Feeling Virtuous: Lovely Dog Friendly Cafe in Alexandria

Vegetarian sweet potato tacos

Many restaurants claim to be dog friendly. But Virtue Feed & Grain goes a step further. The Alexandria, VA restaurant has a menu just for dogs.

Rules for dog friendly dining

Only the patio is open to dogs, and there are some rules. Though washing your hands before eating seems like a good life plan, not just for those bringing their pups.

Spicy fish tacos

The restaurant also has a kid's menu and has plenty of vegetarian options. I had sweet potato tacos, a veggie riff on fish tacos. Pickled jalapeños, pickled red onions and goat cheese gave it plenty of flavor.

Quinoa salad

The fish tacos had guacamole and a spicy green salsa.

We also had a veggie packed quinoa salad with beets, radishes, tomatoes and peas.

Dogs could get beef and rice or steak. There was even a vegetarian option; frozen yogurt 'bones' with apples. Too cute.

Staying cool in the Mazda3

Too hot to open the moonroof on the Mazda3

We drove a too cute Mazda3 Grand Touring, which easily fit four adults. Though Mazda doesn't make  hybrid or electric cars, its vehicles get great gas mileage. This fuel efficient car got 35 miles per gallon on the highway.

Great comfort to drive a car that is a top safety pick

The weekend we were in Washington, DC, it was almost 100 degrees, so too hot for biking to Alexandria. We were glad to have the car for the quick trip to Old Town Alexandria.

It was too hot to open the sunroof, but the car cooled off quickly. And since I tend to run cooler than my husband, he appreciated the cooled front seats and the dual climate control.

Mazda packs a lot in

Hatchback with rear wiper in Mazda3

The Mazda3 offers great value, too. The base price is under 25K, and that includes rain sensing windshield wipers, the sunroof, (called a moonroof) blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert.

The model I drove had a premium package for $1000 that included the nav system, radar cruise control, paddle shifters, lane keep assist, high beam control and heated steering wheel.

Note: Mazda loaned me the Mazda3 for this trip.