The ambience here is lovely. We went for dinner and the lights were dimmed and it had an intimate feel while still being lively. There's a bar and seating area. We made a reservation last minute and there was pretty good availability. Bread and olive oil is served immediately and is very very good. We ordered the branzino, salmon, and lamb dishes. Everyone agreed their dishes were very tasty. The fish and meat were all cooked well. The salmon came with homemade pesto that was very fresh. The branzino was perfectly crispy on the outside. The lamb was juicy and tender. Service was a bit slow and impersonal. Good for date nights or groups! read more

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Good food. Good Ambiance and good location. I was there for brunch and enjoyed their bread and coffee and lemonade and pasta. Yummy.

I came here for brunch today with the fam. We ordered the French toast, salmon Benedict, and kids spaghetti with meatballs. Overall the food wasn't aweful, but it was not particularly great either. French toast- was thick, crispy and buttery--reminded me of honey toast ? The walnuts, strawberries and peaches were kind of just topping thrown on. Was fresh but nothing special? Tasted good but nothing super special. Salmon Benedict-- there was too much salmon, which was super super salty! Eggs were cooked well though. The bread it was on was kind of greasy as well. Spaghetti-- was salty and the pasta was very basic and not cooked enough! It was hard for my toddler to eat read more

Alta Strada - French toast - Italian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

The server was good. That is the reason for three stars. He was friendly and enthusiastic, and we really felt welcomed. But the food was very disappointing. Calamari: Kind of greasy and way too many feet. Could have used a few more rings. Garlic bread: Tasted okay, but greasy. Rockfish, okay, but kind of fishy. Spaghetti (ordered with meatballs) was just sad. Limp spaghetti with a little sauce. The meatballs were small and soft and just not very good. We were looking for good local Italian. Not sure what's wrong here, but it is a miss. Sorry. read more

I had the Garlic Bread Rockfish Rigatoni Marinara pasta and Trimasu Dessert and this was the 1st time I dined at the restaurant I was a bit disappointed when the calamari was sold out but I could live the FOOD, SERVICE, AMBIANCE, was excellent read more

Alta Strada - ROCK FISH RIGATONI MARINARA - Italian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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Alta Strada grabbed our attention initially because of their creative cocktails and out of this world amazing Eggplant Parmesan. Then they renovated and made the interior more like an Italian restaurant with a cool vibe, so we liked it even more. On top of that, we are treated like family when we go by the bartenders, servers and manager. It makes a difference when you can tell that everyone working genuinely loves the food and being a part of the Alta Strada team. It would be cool if they had special events such as a wine tasting flight night with appetizers or cocktails and appetizer tasting menu. read more

We came here for a weekday lunch and surprisingly it wasn't busy at all with the exception of a few occupied tables outside; we were the only ones dining in. Anyways, I've always been eyeing this location as it is central to the Mosaic district. After a quick review of the posts and pictures, we settled on the octopus appetizer, mafalde with mushrooms (3 types) and shrimp, penne alla vodka with meatballs, and the tiramisu. There was a slight misstep with the water as there seemed to be some debris floating in the water glass. Anyways, our server was very attentive and we swapped it for bottled still water and some ice. As it wasn't so busy, our orders came promptly. The octopus was tender and the bean/mussel accoutrements were a nice compliment to the singular tentacle. The broth also served as a nice hearty touch to the entire dish. The mafalde was cooked precisely al dente with a toothy texture and the mushroom/butter sauce enveloped it very well. The penne alla vodka was also tasty but with more salinity/acidity to the sauce. The meatballs also had a very fine and uniform texture as well. The tiramisu was surprisingly good; I never expect much out of this dessert but our server recommended it. Not overly sweet and the lady fingers soaked up the espresso well. Overall, very well executed; the texture, temperature, and taste all worked in tandem. I will deduct a star for the water mishap and the overall value of the meal; while it was very good, it was still a pricey lunch ($108 for the appetizer, two pasta dishes, a small dessert, bottled still water, and tip). Would we come here again? Maybe, if the mood strikes. read more

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I would give this place 10 stars if I could... Started with good service and ended with GREAT service. Carlos was our waiter and was very professional, respectful and knowledgeable of what the food is made with and how it's cooked as well... Amazing customer service! There was a small mix up on our order but the manager and Carlos just made it seem like it never happened, they showed such care and had the best customer service I have ever experienced. So TAHNK YOU Alta Strada for having AMAZING people in your restaurant that can put a smile on people's faces! Saad, read more

I love Alta Strada! This was my second time coming in, and it was for my friend's birthday. They treated us well as we sat at the chefs table. I've never experienced sitting at such a nice location next to the kitchen. The chef came to introduce himself and offered us a complimentary cheese board and a glass of Prosecco, it was such a delight! The cheese board contained these special black grapes which tasted like grape juice that would just pop in your mouth, a different texture than your typical grape. I ordered the clam pasta (I can't seem to find the menu online and can not recall the name). It was really good! My friends chose the you pick three where they got an appetizer, entree and dessert together. We also got complimentary apple pie with ice cream for desserts! I guess it definitely has its perks sitting at the chefs table I am thankful I was able to come along and have a new experience! Overall, the food was amazing, and I will most definitely be coming in again! read more

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Great service, nice drink and deserts menu. Staff definitely seems like they all love working there.

