party of people).

If there was ever a place that foreign tourists would go to capture a piece of Americana eating then Clyde’s is that place. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment but it is what it is, which is a restaurant that reminds you of the kind that were all over the country before the rise of the chains like Ruby Tuesdays or TGIF. It’s kinda like if TGIF had to go to its grandparents house for the holidays, most assuredly it would be knocking on Clyde’s door.
It’s a confusing place, the food is okay, a little over seasoned and over tortured but that’s about it … Not bad, not great, it just is, and maybe that’s better than trying to be something it isn’t.

I’ve been dining at Clydes restaurants for 10+ years and for years it’s been a place you can get good food at reasonable prices. Not any more. We made a mistake in dining there last week (hey we haven’t been to Clydes in a while, why don’t we go there…) and won’t be going back for a while. Why? Because of the quality of food and service for the price. I could’ve gone to my neighborhood Greek diner and paid ¹⁄₃ less for what we got.
First the waiter made a mistake on my order. I asked if I could get a cheeseburger with turkey meat instead of beef and he said yes. What arrived was a hot turkey sandwich, as in sliced turkey meat with cheese. We called the waitress (couldn’t figure out who the person who took our order was since she seemed to think it was her table, maybe he was helping her out?) and she said she would get it fixed. 20 minutes later (minimum) a barely cooked turkey burger arrived and it was not plain, but the Southwest Burger. All they had to say was «No, we do not have any plain turkey burgers, just Southwest style and I would have ordered something else). On top of it having flavors I wasn’t expecting, it was so mushy that I felt it was still raw. After waiting 20 additional minutes, I wasn’t going to order anything else.
I barely touched it and you would have thought the waitress would ask if anything was wrong. Wrong again…
Second, the bill was $ 45+ for a burger, a side salad and wings. Oh wait, we had a small bottle of sparkling water as well. Not a good experience and no longer a good deal.

One of my favorite restaurants in the area. High quality food and great customer service! Two thumbs up!

I thoroughly enjoyed my first time at Clyde’s. We were only able to order off of the late night menu because we went after 10 pm. I’m appreciative of the fact that this restaurant stays open late, and it’s real food.
Food: butternut squash soup with cranberry butter is a MUST HAVE! My roasted chicken meal was also very tasty. T came with mashed potatoes and spinach. Often times, restaurants focus on the entrée, and the sides can be tasteless. The mashed potatoes were delicious and the spinach was seasoned to perfection.
The sourdough bread they bring at the beginning is very good as well.
Ambiance: we were able to sit right by the fire which was A-​mazing.
Service: service was good, but slow. This could possibly be due to the late hour.
This place feels like the type of place where the food where be good no matter what you order, as opposed to the places that I go to order one specific item.
Go to Clyde’s. My plan is to be back within the week.

Happy with Happy Hour!
The staff at Clyde’s was great as always. Thanks Rob and Tim. We sat at the back bar and ate 12 dozen oysters, drinks, and a sandwich or two. Rob and Tim were quick to offer service but not pushy. Just the right touch. The oysters were all really fresh and delicious. I also recommend the HH Rueben sandwich. The guy next to me had the mussels. He said they are great but ask for extra bread.

They seem to be slipping. They used to be great. Not any more.
We ate there last night with friends. We had to wait a few minutes for our reservation, and we almost missed it because we couldn’t hear them call us over the noise I’m the lobby. They seemed I’m a hurry to assume we’d left.
Food was so-​so. Salad was swimming in oil. Spinach side dish tasted like frozen spinach thawed in the microwave. Ice cream was melted almost to liquid.
Service was sloppy. They plunked our entrees down while we were still eating our salads leaving the table crowded while we rushed through salad (trying to lose some of the oil). We had to ask two different people for more bread. Then they took my plate away before I was finished.
Too bad. They used to be fantastic.

Their happy hour is always good! When I’m hungry for oysters, I’ll come here:) Wings are good too. Great beer and wine collections:)

We like this place because it is close to our house — if it wasn’t I can’t say we would go out of our way to come here. The food isn’t something to write home about. If you are looking to host a big dining party — they have the space.
The happy hour is decent. They have some «ok» food items on it and ½ price raw bar. I enjoy the shrimp because they put a big scoop of raw horseradish on top of the cocktail sauce. They are HUGE too.
The service is sometimes hit or miss — we came here not too long ago on a Thursday night and sat at the bar in the back. The bartender was chatting with his friends when we came in. He saw us sit down and kept chatting. A few minutes pass and he comes over, slides a napkin in front of us and asks if we want menus. Well… yea that would be nice.
He goes back to chatting and we close our menus to indicate we are ready to order. He then starts to look something up on his phone that him and his friends were arguing over.
Instead of waiting we moved to the other bar and were promptly served by the very nice lady bartender.

