Don't Pass up this GREAT place
If you want the best food in Old Town, this is where you need to eat. The chef, Klaus, has the standard favorites (made better than you've ever had) as well as some truly inspired specialties. An impressive wine list, great german beers and a wonderful desert menu are the icing on the cake. The exquisite experience of dining at Bistro Europa is unmatched.    [16 Mar 2004 11:03:29]

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Recommended Dishes: Beef Gorgonzola, Jager Schnitzel

     ­Anonymous   

We agree!
We agree with all the superlatives. Extremely fresh and well prepared food (certainly the best German food we've ever had), warmly attentive service. A real winner.    [24 Jul 2004 16:37:31]

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     ­Anonymous   

Mediocre food, expensive for what you get
I don't agree with the superlatives in other reviews. I wonder if those reviewers have eaten at many German restaurants or been to Germany.

My sister took me here for a birthday celebration. I selected Bistro Europa because I had never been there and wanted to try a new place. Big mistake. I live near Old Town Alexandria, and it offers many better restuarants.

We were there on a Thursday night, and the place was almost empty, a bad sign in Old Town any night of the week. There is a bar under the same management upstairs and a sports match must have been on TV, because we could hear the noise. Periodically, the rowdy viewers would shout and cheer and stomp on their floor, which was our ceiling. That ruined the ambiance of the nicely decorated restuarant for me.

I had pork loin with apples. It was over cooked and would have been dry except that it was drowned in a sticky, intensely sweet sauce that tasted a little like maple syrup. The little bit of mixed vegetables was also over cooked as was the tasteless green spaetzle and they were also drowned in the sauce. Perhaps I picked the wrong dish because my sister liked her duck with cranberry sauce.

Wines by the glass were expensive--$7-8 per glass, but good. A half bottle was available for one red wine for $20. More half bottles and carafes of cheaper wine would have been an improvement.

The chocolate decadence cake was gone, so we switched to Black Forest cake. It was sweet and tasteless.

As for moderate cost, the bill came to more than $70 for two entrees, two glasses of wine, and one piece of cake that we split. Save your money and go to Geranio, Le Refuge, Bistro Lafayette, La Bergerie, or Le Gaulois if you are in Old Town Alexandria and want excellent European food.    [26 Apr 2005 14:24:49]

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Recommended Dishes: none

     ­mhop, Alexandria, Virginia   

Big Changes at Bistro
Lester Fields has taken over as the chef at Bistro, and what a difference. All the old German specialties are there, but they've added a slew of terrific steaks. Sweet young staff sometimes shows their inexperience, but they make up for it in enthusiasm. The steaks are clearly the best in Old Town. Don't miss this place. Good seafood, too.    [18 Jun 2007 20:00:26]

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Recommended Dishes: Prime rib or any steak on the menu, Wiener Schnitzel, Jager Schnitzel,

     ­Anonymous