We decided to try something different from our usual favorite Italian spot, Pazzo Pomodoro, and had heard good things about Alta Strada so we gave it a try. We ordered the garlic bread, two pastas, and the tiramisu for dessert. The garlic bread was extremely crunchy (you cannot pull it apart without a sea of crumbs) and deep fried, with butter on top, and not enough garlic in my opinion, definitely not your regular garlic bread. I prefer softer, lightly toasted, buttery garlic bread but my husband liked it. It came with a dipping sauce on the side which was similar to tomato soup. We then tried the fettuccine with mushroom and truffles, and the cavatelli with pesto and artichokes, and they were both very good. The tiramisu was delicious too, although I could've done with a much larger slice for the price. Staff were courteous but service took a long time, as it was a busy night, but we weren't in a rush and didn't mind. Definitely worth a visit! read more

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What an incredible place! I'm so happy eating there. I went yesterday at 6 PM, and a guy served me--he was so friendly, and the food was amazing. read more

No real complaints, I just was not blown away by the food. We had the pappardelle and ravioli entrees, which were both enjoyable. 'm not sure the food is appropriately priced (high $20s-$30s for entrees), given the atmosphere and quality. Service was good. It just felt like something was missing... considering all the surrounding options in the mosaic area, I don't think we'll be back. Best of luck though. read more

Great service great food awesome happy hour! Bar tender was attentive and answered my questions gave great recommendations

Great food, great service and wonderful atmosphere. Would definitely recommend. All perfectly done and served very quickly. Was a walk in. Sat immediately. Just a perfect ending for a great day read more

Alta Strada - Italian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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Medicor, Pasta, and a glass of rail wine $32 dollars. plenty of other spots at Mosaic.

So just had dinner here tonight and not sure what to say ..... After reading reviews and looking at the awesome pics, I felt like I was on an episode of Catfished ... lol First my party at reservations and had to wait at least 20 mins for a table to be ready, yes I know it might not be the restaurant's fault and oi N the customers who sat there after for awhile after they had finished their dinner ... so not gonna take stars away for that . The 3 star review is for slow service and food. So the service, once we were seated. It took about 5 mins before we were offered water or saw our waiter. Also usually the bread plate and dipping sauce usually comes out before an order is take for main course .. so that was interesting that the bread didnt come until our appz arrived. So the table orders different items each plate was presented well, issues we had were taste of the food. The salmon wasnt seasoned well and was way overcooked. The branzino wasnt bad... The octopus was decent It might have been an off night for the place tonight but willing to give it another try .. Also not sure how often their menu changes ... but most of the dishes you see on yelp aren't on the menu .. read more

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The food was very good creamy, im very picky with food it was great and packed with flavor being so plain! The service was amazing as well, they were very quick to bring out the food and we just moved here trying to eat at new places! The ambiance of the place was very welcoming and warm as well! read more

Alta Strada - Penne "alla" Vodka - Italian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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FOOD POISONING WARNING- I got EXTREMELY sick from eating their muscles and clam dish. I am so thankful I did not feed this to our baby. The dish tasted off, but I unfortunately ate it anyway. It was extremely fishy, half of the muscles were not opened, and the sauce was horrid. Do NOT eat any fish from this restaurant- I was so extremely sick. read more

I came here on the weekend and must say I was a bit disappointed. I've heard good things and was hoping to love Alta Strada but both the service and the food left something to be desired. The restaurant was busy I will admit but the service was the slowest I've seen in a LONG time. Tables who were seated after us got food before us! And our waiter didn't even bring out bread we were soo so hungry we finally gave up and asked for some to hold us over until the food came (ps the bread was really cold) On to the meals. The meatballs were ok. Kind of pricey for what seems like average meatballs. The vodka sauce pasta was SOOO salty. I love flavor on my food but man was this pasta salty. Lastly, the chicken parmigiana was enormous which was great but there was a ton of breading and cheese on it and the spaghetti it came with was nothing special. It tasted like canned tomatoes were thrown on boxes spaghetti? I don't know, maybe it was an off night but I was definitely not impressed. read more

