Updated Aug. 9, 2018
Construction is wrapping up at Rus Uz, a restaurant specializing in Russian and Uzbek cuisine.
The restaurant is opening later this month in the space formerly occupied by Ruby Tuesday, next door to the AMC Hoffman Center 22 movie theater in Alexandria.
Ruby Tuesday closed its doors at that location last year.
The menu includes caviar, Russian potato salad, borsch, beef stroganoff and plov, the national dish of Uzbekistan, which consists of carrots chickpeas, raisins, spices and lamb. The menu will also include imported wines, beer and alcoholic beverages.
Uzbekistan is part of the former Soviet republic; the dominant religion there now is Islam. Most of the cuisine there is influenced by pre-Islamic traditions.
The location at 210 Swamp Fox Road, is the second for the owners; the first is located in Arlington County's Ballston neighborhood at 1000 N. Randolph St.
Washingtonian has named the Ballston locations among its "top 100 cheap eats" and says not to miss the chef's lamb-and-chickpea soup; smoked-fish plate; blini with beef; “Fish Under a Coat” (herring with beets, potatoes, eggs, and mayonnaise); chicken Kiev; lamb shank with roasted potatoes.
New to the Alexandria location will be a tea room.
For more information on the Ballston location, go to rusuz.com.