Support For Del Ray Businesses Urged After Power Outage

ALEXANDRIA, VA — After a Saturday power outage affected Del Ray businesses during one of the neighborhood's largest events of the year, the Del Ray Business Association is encouraging residents to support restaurants that were closed.

The power outage affected approximately 350 customers around Mount Vernon Avenue, Dominion Energy spokesperson Peggy Fox shared on social media. The cause of the outage was related to underground switch and cable equipment.

Due to the Art on the Avenue festival happening Saturday, Dominion Energy would complete the bulk of repairs after the event. Power was restored around 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

The outage drew criticism from Mayor Justin Wilson.

"Plunging a central business district into darkness for the better part of their biggest day of the year, with no inclement weather, is UNACCEPTABLE," Wilson tweeted.

He cited a previous ALX Now article in which he calls for several steps to address frequent outages in the city.

While Art on the Avenue continued despite the outage, businesses with outages lost customers they would have received during the large-scale event. Art on the Avenue is typically one of Del Ray's largest events, drawing thousands to the neighborhood.

"During Art on the Avenue, a power outage closed many of our restaurants for a full day on Del Ray's busiest day of the year," reads a social media post from the Del Ray Business Association. "After enduring an unbelievably challenging year, many of our restaurants had to send home staff and watch over 50,000 potential customers walk by."

The Del Ray Business Association shared the following restaurants open Sunday after the power outage. If you know of other businesses affected by the outage, share information in the comments below.

• Cheesetique Del Ray: open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
• The Dairy Godmother: open 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
• Del Ray Pizzeria: open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
• Holy Cow: open 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday
• Just Fine Donuts: open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
• Los Tios Grill: open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday
• Piece Out Del Ray: open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday
• Pork Barrel BBQ: open 11:30 a.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday
• Spice Kraft Indian Bistro: open 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
• St. Elmo's Coffee Pub: open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
• Taqueria Poblano: open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday
• The Sushi Bar: open 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday
• Miss Preeti's 7-11: open 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday