The gluten free pizza crust was amazing. I've been continuously disappointed by great pizza restaurants, when they do have a gf option, having mediocre and often just bad gluten free crust that is not at all reflective of their regular style. Rustico's gf chickpea crust is slightly chewy and breads but still has that great crispy outer layer, it's not too thin or flat and it tastes awesome. read more

Usually love this place. Came tonight. Sat at high top. No service. Appetizer cold. Left because had no faith to get entree correct.

The worst chicken sandwich I've had in a while. All breading, not crispy, it was a hard crunch, way too salty, not that much meat, and bone dry. The fries were cold, soggy, over salted, and dripping in oil underneath. On top of that it was way overpriced since it's labeled a "gourmet chicken sandwich". Wooboi in Alexandria and The Rub in Alexandria are way better for HALF THE PRICE. read more

Rustico - Terrible chicken sandwich - New American Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

Managed to snipe parking near the dumpster. That carrot hummus was ridiculously good, with a sweetness you don't find in chickpea hummus and a creaminess that echoes the style of a baba ghanoush. They composed the well-seased ground lamb and crumbled feta together in the dish as though it were a Middle Eastern platter of super nachos. Not nearly enough pita bread for how much hummus there was, but I had no qualms about picking up a spoon and chowing away. I'm glad WD picked it, since when I saw it on the menu I thought "baby food" but once we started eating it I was thinking "awesome!" I'm sure our waitress hated us for not ordering more food for a counter of five people, but she pasted on an almost believable smile whenever she stopped by. She successfully avoided laughing at Kevin's emergence into drunkery via shots of just Baileys, and we were rarely left neglected in times of need for more than 5 minutes at a time. I enjoyed my tasting rounds of Harpoon and Belgian whites, and I found my overall experience to be tantalizing enough to want to come back for more menu sampling. read more

Rustico - Carrot hummus, Harpoon and Allagash White. - New American Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

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I came here at first time last Friday evening for happy hour time with friends. I loved the vibe and atmosphere in this place. There were so many young professionals, families, and older people to come here to have a good time. This place has a huge selection of beer. I am not a big beer drinker to begin with. So I can't comment on this but my friends tried so many different beer and they enjoyed it. I loved the food here. We ordered three different kinds of pizza (White Pizza, Tomato with Basil, duck) . All of them were very tasty. I loved that bread portion of the pizza. It was typical brick oven pizza. I liked the crunch, dry, kinda salty taste. The price is around $13 to $16 range which is pretty reasonable. This is a place to come with a group of people and have a good time. I will definitely come back. read more

Rustico - New American Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

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This spot was great I love the area service was reasonable . I tried the Brisket sandwich that was okay I've had better I was going to get the fried chicken sandwich I wish I got that but I will be giving that a try the next time I go . French fries was good . Overall I say give this spot a try me personally I will not be getting the brisket sub . read more

Rustico - Brisket sub - New American Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

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This review is 3.5 stars. Imagine, you walk into a restaurant right after they open asking for a table for your party of 3 just to be greeted by rude hostess who asks in that high pitched tone "... I'm sorry do you have a reservation...?" while being looked up and down. If my husband had not picked this and we were not with my FIL I would have turned around and been out the door before she could have finished her sentence. Fortunately after she was done making us feel unworthy she offered up the bar or outdoor dining. It was nice enough so we decided to dine outside. I was much more at ease when we were greeted by our server. He was nice and offered some good beer recommendations in addition to favorite menu items. We were all so starving we jumped right in with ordering dinner and skipped any appetizers. I got the three little pigs burger and my husband got the butchers block pizza. Both looked amazing when they came out. My burger had a really nice smoky flavor that really came through and was not too over powering. Since I was starving I loved all the fixings that came with it, on a normal day I would not have been able to finish this burger. My only critique is that it could use some more bbq sauce, when I think of a burger like that I think of the bbq sauce dripping off it. A little more sauce would have been the perfect bump in flavor that the burger needed. Also, these fries were my absolute favorite, I could make a meal of these fries. They were perfectly crispy and full of flavor! I totally ate all the fries before they could get cold. The pizza was really good too, the sauce had some good flavor and I loved the garlic on it. After chowing down on such big portions we were in no state for dessert but their options sounded tasty. Our server was great and the food was great, I'm sure that we will be back again (despite the hostess). read more

Rustico - Butcher block pizza - New American Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