Me and a friend came here for dinner because i was craving their ricotta cheesecake but ironically, i did not end up getting it. Despite that, our dinner went great. We started our dinner with a couple of drinks. I got a honey mint drink and my friend got a blueberry mojito. Both drinks were pretty yum. Our server was really nice and recommended that we start with the house-made buffalo mozerella appetizer. We were glad he suggested that because we cleaned the plate with that mozzie and were left wanting more. Next up, me and my friend decided to share the baked short rib cavatelli which had...surprise, cherries in it! I am not a fan of tangy sweetness in my food but these cherries really complimented the pasta and the whole dish came together beautifully. We did not have room for dessert but i would definetly be back for some of that cavatelli and yes, the cheesecake next time! read more

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Decided to come here because they extended their restaurant week and $22 for a three course brunch is hard to pass up. We decided to sit inside since it looked quieter and we got sat in a booth pretty quickly. Our friendly waiter came over pretty quickly to greet us and give us water and their fresh bread. We decided to get a sparkling basil lemonade and rosemary mint lemonade. Both were pretty great especially the sparkling basil. After we got our drinks we ordered crunchy meatballs and homemade ricotta for appetizers, smoked salmon Benedict and bucatini carbonara for entrees. The meatballs were beautiful. Nice and crispy outside, a little smoky tasting inside with a great red sauce under them. There was a lot of ricotta and it was so smooth and creamy. Don't think I even needed the crostini. For our entrees, the bucatini carbonara was so good. The pancetta was nice and smokey and the bucatini had the perfect bite. Also didn't hurt to break the egg all over as well. Definitely would recommend getting even though it was pretty heavy. The Benedict wasn't bad, pretty standard as far as eggs Benedict with salmon goes. It came with some great square tater tots though. Can't mess up tots. For dessert, we got the lemon tartlet and macarporeos. Wasn't a huge fan of the tartlet but I'm also not much of a lemon dessert guy anyway. The macarporeos were very good though. It's basically homemade chocolate wafers with a good serving of mascarpone cheese that you make your own Oreos with which is a must try. I definitely plan on coming back to try other stuff, probably getting mascarporeos again though. read more

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Outstanding venue, staff was so welcoming. We ordered and the food came out quickly and all of the staff (not just our server) checked in on us often. We did have one issue, the staff was quick to resolve it. Our server was amazing, food was so yummy - highly recommend. read more

Restaurant in such a pretty location! Pasta was decent ( lightly over salted for me ) Burrata salad was good Drinks were not so great but okay Staffs are nice Not so much to complain other than the food is just okay level. Maybe will return in the future. read more

Alta Strada - Italian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

OH HEAVEN! Well I tell you what. I was dead wrong in the fact that I completely avoided this place at first. I mistook it for one of those run of the mill overhyped but actually sub-par chain places since it was tucked into the cookie cutter retail madhouse that is mosaic. Well I am here to tell you how wrong I was. So wrong. I'm very sorry. This place is FANTASTIC. The concept works. You really do feel like you are at the local neighborhood spot despite the fact that it has multiple locations. And the food is delicious. So delicious. Yum! The vodka sauce was so good we cleaned the entire plate. The giant parm did not disappoint. It was colossal and as big as the plate. And it had some zip to it. Very good red sauce. Oh and the bread for the table was so good we ordered seconds. You have to order dessert here. The tiraffogato was ah-ma-zing. I think I gained at least 10 pounds from date night dinner here. That's the part I am not sorry about. No apologies for that. read more

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We went in on a Saturday evening at 7:00pm and the lady told us they're currently at capacity and they do not take walk ins and to come back an hour later. I asked if they take reservations or names and they do not, when we came back an hour later they told us 8:30 but did not give us a reason as to why there was a delay. However during that time I see them letting other parties in. We were disappointed by the unprofessional service that night. I hope no one else has to experience this. read more

Alta Strada is a great option for casual Italian dining. It's located in Mosaic district and has great happy hour specials every day from 4-6pm! You really can't beat that and especially a weekend happy hour! Pizza, meatballs, and ricotta crostini are solid choices. Yum! read more

