The city scheduled crews to start digging in Holland Lane's new medians for street trees on Monday, Oct. 26, with the work expected to take about four days if the weather cooperated. The plan closed the southbound lanes between Jamieson Avenue and Eisenhower Avenue on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and sent southbound traffic around on John Carlyle Street. The northbound lanes and the cycle track beside them were to stay open. Sidewalks on both sides were to stay open too, and the city made a point of saying that access to Whole Foods Market would not be affected.
The trees are the last step of a street rebuild, and the timing matters. From Rosemont, Carlyle starts just past the King Street Metro, across Duke Street. Over the past year, the new restaurants in Carlyle have been opening farther south, down by Wegmans, while the square at the old center lost its best-known restaurant. Holland Lane is the street that runs between those two ends.
The square lost its showpiece in February
Whiskey & Oyster served its last night at 301 John Carlyle Street on Saturday, Feb. 28, after nearly seven years. "Mango" Mike Anderson of the Homegrown Restaurant Group told ALXnow that he had not renewed the lease.
"I love Carlyle, and Carlyle has been good to us. Of all our places it was the best looking of the joints, by far. We poured two years into the build-up."
He said that to ALXnow too, and he gave the group's plan in the same interview. Most of the Whiskey & Oyster staff moved to Homegrown's two other Carlyle-area restaurants, Tequila & Taco and Sweet Fire Donna's. Whiskey & Oyster gift certificates can be used at either one.
So the restaurant group stayed in Carlyle, but the address at the center of the square went dark. As of late October, no new tenant has been announced for 301 John Carlyle Street.
The only new food business in the old core this fall is a small one. Fresh Healthy Cafe soft-opened at 2040 Jamieson Avenue in October. It serves smoothies, juices, protein bowls and sandwiches. Back in June, ALXnow reported that the café is a franchise owned by Vijay Balusu. ALXnow's October preview of its grand opening lists hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. It's closed Sundays, so plan around that if you're hoping for a weekend smoothie on the way to the Metro.
That's a grab-and-go counter. The bigger sit-down openings are about a mile south.
Holland Lane was rebuilt for the trip between
Holland Lane connects Duke Street to Eisenhower Avenue along Carlyle's eastern edge. Until this year it was a fast cut-through. The City of Alexandria's project page now calls construction "largely completed." The work added new curb ramps, medians, pavement markings, signs and traffic signals, and it sits alongside the cycle track that runs next to the northbound lanes.
The city has before-and-after speed counts in its October 2026 update:
- 85th-percentile speeds fell by up to 21%.
- The number of drivers going over the 25 mph limit fell by up to 71%.
- Drivers going faster than 30 mph fell by 69% to 86%.
- At the north end of the corridor, top speeds that used to read 55 to 59 mph now read 35 to 39 mph.
A top speed in the high 50s on a 25 mph street is why a walk or bike ride down Holland Lane used to feel like edging along a highway ramp. Now the street has medians that will soon have trees and a protected place to ride. At the far end are the new restaurants.
The south end is getting a separate upgrade too. The city's project for the pedestrian crossing at the Eisenhower Avenue Metro station lists active construction starting in spring 2026, with the full construction window running from January 2025 to June 2027. Expect some work zones around that station well into next year.
Mandeville Lane is where the openings are landing
Carlyle Crossing is the large mixed-use development anchored by Wegmans. Alexandria Living Magazine puts its Mandeville Lane storefronts "steps from Wegmans and a short walk from the Eisenhower Avenue Metro station." This fall, that block has the openings the square doesn't.
| Address | Business | Status as of late October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 2403 Mandeville Lane | Molly's Dog Care | Open since at least July 2025, in the former District Dogs space |
| 2429 Mandeville Lane | Atlas Brew Works Alexandria Brewery & Tap Room, with Andy's Pizza | Opened June 2024; celebrated one year in 2025 |
| 2461 Mandeville Lane | Honeymoon Chicken | Coming soon; Catalogue is aiming for late fall |
| 2471 Mandeville Lane | Ted's Bulletin | Under construction; aiming for November |
Ted's Bulletin is the big one. ALXnow reported that the all-day breakfast restaurant is aiming to open in November at 2471 Mandeville Lane. It will be the chain's ninth location, joining Ballston, Loudoun, Merrifield, Reston, D.C. and Maryland. The restaurant's own announcement promised "all-day breakfast, scratch-made favorites, plenty of coffee, and, of course, Ted's Tarts." As of late October, no exact opening day had been announced.
If you haven't been to one, Alexandria Living tells the backstory. Ted's Bulletin opened on Capitol Hill's Barracks Row in 2010. It's named for Ted Neal, the late father of founders Mark and Ty Neal, who was known for offering neighbors a cup of soup or a sandwich. The "Bulletin" comes from art deco panels the founders saved from the old Philadelphia Convention Hall. The house-made pastries are called Ted's Tarts because of trademark issues with the name you'd expect.
Honeymoon Chicken will be next door at 2461. It will be the fried chicken restaurant's second location. The first opened in D.C.'s Petworth neighborhood in 2022, and a third is in the works in Hyattsville.
Both restaurants belong to Catalogue, the Washington hospitality group founded by Steve Salis. He's also a co-founder of &pizza and the owner of Kramers, the Dupont Circle bookstore and café.
These openings have been planned for years. Alexandria Living first reported in July 2022 that Ted's Bulletin had signed on at Carlyle Crossing, with Catalogue's Sidekick bakery planned for the space next door. In 2024 the company put Honeymoon Chicken in that space instead.
A block of four storefronts holds a brewery, a pizza kitchen, an all-day diner and a fried chicken spot, all a short walk from a Wegmans. The square got a smoothie counter.
The square still has the December crowd
John Carlyle Square Park isn't going quiet, though. The Carlyle Council has the Old Town Alexandria Christmas Market & Holiday Craft Show set for Saturday, Dec. 12, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 300 John Carlyle Street. Admission is free, and the event page lists local artisans, carolers, food, kids' activities and photos with Santa.
Here's how the rest of the season looks from Rosemont:
- Any day in November: Watch for Ted's Bulletin to set an opening date at 2471 Mandeville Lane, with Honeymoon Chicken expected next door later in the fall.
- Saturday, Nov. 21, 6 to 8 p.m.: The city's annual Holiday Tree Lighting. The city calendar still lists the location as to be announced.
- Saturday, Dec. 12, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.: The Christmas Market at John Carlyle Square Park.
For a December Saturday with both ends of Carlyle in it, you could shop the market on the square and then head down Holland Lane for a late lunch on Mandeville Lane. By mid-December, the medians should have their new trees.
Christine Garner has lived in Alexandria all her life and has watched Carlyle grow up just south of the Metro. She keeps track of which blocks are filling in, which spaces are waiting for tenants, and how those changes shape the streets around Rosemont. If you're curious how new openings like these are changing the neighborhoods on either side of Duke Street, Christine Garner is happy to talk it through. Call Christine and talk with an Old Town neighborhood expert.
