Catch on the Ave. Seafood House Closes After Less Than a Year in Alexandria

Family-friendly seafood restaurant Catch on the Ave. has closed in Del Ray just less than a year after opening on the sometimes sleepy main strip of the Alexandria neighborhood. The restaurant’s Instagram page announced the news Sunday. By Monday, it had been deactivated.

A spokesperson for Common Plate Hospitality says the short-lived restaurant wasn’t generating enough business to justify staying open while also citing “high rents” and “rising labor costs.” Common Plate doesn’t own the space, and the team isn’t sure about who might move in.

The group is turning its focus to its other projects: Old Town modern Mexican spot Urbano 116 (also less than a year old), recently reopened Augie’s Mussel House, and Mason Social.

Catch on the Ave. (2419 Mount Vernon Avenue) moved into the space that formerly housed Snackbar and Caboose Cafe in December 2018, introducing a menu with attention-grabbing dishes like barbecue octopus, buttermilk biscuits with crab fat butter, and a hot catfish sandwich topped with andouille sausage. The menu also featured an Asian bent, with plates like whole rainbow trout in ginger and scallion sauce, shrimp po’ boys with shaved napa cabbage, and bang bang shrimp. Nautical cocktails included a “Blood in the Water” bloody mary for brunch and a “Why is all the Rum Gone?” with Sailor Jerry’s.

• New Del Ray Seafood Joint Opens This Week With Crab Fat Butter Biscuits [EDC]
• A Reborn Mussel House With a Huge Heated Patio Opens in Old Town [EDC]