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Posted on 7/21/21 Experienced on 7/18/21 This wasn't the restaurant I had in mind today. It wasn't the restaurant I ever thought about going to either. It wasn't  where my thoughts were at the time, but all that changed once seated at the outdoor tables. Foxfire Grill dropped the ball by not calling back it's clientele who had reservations in advance.   A fumble is now going on and Alta Strada recovered the ball and made a good impression on my family. Especially since we were celebrating my birthday. Alta Strada is restaurant I have seen many times, but never set foot in the establishment.   Today my family enjoyed their very spicy spaghetti. I don't enjoy spicy food. No, let me rephrase, I detest spicy food.   Nevertheless,  I did see a pizza I haven't tried before and went with a pizza that didn't come with tomato sauce on it.  Lizzy our server was a very waiter indeed.  Lizzy was very attentive to the things ordered and checked on use often to make sure if everything was alright  or needed refills on drinks.  Her cheerful personality  lighten the mood for everyone.  The pizza I ordered looked great. The pizza I ordered smelled great. The pizza I ordered tastes great. The pizza I ate was full of flavor everywhere. The pizza I ordered will need to be ordered again. Sitting outside we saw people with kids. We saw people watching their kids play.  We saw people laughing. We saw people smiling. We saw people having a good time. We saw men and woman together. We saw women and women together. We saw Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Tilly, Rachel Weisz, Daniel Craig and Dwayne Johnson sitting near our table.  Okay, maybe not these celebrities,  but This is the way it should be and would be a dream come true. The inside of the restaurant wasn't very busy. In fact most if the people were all outside enjoying the cool night air.  The bathrooms are unisexed, so there is no waiting for the her bathroom  or his bathroom.  I find this to be a plus.   The one thing I did notice is that the two manager's I saw looked very serious.   One such manager who brought out two of our orders looked to serious. When my dad mad a request, the look on our manager's face said "go away." I an not sure what was bothering her, but "Why So Serious" did come to my mind. Aside from this, I had a overall great experience that Foxfire Grill did not provide.  Foxfire Grill's fumble and then an interception caused Alta Strada win the game. More importantly,  won this restaurant 4 new repeat customers.  Not bad for my  Superbowl Sunday. read more

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This is not your run-of-the-mill Italian restaurant. If you are looking for an Olive Garden atmosphere, this is not it. Far from it. In fact, the owners are blunt about that if you talk to them about their food. This is hand-crafted, original, Italian recipes. Maybe it is not straight from Italy, but there is no American-ized dishes for anything here. Seeing that there were quite a decent amount of menu options, I opted for the three course meal to get the full Alta Strada experience. My three items were the Crunchy Meatballs, the Cavatelli, and Apple tart. First off, you get served stone-baked Italian bread. It is unlimited and is served with olive oil. It is light and crunchy and offers a good invite into what is to come when you order your entree. Meatballs These were fantastic. Even if there were only three. Yes, they are crunchy. They are cradled in an even better sauce. It was like the Arancini balls at Crust in Tyson's, except these were made with pork rather than beef. I even ate the sauce after finishing the meatballs because all of it was just tingling on the tastebuds. Cavatelli As indicated in my picture, my first bite had me a bit worried. There wasn't much taste to the pasta, and it was quite heavy on the sauce. After the food cooled down, everything became clear. There was a great amount of taste in everything - down to the cherries. When you get a cherry, and that pop it creates, it just adds a bit of zane to an already zany dish. Lots of flavors coming in all directions that just confused the heck out of my tastebuds, until it was all over. What did I eat? I am still not sure. All I know was there was pasta, beef, some cheese, and cherry. Dessert This was just okay. I mean, it is small, and I was happy it was not disgusting, but it had more potential and just comes short of being something memorable. I can eat it, but it was something that I guess I was expecting to be better than it was. It was more mushy than pie and tart-like. At least they were nice to put the ice cream on the side. Overall with a good friendly service, they made it for a pleasant evening and a journey I am happy to have completed. It is a bit on the pricey side, for $5 or $10 less I think this would have been a perfect review. For now, I can settle for a fun time and something I hope you have fun with as well. read more

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We had this amazing brunch at Alta Strada last weekend. Weather was good, it had been a long time since me and my husband had dined outside considering this ongoing pandemic situation. Well, we took our chances while enjoying the weather, and went to Alta Strada. They were offering a special weekend Brunch menu, so tried a few new things too. We ordered Mushroom Fettuccine, Bucatini Carbonara, Bomboloni, Loaded Tots and Raspberry Lemonade. I must say, the food was TOP-NOTCH in taste. We felt like the service was little bit slow, it was pretty much occupied, kind of full house. Didn't bother us much, we had a great Italian brunch after so long and we really enjoyed our dining out. Had a wonderful time there. read more

