Photo by Joe St. Pierre
Life Alive Organic Cafe cuisine
A new vegetarian restaurant and an ice cream shop have plans to open next door to each other in the heart of Old Town Alexandria.
Life Alive Organic Cafe and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream (pronounced van-lou-inn) Ice Cream have plans to open in spaces at 400 King Street, which sits at the corner of King
Rendering courtesy of Board of Architectural Review
Life Alive rendering for 400 King Street building at King and S. Royal streets
and S. Royal streets in the heart of Old Town Alexandria. An architect working on plans for the tenants' spaces recently told members of the Alexandria Architectural Board he is working on plans for the cafe and ice cream shop.
The vegetarian restaurant will take up 3,250 square feet at its spot on King and S. Royal streets with seating for between 70 and 100 patrons.
Life Alive Organic Cafe opened its first restaurant in Lowell, Mass., in 2004. It now has 12 restaurants in Massachusetts, and opened its first outside the state this year in Washington, D.C.’s West End neighborhood, at 2301 M St. NW, serving up salads, grain and acai bowls, wraps, ramen-stye noodles and smoothies, all made from scratch. Check out the menus here.The hours for the D.C. location are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Image courtesy of Life Alive
The D.C. Life Alive Organic Cafe location
Now, two of the cafes will be opening in Northern Virginia, first in Ballston and then in Old Town Alexandria.
The company-owned restaurants pride themselves in using locally sourced produce and providing eclectic dining room spaces meant for lingering by patrons. Its DC location advertises that it is "flooded with natural light," and offers "ample plugs and wifi."
Ice cream shop
Image courtesy of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream
The Van Leeuwen Ice Cream shop at National Landing, which opened last summer.
Although there is no shortage of ice cream shops in Alexandria, there is always room for more!
Here’s what we know about Van Leeuwen Ice Cream:
In the summer of 2008, Ben Leeuwen and his brother Peter and his partner Laura O’Neill started an ice cream business in New York, out of a 1988 Post Office truck he bought on eBay for $2,500, spending $40,000 to convert it into an ice cream truck, according to an article from Skidmore College, Ben's alma mater. They launched their business the day after Ben and Laura were married. They opened their first ice cream shop in 2010 in Brooklyn. Although Ben and Laura have since divorced, they are still in business together.
The American private equity firm Nextworld invested $18.7 million in the company in 2020. Van Leeuwen opened their 30th store in 2022 and has more than 70 stores as of December 2024.
Like Life Alive Organic Cafe, Van Leeuwen opened its first Virginia location last summer in Arlington with plans to open its next Commonwealth location in Alexandria. The Arlington location is now open at 269 19th Court South, Suite 80 in Arlington's National Landing neighborhood.
Photo courtesy of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream
Praline Butter Cake ice cream cone, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream
What makes their ice cream so good? Van Leeuwen Ice Cream sources South American chocolate, Sicilian pistachios, and hazelnuts from the Piedmont region of Italy, according to the Skidmore College article. The summer Vegan Mango Sorbet uses Alphonso mangoes. The company frequently partners with chefs to create one-of-a-kind flavors like Sour Cherry Creamsicle, a swirl of vanilla ice cream and Sour Morello Cherry Sorbet, a collaboration with Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
Vegetarians visiting Life Alive will enjoy stopping next door for vegan ice cream which is also on the menu at Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.
No timeline is yet available for opening dates; stay tuned!
