Alexandria’s Nostalgic New Bar Is Now Pouring Vintage Cocktails

Local restaurateurs who miss the lunch counters of their youth are paying tribute to long-gone chain Peoples Drug with a neighborhood bar that has a similar ring to it.

Newly opened the People’s Drug (103 N. Alfred Street) doesn’t deal in any of the daily necessities or impulse buys that lined the shelves at its namesake’s pharmacies, focusing instead on gourmet sandwiches and traditional cocktails. The neighborhood eatery, the latest from restaurateur Teddy Kim (Mason Social, the forthcoming Chop Shop Taco), remains on trend with recent restaurant openings favoring glossy white subway tiles, tin ceilings, and Edison bulbs.

Melvin Urrutia, an alum of the Knightsbridge Restaurant Group (Oval Room, Bibiana) is overseeing a kitchen serving bar snacks, a handful of protein-filled bowls, and sandwiches ranging from a pork-filled Cuban with truffle mayo to a house burger stacked with caramelized onions, oyster mushrooms, and sharp cheddar. Mussel Bar alum Jon Schott has composed a drink list featuring familiar cocktails ($12 each) including a last word, bloody mary, paloma, and Moscow mule. A handful of imported and local beers and ciders ($6) are also available, as are six wines by the glass ($10).

The People’s Drug is scheduled to operate from 11 a.m. to midnight daily.

Status: Certified open. 103 N. Alfred Street, Alexandria, Va.; website.

Scroll down to view the opening menu and pictures of featured offerings:

Jacob Prokell/Prokell Photography

Jacob Prokell/Prokell Photography

Jacob Prokell/Prokell Photography

Jacob Prokell/Prokell Photography

Jacob Prokell/Prokell Photography

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