Hunting Creek

Today, I came to the Happy Hour at Hunting Creek Steakhouse on King Street in Alexandria. It’s a great happy hour. The drinks and appetizers & soups and salads are 50% off. Our bartender was Giselle and she’s an excellent mixologist. She made me 2 sangrias by hand and they were DELICIOUS! She’s very attentive to her customers. I ordered oysters on the half-​shell and the shrimp cocktail and they were YUMMY! I love Hunting Creek’s happy hour and I will be coming back here more often. Absolutely!

As previously mentioned the place is nicely situated with a pleasant atmosphere, the music is background, subtle and soothing for a nice dinner.
I took another’s advice and asked for a window when making my rez with open table. I was annoyed they ignored my message to wish my hubby a Happy B day. Overall the service was fair, so not sure I’ll return. I would’ve expected the crumbs cleared. The décor says classy but this place needs a bit more polish.
We received a basket of warm, herbed bread which was very good but I think olive oil would’ve been a better choice than butter. The Porter wheat beer was too lemony for B day guy so I finished it. My husband like his steak and mushrooms. I really savored the almond crusted rockfish with a rich sauce of lemon butter with orzo and roasted grapes. The portion was plentiful.
Thanks to Unilocal we received a free desert. We chose the vanilla bean pana cotta drizzled with raspberry sauce (yay no seeds) with a garnish of a mint leaf. We were full but it went down easily and tasted rich and wonderful.

My wife and I stopped by Hunting Creek on a Thursday night around 9:30PM because of the positive Unilocal reviews. The previous establishments in that space have been mostly disappointing (including the short-​lived Notting Hill), and the incredible patio and ambiance of that particular location really made me hope that a quality restaurant that will last would take up residence there.
Unfortunately, there really wasn’t much to like about our visit.
For starters, the entire restaurant was empty, and the hostess had to check to see if the kitchen was still open and serving food. This was surprising, because Unilocal lists their hours of operation until midnight. It turns out that they close at 10PM.
They clearly don’t care enough to correct this on the most popular online restaurant review sites. That’s really not surprisingly, since they seem to care little about lots of things — like service and food.
My wife and I were celebrating something special, and each decided to order a beer since it was a special occasion. Unfortunately, the beer list is an afterthought here — filled with beers that can all be found languishing on supermarket shelves.
We chose to celebrate with a quality beer at home later, instead of ordering from the poor selection on the menu. This apparently angered our server — a gentleman by the name of Tim — who grew even more apathetic when he realized that the check total would not be inflated by alcohol sales.
Then there was the food. My wife started with fried calamari. The squid was limp and soggy, and quick to shed its batter on its journey from plate, to bowl of sauce, to mouth. Certainly not the best calamari we’ve had, but overall not terrible, either.
At Tim’s suggestion, I ordered the potato soup — which was the soup of the day. The soup was under-​seasoned and basically tasted like watery mashed potatoes. The addition of some smoky bacon, cheese (even a nice blue cheese) or something with some flavor was truly needed to punch it up and make it taste like something.
The entrees were a mixed bag. My wife’s rockfish was well cooked and served on top of a flavorful orzo with roasted grapes. Despite the sauce being a bit bland, it was a good and relatively tasty dish.
I elected for their NY strip steak. Considering Hunting Creek is a steakhouse, I thought this would be a safe bet. Unfortunately, the steak was completely under-​seasoned and tasted mostly of char. The sauces that accompanied it didn’t do much to add any flavor to the poor, singed cow that lay before me.
The Chimichurri was actually pretty good, but in need of some salt and pepper. The red wine sauce was badly in need of some additional time reducing, or something to sweeten it up and balance out the bitter tannins of the wine. It was ultimately too thin and the flavor was off-​putting.
This was truly a shame, since the steak was cooked perfectly. But the complete lack of seasoning made it downright inedible.
Despite not eating the bland, under-​seasoned steak and flavorless mashed potatoes that joylessly joined it on the plate, our server found it appropriate to charge us for it. He also found it unnecessary to have a manager or anyone in a position of authority come to the table to discuss the experience — which was pretty terrible.
Hunting Creek clearly doesn’t care. Its kitchen doesn’t care enough to season food correctly and clearly doesn’t take any pride in what it’s serving. Its servers clearly could care less about exhibiting any personality or pride in taking care of their guests. And I don’t care anymore, either, because I won’t be back.

Had dinner here for the first time last night and it was a wonderful experience. I’m already eager to go back and to try out their other menus.
I was there with two other people and we all ordered from the Three Course $ 39 menu. It was an amazing bargain for three courses of generous portions and high quality food. I ordered the French Onion soup, the steak frites, and the chocolate mousse. The soup had the perfect ratio of broth, cheese, onion, and bread and as one of those who loves the soup mostly for the cheese and bread I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the broth. My steak was cooked medium rare exactly as I requested to be and my dinner companion who ordered the same thing had her’s cooked medium exactly as she ordered it. The fries were great and the steak and fries alone were large enough portions they would have made an enjoyable meal on their own. The chocolate mousse came with biscotti and both were delicious.
Service was great. We were promptly greeted and never left waiting for anything. Our waiter answered all of our questions and offered his suggestions for both dinner choices and wine.

Went with 3 people on a slow Wednesday night (4₂₇_​16). Restaurant not crowded at all and we even got street parking almost in front (unheard of in Alexandria). Seated upstairs near bar immediately and water was brought right over with menus.
About 15 minutes later had to get up– go downstairs– and request a waiter be sent over.
Ordered steaks, appetizer, drinks etc. My steak was ordered medium rare.
Appetizer arrived in reasonable time.
Steak knives arrived about 15 minutes later. Steaks themselves arrived about 40 minutes later. Modest sized cuts on huge plate with no garnish–
One plate with side of tiny amount of mashed potatoes. Plates in general dwarfed the food.
In other words– very poor presentation.
My steak which was supposed to be medium rare was super well done. Shrunken and dried out. One side was black with burnt crust.
Waiter realized how goofed up order was and how long we had waited and offered to bring me new steak (I didn’t want that because didn’t have time to wait another 40 minutes!). Offered free deserts– but we had run out of time. Eventually he took my steak off the bill and we left.
Quite a mess for a slow weekday night and highly regarded restaurant in the fanciest section of Alexandria.
If you go here be sure to ask how long it will take order to be served…

We went for brunch and had such a good meal! The service was impeccable. Our server was super friendly and offered us the best way to get brunch drinks for everyone thatd be the most affordable. The patio was gorgeous and we were one of only two tables out there at 11 am on a Saturday morning. The food? Amazing! We all had different things, steak and eggs, omelettes, eggs Benedict and chicken and waffles and all of us cleaned our plates. This is a great find in old Towne. And we will be back!

We went to Alexandria from DC and were trying to find a unique place for lunch on King Street before heading home to CT. We stumbled upon this place and had a leisurely mid-​afternoon Sunday lunch. The French onion soup was amazing as was the Crème brûlée. We also had the spiked Oreo hot chocolate which was delicious but could have been a little hotter. Unfortunately I was extremely disappointed in my steak frites. The fries were basic shoestring fries that you can get in any diner. The steak was slightly more cooked than medium. Had I known the fries would be what they were, I would have gotten a different entrée. If I come again, I’m sticking with soup and dessert.

My boyfriend and I went here for the first time on Valentine’s day. We had high hopes for this place… and they lived up to them. The food was incredible. My boyfriend ordered the lobster bisque soup to start and I got the meatball mozzarella as my starter which was one of the best appetizers I’ve ever had taste-​wise. Then for my entrée I got a steak (can’t remember which) but it came with mashed potatoes as the side. I chose the wine sauce to go with it and I thought it was fantastic. And for dessert, go with the gelato! My bf got the pistachio gelato which he said was really good and I had a chocolate cake that came with a side of the vanilla. So good! And on top of their great food, the service was also amazing. Very friendly servers who are willing to answer any questions and who are very aware of your needs. I highly recommend.

My wife wanted to try out something new for her birthday, and surprised me by picking Hunting Creek. She isn’t the typical steakhouse kind of person so it was a welcome change for me.
We were dining in on a Wednesday evening, and had reservations. The place seemed pretty empty except for another family diniing in. There seemed to be a seperate area upstairs (bar where they have HH), but also a beautiful patio (which was closed because it was winter).
We were seated by a hostess, and then approached by two waiters at two different times. It was explained to us that one of the waiters was for drinks, and the other was for entrees. It was an interesting set up I hadn’t ever seen before but it seemed to work for them.
We went with the fried zucchini starter (lightly battered strips of zucchini fried up. The order was huge, way more than I had expected (like a full zucchini) and was pretty good. I added a little salt, only because I like my fried foods that way. Since this was a steakhouse we had to order steaks as our main
My wife ordered the filet and I got the 12oz NY strip. I got the Mac n cheese side. The steaks come with a sauce, I got the all on the side and tried each, thought the steak was too good to dump a sauce on. The Mac n cheese was ok, wish I had gone with something else but only because I have very high expectations for Mac.
The steak was delicious, and surprisingly so. Having eaten at a number of places in Old Town that claim to be the best strak in Alexandria, I think that Gun I g Creek was able to surprise me. The cook was a perfect medium, there was a nice sear on each side that had locked in the juices. Tasted like it had been seared in butter and salt, simple but we’ll done. Couldn’t ask for more.
With that being said, the price was steep for a strip. Maybe because it was a premium cut of beef? If that’s the case that menu should have made a big (or bigger of i missed it) deal out of it. Don’t mind paying for premium but would like to know why. I almost went with the steak frittes simply because of the price, but I’m glad I didn’t.
Finally because it was my wife’s birthday they brought out a desert for her. She was elated and said it was good (I believe it was a piece of he made chocolate cake). Great way to end her birthday dinner.

We really enjoyed this restaurant. All aspects were great. We both ordered the 3 course special, amazing ! We were talking about it after and loved how it was a slower experience& We didn’t feel rushed. Often I feel like one dish will come after another so quickly you can’t enjoy all aspects of the meal. We received our first course quickly along with some fantastic bread, a few min went by before we received the main& same with the third course. It was easy to enjoy all courses as well as our great wine. The server was very informative & happy to answer our questions. We will be going back.
I ordered steak & he ordered rockfish
Both were fabulous !

Folks, I can not describe to you how badly I wanted Hunting Creek to be a success, and the depths of my disappointment that it wasn’t.
We brought a large crowd to HC during restaurant week, which may have been an enormous mistake. Our reservation was for 9, and we showed up with 10. (Math is hard, folks) This was clearly our fault, but the reservation was no longer able to sit us on the patio (as requested) and we ended up crammed together inside. Again, our fault, but a major source of disappointment, as the patio here is one of the largest draws.
The staff was incredibly attentive, but we arrived at the later end of the night, and the restaurant was sold out of the wagyu beef that we were so intent on trying. The options we got as an alternative were dry and not as flavorful as i’d expect for a steak house of this caliber. Sides were on the cold side.
I recognize that I have to come back and try this again when it’s not restaurant week, but the price point for steaks is a little disappointing, given that the quality and price was cheaper at Flat Iron. (Since closed down and defunct) If I wanted to do steak frites, again, the price point and quality is better at Medium Rare.
I need to slide into this spot on a happy hour and try some plates, enjoy the establishment, and re-​calibrate. Right now, Hunting Creek is an enormous disappointment buoyed only by a friendly wait staff and some decent cocktails.

Great stop for lunch on a Saturday, no wait at noontime. Staff was friendly and welcoming and food was delicious. We ordered salads since we had a wedding later in the day. Cute place, upstairs bar area is small but well-​appointed, in fact if you visited the Torpedo Art Factory during your stay you’ll find the bar showcases a local artist prominently! Love to see local places supporting each other!

The best part about this restaurant is the nice (and rare) outdoor seating on King Street. My fiancé and I went on a cool night and it was very nice. The service was also very attentive as well. The food IMO was overpriced for what it was and very basic. The drinks were probably the most adventurous items on the menu. Depending on how you feel about Five Guys french fries, but they are basically identical here (potatoes with skins left on, fried in peanut oil) if you are ordering the steak frites. Meh.

One of the best spots during happy hour!!! Appetizers and glasses are half price and wine bottles are 25%off. Good beer and wine selections.
Taste: Rosemary bread is tasty. 6 Raw oysters are big and fresh. 5 Rockefeller ones need a little bit more salt and pepper. I expected more cheese in a meatball.
Price: Awesome during happy hour. Quantity wise, the meatball is too small for the normal price $ 8. My tasty draft beer is only $ 3. A big shrimp is only $ 2.
Interior: Nice but I prefer their patio. I will check the bar upstairs next time. The patio was pretty packed when I left there.
Customer service: Good. There are many staffs but seem to be so busy. They forget my shrimp order.
Parking: Street or garage.
I can’t wait for the next visit.

I’m going to give this place a solid 3 stars. I popped into the bar area around Lunchtime on a Saturday. I was the only one there, which I’ll admit was odd, but not a strike against them.
I had the Po Boy and it was pretty tasty. It came with a small bit of salad, which is a nice touch because I didn’t exactly feel like fries. The bread was really good, and the service was fine.
This place isn’t outstanding, but they have some good happy hour deals that will warrant a return visit. I’ll update my review when I come back.

Hunting Creek has quickly become our go-​to steakhouse in Old Town. While the interior dining options are solid (complete with an upstairs bar to hang while waiting for a table), I would implore anyone coming here to take advantage of the fabulous patio. While you’ll still have a nice view of bustling King Street, the patio offers a tucked away bungalow feel. It’s a very comfortable environment to enjoy a meal. Your favorite pooch can also enjoy the experience as Hunting Creek’s patio is dog friendly.
The steak here is very good with my favorite offering being the Cowboy Ribeye. They also have oysters on the half shell available as a starter, which I would also recommend. In sum, Hunting Creek is a good choice for a dinner out, especially if you are in the mood for a steak and the weather is pleasant. Just reminder to request a patio table before heading out.

Brought my coworkers here for a crew meal. Everyone was impressed with their dinner. I did the pork chop with Brussel sprouts
Amazing. They did the 3 course special and we couldn’t believe that each course was a full order. Can’t recommend this place enough. Delicious and affordable.

This review is for a Saturday night dinner for four.
service
It appears the wait staff at Hunting Creek work in teams. At least that is the impression we received. Throughout the evening, we had two different waiters; however, they must have communicated reasonably well as we never had to repeat requests. Service was good, especially for a busy Saturday night.
After we had been studying the menu for five or six minutes, a waiter stopped by and went to some lengths to explain the menu to us. This came across as a bit odd because we had been studying for plenty of time to grasp the options. The menu does have a few unique ways of ordering, so I suppose it must be important to grasp what is a la carte and what is not.
bar
Only three beers on tap, but one was an IPA so I was happy. My wife asked for a pomegranate martini, which baffled them completely. She settled for a cosmo, which was lemony and probably not the best rendition of that cocktail that we have ever encountered. My dad had whiskey and water on the rocks. My mom had a Tanqueray martini. Both were just fine. With dinner, we drank a bottle of Bodegas Las Perdices Malbec for $ 35, which is a pretty darned good deal.
food
My dad and I ordered the $ 35 three-​course dinner. I had smoked salmon, steak frites and crème brulee. My dad had tomato and mozzarella, stroganoff over polenta and chocolate mousse. My wife and mom both had the petit filet. Appetizers were good. Especially the tomatoes. Steaks were all good and prepared as ordered. Sauces for steaks come on the side. I had bernaise and my wife had chimichurri, both were good. My dad’s stroganoff was very average. Neither the meat nor the polenta had any real flavor. The dish was simply bland. The waiter was very accommodating, offering to exchange the dish for another option. The manager stopped by and offered to comp the entrée, but my dad did not want to make a big deal out of the meal. Crème brulee is a bit of a standard and this rendition was just fine. The mouse drew raves from most of the table.
details
We snagged street parking right in front, which practically counts as a miracle in Old Town on Saturday night. Unless you feel lucky, I’d arrive early to allow for parking wars. Just like most restaurants in Old Town, the interior space can feel crowded. Such was not the case for us, as we had an out-​of-​the way four-​top in the backroom. We were very cozy and happy. The interior is eclectic, but welcoming. Music, lighting and table settings are all very appropriate for a steakhouse.

Wait staff was very good, but the food was not.
We had duck confeit and it was undercooked and the potatoes were runny. The mule was mostly line with very little ginger beer.
The mussels were OK but a bit cold.

I will give the staff and service 4 start but I’m sorry to say the food will get 3…
We ordered Waguy beef, one medium rare and one medium. We got one well done and one medium… They replaced the well done without question and presented an new one that was perfect. On top of that, when we asked for the check they only charged us for one steak. That is lovely! Really nice done. Still… They do need to season their meat and fries. We had a great night and amazing wine:)