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Tonight was my cheat night and I was craving Italian. I of course read reviews and decided this appeared to be real deal so I decided to place my Door Dash order. People raved about the chicken Parmesan so I decided to go all in and order it! In ordering I saw that the wording on their Door Dash menu was confusing yet after deciphering I understood that the chicken parm was served with traditional spaghetti or you sub something other than the regular spaghetti, such as specialty spaghetti or a veggie for an up charge. I decided to stick with the traditional spaghetti and to also then order a side of their broccoli with chili flakes (because even though it was a cheat night I always have to have green vegetables). I reviewed my order before placing it and my charges looked appropriate for the entree with regular spaghetti and the side of broccoli. My receipt showed the same. It took well over an hour for the delivery to arrive and I was STARVING and also ready for my PASTA and CHEESE! WELP! Upon opening the container I realized that they hit me with the biggest cheat day disappointment....ZERO PASTA AND DOUBLE VEGGIES Can you say ARGHHHHHH ! I wanted to throw a temper tantrum but as I said I was HUNGRY! So, I went ahead and took these pictures before putting the extra dish of broccoli in the fridge (because I am NOT eating double veggies on a cheat day) and cut into the pretty massive piece of chicken parmigiana. It was good. It needed more sauce. And more cheese. And THE SPAGHETTI.....but it was good. I think I'm scarred and scared and won't be ordering from or dining in here . And now I feel cheated on on my cheat day. I need chocolate read more

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First time visiting VA and our acquaintances took us to their ONLY favorite Italian restaurant nearby and We could see why they loved it so much. Gotta say better food than some restaurants I went to in North End - Boston. All the apps we got were delicious, especially the mussels, prosciutto and burrata. Everything else was also excellent. The entrees were yum. I got Penne and my partner got ravioli, and I honestly liked the ravioli more because the truffle creamy sauce was outstanding and the salmon was very moist inside but crispy outside. The penne was also really good, perfectly al dente and well seasoned vodka sauce. And all the cocktails we got were great. Overall, we could not complain! Second, the service was professional, nice and friendly, which is very important to me. First great foodie experience of our first trip to VA. read more

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Came here for happy hour. At 5:30 the seating was half open at the bar. You do have to sit there for happy hour. The menu isn't expansive, but it has good options. Between two people, we have two sangrias, a Bianca pizza, two orders of meatballs, and the ricotta. It was super reasonably priced and a satisfying portion. The sangria was good; it wasn't saccharine and it was pleasant overall. The ricotta was excellent--the flavors were distinct and layered, with the herby touch coming through after the creamy light silky cheese. The meatballs have a nice crunchy outside and are moist throughout. Had a good experience and would come back. Splitting all that food was satisfying without being too heavy--at a good price point. read more

Alta Strada - Bianca - Italian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

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My bf and traveled to this location from DC when we discovered the K street location was closed. All I can say were equally as pleased with the taste and portion sizes at this location. We definitely will return. read more

This place is alright. It's a standard Italian place with a decent selection. We got the penne vodka - not creamy enough or flavorful in my opinion. The chicken parmesan sandwich had nice soft bread but the chicken was dry with not enough sauce to compensate. Service was decent - it's fine if you're looking for Italian in Mosaic read more

Best Italian restaurant in town in my opinion. Service is always great. Food never disappoints. My only suggestion: have a no pork version for the meatball so that people who do not eat pork can order that on the menu. read more

Service was great food just ok it tasted kinda bland and mediocre for the price. Honestly if it wasn't for the bartender tom and his fantastic cocktails and great personality I probably wouldn't come back. read more

The best dining experience I've had since the pandemic started. We got there as soon as they opened so we were the only patrons. Our waiter was spot on. Gave great tips on the food and highlighted his favorites. Started with French onion soup to shake the cold off. Steaming hot and exactly what you would expect for this dish. Burrata was a crowd pleaser. The apple slices, toasted nuts and especially the spicy honey. Plus some garlic bread with marinara. We came here for a pasta craving. Entrees were the rigatoni bolognese with added shrimp and fettuccini with roasted mushrooms and truffle, side of meatballs. Normally dishes with truffle oil go too far and it overpowers everything. There was nice restraint here and the first bite was nicely perfumed with truffle. Finished the meal with some bomboloni (lemon ricotta fritters, Nutella sauce and pear compote to dip. We were celebrating so this was the perfect meal. Good service, decadent food and lots of space away from other diners (they poured in as our food was arriving). read more

Alta Strada - Bomboloni - Italian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

Yum yum yum. Came back to this location today, and what a great experience and even better food. Big thanks to the bar tender, Sophia made me feel like I was at home read more

Alta Strada - Mango Sir beto - Italian Near Me - Fairfax, Virginia

I ordered chicken parmigiana which came with broccolini. With tip I spent over $34. How much would it have cost to throw in a little pasta?