Hard Times Cafe

1404 King St, Alexandria - 22314
267 reviews
American Sports Bar
(703) 837-0050

8 years between visits. Food still good with moderate pricing. Service was very poor though. Perhaps they are understaffed. Either way, Wed night and not crowded, from sitting down to paying it took 1 hr and 20 min.

- food was really good, lots of flavor and everything was fresh.- their different Chili's were all good, but would have to say the vegetarian & Cincinnati chili were the best. The Texas chili would be my 3rd favorite then theirTerlingua red which is spicy but honestly not really spicy at all.- first time here and they gave us cornbread and samples of all 4 chilli's. We liked all the different chilli's and the cornbread was extremely good as well.- place was clean and organized.- service was quick and servers did a good job checking the right amount of times where it was not annoying or wondering where they went off too.- plenty of seating and they were not really busy when we had went there for lunch around 2pm- all their staff were extremely friendly and helpful.- prices not bad for the area and you get a decent amount of food for what you pay for.- parking in old town is always hit or miss depending on what's going on in the area but there is parking closed to the location.- nice atmosphere inside and had a welcoming feeling.- over a really nice first experience, I would recommend this location.

Was a warm afternoon walking around Alexandria. Just had a beer at the tables outside. Really wanted to try the chili and cornbread, but was just to warm. Beer was cold and bartender was friendly. Left my mark. Will stop be again next time through.

Still 5 stars. We picked up a carryout dinner of chili and a burger on Sunday, and stopped in for dinner on Monday. The chili and cornbread are fantastic. Although I do like to spice it up a little extra with the vinegar based hot sauce. This was definitely worth walking in the cold and rain to get a great dinner.

Definitely come back, And other food they prepare this, great service with a smile I’ll be back

Was fine for what it was... a bar with greasy hangover food. I will say some of the best cornbread I've ever eaten. They also have four different chilis they make and the server gave us a small sampler when we told him we had never been there before. They serve chili over spaghetti, which is an odd combo but apparently their specialty. Waiter was attentive, place wasn't crowded. Kids didn't care for the food, wings or fries, which is odd- but the chili is pretty good. It's a bar... so like I said, it's fine for what it is.

The food was very delicious and they cooked my burger perfectly as instructed. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because I was given the wrong type of chili and instead of Mac and cheese I got cornbread. I'll eat there again though because the food was good.

We went on a Sunday for dinner. It was nice because it was not crowded, and our kids ate free. The food was great!! The only thing that could have made it better is if we received some complementary pound cake like the couple near us.

I had time to kill while running errands and was lacking lunch. Stopped in, got a bowl of chili with a lot of options, and had a great time with the great staff. Chili is good, atmosphere is better. Looking forward to going back. A good lunch was less than ten bucks, which is an Old Town miracle!

I went here twice. The first time I had no idea which Chili to take so I ordered a platter with samples of each. I liked the veggie most of all. On the next occasion I had boneless wings and tater tots. I loved the tater tots. Also the summer beer was very good.