Al’s Steak House

If the menu was handwritten, it would’ve took this small spot up a notch in the «best whole in the wall» category.
As I sat down waiting for my classic philly cheesesteak, everyone from construction workers, business men, retired couples, and young people like me find this quaint «hole» as a great place for a quick hearty lunch to satisfy your cravings for cheesy, meaty, and … hot-​ty (?) hoagie sandwich.
Careful on how many people you invite or be prepared to make secondary plans if the dining room suddenly becomes full during lunch hour. White dining area has probably 6 tables and 15 chairs from the 70s
Nevertheless, the tasty sandwich home or back to your desk and let it all melt in your mouth!

Probably one of the best cheesesteaks I’ve ever had. It was perfectly sloppy just the way I like them. I would have given it 5 stars if it weren’t for two things. 1) It’d be nice if they had more space to sit and eat in (IDK, maybe it was meant to only be a carry-​out). 2) For some strange reason the credit card machine is in the back. I wasn’t comfortable with the cashier having to take my card in the back to charge it. I don’t like not being able to see when someone is charging my card. With all of the credit card fraud going on this days, this is something management should definitely change. Having a credit card machine out of sight leaves too much opportunity for credit card numbers to be stolen. I’ll be using cash from now on when I visit Al’s.

Huge, enormous, impossible to eat this sub. The bread is was so limped, the whole thing just felt apart before I tried to hold it. Poorly seasoned, gigantic piece of sub that is unnecessary to serve that much of meat… Dissapointed…

Lets be real, this place has solid room, and no place to sit down and eat inside… can’t be 5 stars, but the cheesesteak does make it a 4.

it is painful to leave such a low rating for a local business, but our dinner was gross. maybe al’s is better for lunch? I definitely won’t be trying it again to find out.
we walked in around 6:30 pm on a week night, ordered a chicken philly, steak and cheese, onion rings, and cheese sticks. the guy who took our order was very friendly and the food came out quickly, hence earning 2 stars.
when we opened the food at home (approximately 5 minutes later), we realized one of the sandwiches was wrong. the cheese sticks were not melty. the onion rings were not at all fresh or warm. my chicken philly itself was ok I guess, but flavorless and dry. I added ranch dressing, which helped immensely. then, to top it all off, 30 minutes later we both had stomach aches. bleh.

The food was very very bland here and lacked taste and seasoning. Decent portion for the medium steak and cheese but not worth trying. Sadly, that’s all I have to say.

First time here. Food was outstanding, but the service was terrible. They were not that busy, yet our order took over 30 minutes to get to us –to go. This was for two cheesesteaks and an order of onion rings. I expect more, dropping $ 25 for lunch.

On our second trip out to Al’s and we got the goods (four Roman Sandwiches) to go. I am tempted to deduct a star for how greasy these were but upon further examination, here’s why. They upgraded their meat to bread ratio. Still delicious and I had steak leftover for my favorite, more steak sandwiches! I had the luxury of having spare fresh Italian bread from my local bakery and was reminded, sometimes, things just work themselves out.

The classic American working-​class cheesesteak.
Sadly the owner recently died. I visited the evening of his passing.

I had a taste for a good steak and cheese today. I rang the Chinese food joint to order from them and after being spoke to like an animal, I decided to take my money elsewhere. I googled «best cheese steaks in Alexandria, VA» and found Al’s. After reading reviews, I was convinced. I phoned in my order for carry out and headed over to retrieve the goodies. I was VERY pleased with my overstuffed, scrumptious mushroom cheese steak.
Please note that prices on Unilocal are not true to order. When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was that my sub was going to be about a dollar more than I carved out in my mind. I ended up spending over $ 10 for one sub alone, but it was definitely a great one-​time splurge. :-)

Not very good. I ordered to-​go one night (but ate mine on the way home in the car) because my friend was craving cheesesteak but we were not pretty disappointed. He ordered the Steak & American Cheese & I ordered the Steak, Mushroom & Green Pepper, both medium sizes. The cheesesteaks were both too greasy & the steak was also very bland & had no flavor. The seasoning on the mushroom & green peppers on my cheesesteak was a little sour to my taste. Though I will say that the portions were huge, definitely could not have even eaten half of a large size. Our order also came with a side of Fries which was horrible, Fries that are worse than cafeteria fries you had when you were in grade school.
The price of both cheesesteaks came out to about $ 22, which is overpriced for the quality. I would much rather drive to Philly to get cheesesteaks & pay the same price.
Definitely not a place I would recommend, just as personal preference. The staff was friendly, but not the friendliest. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here but I doubt I will be stopping by in the near future if I were in the area. Just not my cup of tea.

We drove out there from PG County and they happened to be closed for vacation until August 3^rd!!! Ugh How frustrating!

I had the mushroom steak with fries to go, although I was eating in because I thought it was too big to eat alone. Thing is, it was sooo sooo good I ate it all. Seeing how many customers were sharing sandwiches made me feel like a monster, so after I was done, I took the empty bag with me to make the employees think I only ate half.
If you’re are around the neighborhood, make sure you stop by. It’s a small place and eating in might be uncomfortable, but it’ll be worth your while! You can order and pick up, or eat in.

I am not sure what people see in Al’s. I went with 2 coworkers who love it. We all ordered the same thing, cheesesteaks. Same exact sandwiches. They loved it. I, however, gave mine away after the first few bites. It is flavorless, dry, poor example of a cheesesteak. I hate to disparage them as a local place and I love local establishments. Which is the main reason I gave 3 and not 2 stars. Give it a try for yourself, but it just wasn’t for me.
I will say that the inside had a fun, philly local feel. It is small and no nonsense like I get in philly.

Mmm, very delicious cheeseteaks! We picked up cheeseteaks to go from Al’s Steakhouse recently and really enjoyed our meals. For just $ 10, you get a delicious and very generously portioned cheesesteak. They say the sandwich is only 8″ but it certainly feels much bigger than that. I still recommend getting a side with your food. We got some chips with our cheesesteaks and it paired well. I ordered my sandwich with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and green peppers. Very delicious! They were very generous with the meat and the sauce they used paired very well with it.
There isn’t much seating at the restaurant and it’s bustling with people in the evenings (though most people seemed to take their sandwiches to-​go).
Service was friendly and very efficient. Our sandwiches were ready within 5 – 10 minutes.
Was it the best cheesesteak I’ve ever had? No, Jims Steaks on South Street in Philly still has everywhere else beat when it comes to cheesesteaks. But it was certainly wonderful for a restaurant in the DC area. I’d definitely visit again!

Finally had an opportunity to eat at Als Steak and cheese in the heart of Del Ray. I went during a monday lunch rush, which I know not to ever do again. 30 minute wait for two sandwiches that weren’t really any special order.
I got a steak and american cheese with tomatoes and mayo (minus the standard lettuce).
The sandwich itself was pretty good. Generous helping of meat and cheese, overflowing from the bun. The 8 $ price point and half an hour wait set this place in a neutral feeling in my book. I doubt I’ll ever be coming back unless im really fiending for a greasy steak and cheese.

I have only ever gotten cheesesteaks from these guys, so I can’t comment on the rest of the menu. The cheesesteaks are excellent. They are large and delicious. I never intend to eat the entire thing, but I usually can’t stop and it’s gone before I realize it. I typically get with provolone, mayo, and the hot peppers. Fantastic.
Delivery is spotty. They are a busy place and will deliver if they can, but they can’t always do it. Take-​out is easy, though. Eating in is an option, but it’s a small space so seating can be a issue. Doesn’t really matter though, it’s good enough to take it how you can get it.

What if time stopped?
I know theoretically we can travel foward in time (well, we are ALL traveling forward in time, but theoretically you can travel forward faster than everyone else by approaching the speed of light); traveling backward isn’t even logically possible, and Cher will tell you this by dancing in a thong on a battleship.
But I am talking about stopping time. Like, say, you stumbled upon some pretty-​close-​to-​ideal Cheesesteak recipe to be sold in an OK part of town and had some moderate success selling those Cheesesteaks and then time just stopped around 1993. Like you stopped hanging up new sports memorabilia on your walls (did you know Fred Coulpes won The Masters??), you stopped trying to innovate your menu, you even stopped sweeping the floor and cleaning, well, anything.
The Cheesesteaks are very good. You have the option of turning any one of them into a Steak and Cheese by adding lettuce and tomato and such, but the Cheesesteak With is really all you need. Well, that and a completely fictional time machine… so you can go back to before this place stopped caring about everything but their food and find them at their peak?

Al’s Steak House is pretty good. I love the texture of the bread. The steak itself didn’t have enough flavor so I found myself pouring salt on it to bring the flavor out. The price was reasonable. You pay about $ 10 for a sandwich that could feed two people.
The two things that could have made my experience better:
1) The place is dirty. While I was eating inside I happened to look around a bit more and the floors were brown from dirt. I also took a quick peep in the cooking area and didn’t feel as if they put enough into the cleanliness of this place. And once I think a restaurant is dirty… it’s really hard for me to enjoy the food there.
2) They put yellow American cheese on my sandwich. Maybe yellow
American cheese is the closest thing to cheese wiz… but guess what? I don’t like either of them. I asked the guy taking my order «Is it white American cheese?’ and he said yes but it wasn’t. If I would have known, I would have gotten the provolone cheese instead.
Anyway, because this place looks dirty, I won’t be back. But if you don’t care about stuff like that I would recommend this place because the food is good.

Pros: Big portion for the price. Taste would be better if it uses cheesewiz.
Cons: Small place. Sitting is limited. Wait time was pretty long.