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This location seems a bit less crowded than the Ballston one, but then again it was a Sunday evening so it's all relative. There is parking behind this location in a fairly large lot if you want to drive here. As for the food, the risotto tots are as a good as advertised. Think really tasty tater tots that aren't greasy and have more flavor than usual, with a Parmesan taste. The basil and cheese pizza is solid too but nothing amazing in my opinion. The Bibb salad was excellent and better than you'd think. I was skeptical of a salad that included granola and strawberries but it was enjoyable and I'd try it again. They also have a decent beer selection. This place may not be amazing, but they have solid offerings and okay service so I'll be back here. read more

Rustico - Boston Bibb Lettuce Salad - New American Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

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SO GOOD. Excellent beer selection, surprisingly good drink prices for Northern VA and great food! Do yourself a favor and upgrade the fries to the truffle fries. They don't have the overly fake truffle oil taste and are perfectly crisp and seasoned....also I would literally go back anytime just for our server. S/o to Anita! You had great service and you were hilarious. We will definitely be coming back soon. read more

Rustico - White pizza - New American Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

Just came back from lunch here. Decent comfortable decor, friendly greeter and attentive waitress. The drinks were filled ASAP - always a plus. I got the mac & cheese people rave about. The cheese flavor was perfect and somewhat sharp, the shrooms were good, the pancetta wasn't too salty, and the peas were a nice touch without giving the dish too much sweetness. I normally bypass peas because they're normally too sweet. . I'd definitely get it again. The lunch buddy got the burger and fries. He told me that the fries were really good, so I took some. Very nice and it said they were malted. The burger looked good and, considering this was the second time he had the burger in about 5 days, I'd say it's not a bad bet. I'm gonna try it next time. I'll definitely be back. I also went to buzz bakery (their sister store, I guess) and have 4 kinds of cupcakes waiting for me to eat them :) read more

Tried and true and consistently good food. Server was friendly and did not rush us even though it was busy. Loved my meal.

Such delicious food, such great service! I took a friend to the Alexandria Rustico location for a wonderful meal. The service was friendly and welcoming. Lilly, our server, answered all of our many questions, gave us time to decide and gave great recommendations. I had the mushroom brick oven pizza and my friend chose a hamburger. Both were delicious. The space was interesting and had lots to look at. As the sun set the light was beaming into my eyes and Lilly promptly rolled down the shades to make me more comfortable. The prices were appropriate for the quality and great service. We will be dining there again. read more

The food was outstanding, with every dish showcasing exceptional quality and flavor. However, the service was extremely disappointing, marred by slow responses and inattentive staff. Despite the culinary excellence, the poor service significantly detracted from the overall dining experience. read more

The food was taste and the service attentive. But the menu is pretty small and we could get ice for our water....apparently the restaurant has a ice shortage read more

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The food was good, as usual- and more than we could eat. The serice was exceptional. The cook came out and talked to us about my wife's special preferences. Great place! Not very expensive, either. read more

We cannot recommend this restaurant because of the very rushed experience with mediocre food at best. We were a party of 12, celebrating a special occasion. We spent well over $700, and we were asked to vacate the table so the restaurant could profit from serving new patrons. We spent no more than 2 hours at the table. It was not a comfortable experience and would not go back nor recommend it. read more

Terrible service - ended up walking out. Went for dinner on a Friday night. Had made reservations thinking it would be crowded. Got there and they weren't busy at all. Front host seated us and provided menus. But in the 30min we were there, only one person came by, and that was to fill our water. No staff approached us at any point during this time, it was ridiculous. We ended up walking out (even waited a few minutes at the host stand to tell them we were leaving, but nobody was there). I understand a lot of places are experiencing staff shortages, and would have appreciated if they had told us beforehand or had even come to tell us after we were seated. But we were sitting there for 30min and nobody aside from a water guy came up to our table. This is absolutely terrible service. read more

We ordered the inauguration special, a Biden Burger for my husband and a Kamala Melt for me. The tuna melt sounded fun and interesting. It was a $16 tuna sandwich, fine but $12 overpriced. Husband's turkey burger was inedible. It had, like, a hard casing around the edge. So weird. But even after cutting that off, it just didn't taste good. Plus I know fries aren't ideal for a take-out order, but when I got them home they were still hot so I had hope. Not very truffley at all for $2 extra and somehow super tough? How do you make fries tough? We got donuts for dessert and those were good, if not crave-able, which saved this from being a one-star review. Maybe the pizza is better? Anyway, there are many restaurants and we have no reason to go back to this one. read more