I really don’t know why people generally bitch about this place. I have been to three locations and this one multiple times and have been greeted with nothing but polite waitstaff, great bar staff (i mean you ask for a martini and they ask you which gin and its of course stirred well!), decent drinks and pretty decent food.
The crazy wild pork wings are a thing of beauty. perfectly fried pork shanks that i an sure are braised beforehand and come out with crispy outsides and a pork meatiness well balanced by the slightly sweet spicy sauce, follow that with a sip of liquid barley and whst ails you just falls away! Pork chop boasts the crispy exterior and tender inside that is perfectly contrasted by the creamy mashers, crab cakes are pretty killer and pretty much all the fish dishes are well prepared. The wongs are actually quite iffy in quality of prep, but if the only thing you screw up is chicken… then all is forgiven!

Beautiful décor. Food was mediocre at best. I went for lunch and ordered the shrimp scampi. It was around $ 17 but you get a very, small portion. If you’re super hungry I wouldn’t order the shrimp scampi. Try the salmon salad! Someone I was with ordered that and said it tasted delicious!
So if you’re in the area I’d stop by but it’s nothing you need to go out of your way for.

I have been going to this place for many years… probably since 2000.
I remember when I first came here it was the «fancy place» … good oysters, food and service in the restaurant can be hit or miss.
I remember one time we went there and asked for an Espresso at the end of the meal, the waiter took my coffee cup and then cam back in 30 second with what I swear was my coffee in an espresso cup :) Classic!
But I still have to give this place 5 stars because of the bar…
I typically end up there about 10pm –1am. Great guys fast service and love the wings! Never have to ask for a refill and just good people to talk to.
Sometimes there are bands there that can be hit or miss and an interesting group of customers and staff
Do yourself a favor and go in to the main bar have a seat and relax…

All hail the Unilocal nation.
If it weren’t for you, I would have felt like Oliver Twist, in a strange city with no sustenance.
Thanks to you, I found this great place with wonderful food and winsome service, plus a nice little surprise.
After I checked into the hotel almost literally across the street, I was looking for a place to eat. The stars tell the story, bolstered by the verbal endorsements. The dining room has this maritime theme, is slightly on the dark side, and has capacity for about another 80% of patrons than were present on a rainy VA evening. I went back and forth on whether I wanted a full meal or a lighter one, fish or meat, beer or wine… it took quite a bit of work (all the better to work up an appetite, right?) I decided on a ‘lighter’ approach — a half dozen of that shelled aphro titillatingly titled «East Beach Blondes» at $ 17 to start. Served crisply on a bed of ice, these were the most delicious oysters I’ve downed this year yet. That little dish of vinaigrette mixed with red wine and chopped shallots made my usual companion of a squeeze of lemon obsolete.
What made Clydes’s even better was the ‘surprise’ I teased you with. On Wednesdays (and, yup, this was a Wednesday when I went), they have this selection of wines that are priced special. What’s even BETTER news (or so I thought): they have a Torrontes, one of my new favorite «undiscovered» varietal, at (get this) $ 14!
That’s a bottle, not a glass!
Alas — fate was determined to take me on this roller coaster ride. My elation gave way to pouting when the waiter returned, crest-​fallen, advising they’d sold their last Torrontes.
Good news is, I could choose a Bulgarian SB for a buck less.
Now I hadn’t wandered into Clydes looking to drain a whole bottle of wine by my meager self, but at that price, who can resist? My waiter assured me of the quality of this unknown quantity of a Bulgarian SB (he was absolutely right), and says I can take whatever I don’t finish with me. My lips are sealed as to whether I left empty handed or not, possibly staggering a touch.
For my salad entrée (I was going light, remember?), I took grilled chicken on a bed of chopped kale. The chicken was thoroughly tasty and flavorful, and if THAT’S kale, hell, I can eat Kale every day.
Inspired, I texted my wife a ‘love note’, saying how I’d love to take her here for a cheap date one day soon. And we need to come during Happy hour, on a Wednesday, cuz that’s when I can eat those blondes for half price.
And maybe, just maybe, they’ll even have the Torrontes!