The Fairfax Girl Team 
Enter… if you dare. That’s the vibe at 2312 Mt Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, better known as the Del Ray Pop-up Bar. This space used to be a sushi restaurant, but has found a fun second chapter as a perpetual pop-up bar, hosting different themes throughout the year. Each theme stays for about four months and has its own set of decor and a themed food and drink menu. The Fairfax Girl got an early look at the Del Ray Asylum, the Halloween version of the bar, and chatted with co-owner Bill Blackburn about the concept, where the team finds inspiration, and where they store all of the off-season decor. Read on for more about the Del Ray Pop-up Bar, Halloween edition.
Pop-Up Perpetuity
The space at 2312 Mt. Vernon Avenue was a sushi bar from 2013 to 2021. Bill Blackburn, co-owner of the Homegrown Restaurant Group, which operates the space and several other Alexandria restaurants, said that the pop-up concept came out of what was a tough time to be a restaurant owner. “During COVID we had switched to take-out only, but we ended up losing our chef,” he said. “This space ended up becoming sort of a storage space or landing spot for equipment and supplies for our other restaurants. We were trying to figure out what to do next.”
“At the time, it was really hard to get new restaurant equipment; this was in late 2022. There were a lot of supply chain issues from COVID,” Bill said. “We had a bunch of Christmas decorations, and pop-up bars were starting to be trendy, so we figured we’d give it a try.” Over the years, the different themes of the pop-up bar have included Christmas and Halloween, naturally, plus a botanical-themed space, a 1980’s Miami-inspired theme, and a Taylor Swift-themed experience. By far, Christmas and Halloween are the most popular, Bill said. “Everyone loves Halloween, everyone loves Christmas,” he said.
2026 marks the fifth year of the Halloween iteration of the Del Ray Pop-up bar. “The whole team contributes ideas for the themes,” he said. “From Tim, our bar manager, coming up with drinks, to other staff helping to decorate and change out the themes. It takes about a week to 10 days to fully change over.” Bill said that over the years, the team has amassed thousands of pieces of decor that they keep in a storage unit in Newington. “It is bursting at the seams,” he said. “The themes get bigger and bigger each year, so it’s a huge production to get everything moved from the storage unit into the space.”
Del Ray Asylum
This year’s Halloween theme is the Del Ray Asylum, which Bill described as “historical fiction.” The space is decked out in imagined scenes from a haunted asylum, plus nods to classic Halloween characters like Chucky and Michael Myers. The food and drinks are where the team really has fun. Typical bar foods are transformed into gory items like Dead Man’s Fingers (mozzarella sticks) and Zombie Brain Chunks (fried cauliflower tossed in gochujang sauce). The beverage menu was all-but designed with our IG feeds in mind. “Any drink with dry ice is going to photograph really well,” Bill said. “My favorite drink on the menu is the Here’s Johnny.” Here’s Johnny is a nod to the iconic horror film The Shining and is a gin-based drink made with dry ice, for an ultra-spooky effect.
Some of the drinks even come in speciality glassware to match the theme. For example, the Sanderson Sisters is a nod to the witchy trio who star in the Halloween classic Hocus Pocus. The vodka-based drink is served in a ceramic, witchy glass. The Novacaine Nightmare is served in a beaker, complete with a gummy eyeball for garnish. Even the mocktails are included in the theme, such as the Pop Rocks potion, served in an Erlenmeyer flask.
The Del Ray Asylum is 21+ after 8PM. Guests under age 17 must be accompanied by an adult. It is open Tuesday + Wednesday from 5PM – 10PM; Thursday + Friday from 5PM to 12AM; Saturday 2PM to 12AM; and Sunday 2PM to 10PM.
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