Rustico - Kamala Melt & truffle fries - New American Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

Very disappointed! We ordered margarita pizza and we got cheese pizza with basil on it. It was just gross. The waiter told us the chef was out of mozzarella and tomatoes so this is how he made it! What? They tried to fix it and gave us a pepperoni one for free but it was just not good! It was the same cheese pizza with some pepperoni thrown on top! It was sweet (I swear)!! I am so sorry to give such a negative review as I know businesses are struggling during the pandemic. But this was not acceptable. Ps- the waiter was nice! read more

We had a wonderful time until I received notification from the credit card company that my card was overcharged by $20.00. I paid the bill with the credit card and personally gave the server $20.00 in cash for the tip so why was did my bill go from $74.38 to $94.38 when the transaction posted! This is criminal and absolutely unacceptable. I am filing a dispute immediately. read more

PLEASE, Rustico staff, READ THIS: pack cold items with other cold items. Pack hot items in a SEPARATE bag. Why would you place a hot entree in the middle of two salads? No matter how many times one kindly requests, they always fail. It should not even be an issue, especially since many use the carry-out option now. read more

I'm the guy who left last night without paying. I created a special Yelp account to provide feedback. Prior to yesterday, I had dined at Rustico many times over the past decade. I won't again. First, it took over 15 minutes for the server to bring me a beer and a glass of water without ice. The restaurant was not busy, only about 1/4 occupied. My pizza and salad came out. The food was fine. The server never checked on me again until I was nearly done. I observed her chatting with customers at the far end of the bar. Fine, she probably knew them, but she ignored everyone else. She finally dropped the check off. I left my card, and went to pee, figuring, the card would be returned. It was still on the table when I came back. My original intention was to pay the bill but talk with a manager about the horrible service, and why I wasn't leaving a tip. I stood by the front "greeting space" and place where servers tap in their order for several minutes. Not one person came out to ask me if I needed help. Several observed me, and my server was back chatting up the people at the end of the bar. I then walked out. I normally tip 20-25% and in cash. A family member is a server, so I tip well and understand that servers prefer cash. I note that there's another review from 4/4 about the terrible service. I understand that it may be difficult to attract servers. But good ones can easily make $30-35 an hour (as a family member does, and they work at a place similar to Rustico, not a fancy French restaurant). I've never walked out without paying in my life! I travel for business 75 days a year, and have been an elite Yelp member for many years. I won't be back, and unless Rustico corrects its service issues, you all shouldn't be in business. read more

This place was a great find their vodka pizza that I ordered was the . My daughter is a picky eater but she ate her entire burger that she ordered which is also rare. Don't get me started on dessert It is a little pricey but worth it in terms of taste and quality of the food, venu location. Why 4 stars: There are some things on the menu that cannot be ordered (you have to order online). One of my plates were dirty. Overall this was a good spot. It gives me date night or hanging with a small crew vibes. I will frequent this location. read more

I ordered a pizza and salad online. After about 45 minutes I phoned the restaurant because I didn't receive any status messages. The host said that the food was sitting next to him. I live about 5 minutes away. When I arrived, the food was sitting at the host stand. I mentioned to the host that I didn't receive a message and the online status never showed ready to pickup. He sort of shrugged his shoulders. When I asked if it had been sitting long, he said no. When I returned home, the pizza was cold and the crust hard as a rock (indication that said pizza had been sitting a while). This is my second bad experience at Rustico (one in Ballston and one in Alexandria). I guess I've learned my lesson. read more

I used to rave about these guys. The pizza and the beer were awesome. I could not stop telling my friends about Rustico. Now, they suck. They are terrible. The pizza is more expensive but it's gotten smaller. When I got home after ordering from here a few months ago, I threw half of the pizza away. I'm just picking up an order with extra cheese and extra pepperoni. I'm assuming they put extra cheese on it. And although they charged me for the extra pepperoni, they did not place any on the pizza. I requested that they remake the pizza. Then they simply took the existing pizza, threw on some pepperoni and brought it back to me in 3 minutes. That's for a $27 individual size pizza. Please do not waste your time. This is the last time I will ever be here. Don't waste your time. Make the extra drive to Matchbox read more

Went last night for Valentine's Day with my finance and boy what an experience. The restaurant is going with a "contactless" ordering system, which is more complicated than it should be and they don't really give you instruction. We had 5 tables in our area and every one had severe issues with getting correct food, one table next to us got there salad in a to go box because the staff kept making mistakes. I'm pretty sure we had 5-6 dishes come to our table that weren't ours, so it's entertaining that we had more contact with the "contactless" system than the normal experience. I wouldn't be happy knowing my food was going all around the restaurant in the Covid era. Hard pass on this one folks, you can do much better. read more

So, it's date night, and we were looking for a new place to get some good eats and maybe a high-gravity beer or seven. Then, like an epiphany, my wife remembered that she had a voucher to Rustico as a reward for previous volunteer work. And I'm never going to turn down a meal or a voucher (I don't care if it's a voucher for a physical exam. Ok, I'm definitely exaggerating. Maybe just a booster shot.) So arriving to the spot, I'm immediately pleased with the ample parking available. You can either park on the street or in the parking lot adjacent the complex. The host greeted us with a friendly smile and seated us next to a window per our request. Our waiter was training a Jew guy. Both were very friendly. Our waiter recounted the specials and was very helpful in recommending a good house brew. I got the abraxxo, which has notes of vanilla bean, chiles, and ground cinnamon. The beer was very tasty and crisp. The grub : As a starter, we shared the black pepper, Parmesan cheese, and garlic popcorn. It was good, but we could tell that it was sitting around for a while. We hoped for the freshest popcorn, but won't die on that hill. For entrees, I got the pepperoni pizza and my wife got the Rustico burger. Both were excellent. The pizza was personal sized, but very filling. The pepperoni was a little spicy and fresh. There was minimal sauce, but the brick oven crust was chewy and airy. For dessert, we shared an amazing chocolate molten cake with vanilla gelato. It was ecstasy on a plate with strawberries. I look forward to my next visit there. read more

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We went here for dinner the other night and had the best time! The service was really good! Our waitress stopped by our table tons of times to check on us. I had the pan roasted mahi, which was good. However I wish that I had ordered some aides to go with it. The dish comes with butternut squash, but it was a small portion. While the fish was good, I couldn't help but wish that I had ordered the pizza. A group behind us ordered pizza that looked divine. We wanted to get the 1/2 roasted mushroom & 1/2 Italian sausage pizza. Turns out that can't be done since the base sauce is different. The manager offered some suggestions for us and we ordered the cheese and sausage pizza. I really appreciated the extra effort to make our dining experience a success. The beer menu here is gigantic! I tried two stout beers; both were darn good! I really enjoyed everything here. Can't wait to go back! read more

Rustico - Pan roasted mahi - New American Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

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My wife and I came here during the Alexandria Restaurant week. Rustico was offering a $35 for a couple dinner during the week. It was a very good deal and we decided to o try it out. They didn't have the entire menu available for the restaurant week dinner, but there were ample options. For appetizers, we got the falafel w/ tsaztsiki dip and the bbq pork sliders. Both were really nice. The sliders come with a slice of pickle on the top, which gives a really nice addition to the flavor. For the main course, we asked the Hickory Grilled Brisket and the Four Cheese Pizza with chickpea crust (though we ended up with the mushroom pizza and didn't complain). The brisket was really tender. It comes with a side of mashed potatoes, which complimented the brisket very well. The chickpea crust pizza is typically for individuals with gluten allergy, but we decided to give it a try anyway. It was really nice and I'd recommend trying it out. As for desserts, we got the rustico donuts, which dome with chocolate sauce. Although we were really full by this point, we made just enough space to squeeze in some donuts! read more

Rustico - Roasted Mushroom Pizza - New American Near Me - Alexandria, Virginia

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We try desperately to like this place, but they make it so hard. The beer selection used to be great, but they seldom have the great Belgian beers they used to have on draft. The pizza here is great, but the service lately has been a real struggle. The last time we were there, the draft lines were down, but the bartender didn't bother to mention it to us. When we asked for a draft beer, she seemed mad at us for even suggesting such a thing. We have had her as a bartender before and we were not impressed. We have now avoided her shifts, actually, we have just avoided going back in general. read more

