Alexandria, VA – The handsome Renaissance Revival building on the southwest corner of South Union and King Streets has been home to Mia’s Restaurant for the past eight years.
In the 1960s, several buildings in the immediate area of 100 King Street were operated as Dockside Sales. The colorful Wasser brothers, Don and Vern, ran the company near the waterfront for about a decade. Housed in several warehouse buildings along Union Street, it might have been considered a rustic version of Pier 1 Imports—selling Scandinavian furniture, exotic foods from the East, and other unusual goods from around the world.
Over the past sixty-plus years, however, most occupants of the old warehouse have been restaurants. Prior to Mia’s opening, 100 King Street was purchased and renovated by the group behind another well-known Italian restaurant, Carluccio’s. They took the building down to the studs, reinforcing the structure and rebuilding it from the inside out. Despite the company’s experience operating more than 100 restaurants across Great Britain, Ireland, and the Middle East, the location lasted less than two years.
It’s also worth noting that the Landini brothers got their start here, opening Café Pellicano in 1976 before moving across the street a few years later. I remember enjoying their linguini with clam sauce for less than $4.00.
In the early 1980s, a short-lived restaurant took its name from the building’s original purpose: The Corn Exchange. The building opened in 1871, housing a commodities trading center on the second floor, while the Lindsey family operated a grocery store on the ground floor. That business later became the Lindsey Nicholson Co., which, for many years—into the 1970s—operated as an automotive supply company out of several warehouses along the 100 block of King Street. Descendants of the Lindsey family still live in Alexandria today.
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