Happy Sunday! Earlier this week, my sister and I were invited in for dinner at Live Oak in Del Ray in Alexandria, and we had such a fun meal, I wanted to share. We put this date on the calendar about a month prior, and when the day of came around, I won’t lie, I felt kind of meh about going. Not because I wasn’t excited about the restaurant, but because it’s so busy this time of year that I’d accidentally scheduled myself something after work every single night, so I was feeling a little bit maxed out. But as it turns out, this sister date to Live Oak was just what I needed during a busy week—great food, great atmosphere, and great company.

I’m a big fan of the Del Ray neighborhood in Alexandria, and the first to admit, I don’t get there enough! My sister and I were a bit early for our 7pm reservation, so we took a scenic route and drove around looking at Christmas lights in the neighborhood while listening to some of our favorite holiday tunes. When we parked in front of Live Oak, our first thought was how cute it was! There’s a big wrap-around porch and an outdoor patio with bistro lights—which I am sure is so popular when it’s warmer out. We were seated at a booth right near the bar and started the night off with a round of drinks. I opted for their Tito’s Cranberry Spiced Mule, which is on tap, and it was so good—and made me feel really festive! It came in the cutest mule glass shaped like a red solo cup, which is shown in the picture above. 

To kick our meal off, Live Oak sent us their pear salad, which was served up with pears, beets, pea shoots, pecans, goat cheese, and drizzled with balsamic. It was a delicious mix of flavors! We then carb-loaded with the most amazing skillet cornbread and fried pickles with remoulade sauce. Fried pickles are far and away my favorite bar food, and unlike most fried pickles I’ve eaten, these weren’t chips, but fried spears. We chatted with Justus, the owner/chef, and he said he uses spears since that’s how they cooked them up at his favorite bar in Harrisonburg.

Thanks so much to Live Oak for having me and a guest in for a complimentary meal. As always, opinions are my own—and I can’t wait to get back to Live Oak for another meal soon; hopefully, brunch!