We stopped in as a family of four to try them out for Restaurant Week. It wasn't very busy on the weeknight that we went. It was nice that they allow happy hour service from dining room tables, as we were able to take advantage of some of their happy hour pricing for an appetizer and wine. As for the entrees, they have a nice menu with several unique items, as well as many of the typical stuff. They also have a brick oven to make pizza and that oven does a great job with making the dining room smell great! Their heirloom salad was outstanding! The arctic char was prepared nicely. Their donuts were amazing! The service was ok. We had a difficult keeping our server around or finding him when we needed him. He was friendly, just not as attentive as he should have been. Also, they might want to work on those restrooms a little to be sure they're clean and smell nice. The decoration and looks of the restaurant were eclectic and really appealing. Overall it was decent. read more

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The best comment I can give is they have parking. The service was terrible, the ac was broken, the fans were broken, the bathrooms- half were out of order. The manager was asked for, he never came. The food was mediocre at best. My comment about this place, run in another direction! read more

If the review was simply for the service, Rustico would get 5 stars for Lindsay. COVID makes the already stressful job of a server even more difficult, but nothing seemed to phase her. She went above and beyond to make sure that we were comfortable at our table, with the ordering process, and even made sure that we got another drink at last call even though the app was no longer letting us order. She was clearly smiling and friendly even under her mask, and made the whole weird experience of dining out in these times seamless and enjoyable. The food at Rustico is solid although nothing to rave about (the Vodka sauce pizza looked very original on the menu but was essentially just a cheese pizza with a sh*t ton of garlic). We were really grateful to have lots of gluten-free options, including some really good chick-pea pizza crust, gluten-free beer, and a dee-li-cious fudgy brownie sundae. read more

TL:DR good food, indifferent service in the bar area. Had a greatpizza and salad but literally watched a guy come in and sit a few seats down the bar- he left when he was completely ignored by the bartenders for a solid 7 minutes while they did tasks and yukked it up with other customers on a verrry slow night. They noticed him leave but didn't seem to care at all. Bonus: the host was great. read more

In the last year I've been here four times. And I think today marks the last. As usual, I try to give an establishment at least three times to make a well informed decision before rating them. This isn't always the case, but most of the time it is. My past reviews should show this. Anyway, on with the show, shall we? Rustico is a well designed restaurant with plenty, plenty of seating options. Indoor and out. Well maintained and clean. Nice decorations. The staff are friendly, attentive and knowledgeable of the menu. The important part... The food. And this is why the place gets two stars(they are lucky to get that) The food is horribly inconsistent. It's either good, mediocre, or just simply bad. Notice how I didn't say great. Well, it's never been that. I've had their pizzas twice, and they have been overcooked, dry, basic and generally tasteless. It's sad cause I can't stand fast-food pizza joints like Pizza Hut and of the like and they have better pizza(not to mention much cheaper) than Rustico has. It's depressing really. Paying $18 for their Butchers pizza is a complete waste of money. It was so hard, tasteless and the crust was burnt to the point where the whole thing was hard to eat. They even managed to burn the cheese. Which there was barely that on it to begin with. Hands down some of the absolute worst pizza I've ever had. Their burgers are sometimes a better choice. Still however a crap shoot. Over all, although it's a nice place for atmosphere and perhaps good old fashion drunken times at the bar, the food generally sucks and isn't worth your time. read more

We have been to this location several times and have always enjoyed ourselves. Food is absolutely delicious. Zero complaints. Why I am writing this particular review is to give a shout-out to our amazing server, Sedge. He was friendly, able to make an excellent beer recommendation, efficient, and accurate. Thank you, Sedge, for helping us to have a lovely evening out. read more

Late lunch on Saturday was delightful. We had cocktails and wine to drink. The food, baked feta dip, cauliflower app, tater tots were all delicious. The cheese pizza was also delicious, although a bit greasy. The service was interesting as we had many different people brining, wine, drinks and food at different times. The patio was nice, but could have used some soft music playing. read more

The perfect powdered donuts & eggs Benedict! Finally found a place that has 2 of my favorite foods perfectly cooked! Good coffee also.

The restaurant was clean and nice vibe. The food wasn't bad but there wasn't a lot of options. Service was good as well.

New to the area and thought this would be a nice place to add to our list. We were wrong. Hostess told us her manager said she "needs to be mindful about where she sits couples." The hostess apologized and sat us at a tiny two-person table in the corner while booths and other tables were open. Every couple after us was seated at the booths that were open when we arrived. That treatment made us feel less than. Yes, we were the only 'diverse' couple in the restaurant at the time, and those who were seated after us were not. If it wasn't discriminatory or wrong, why apologize? As for the food, the spinach artichoke dip was delicious, but the rest of the food was alright, nothing spectacular. read more