UMI Buffet Opens in Alexandria: Hot Pot, Sushi and Seafood Buffet Prices, Hours and What to Know

UMI Hot Pot Sushi & Seafood Buffet opened Saturday, September 12, 2026 at 4650 King Street in Alexandria, in the space that used to be a TGI Fridays. It is an all-you-can-eat seafood, sushi, hot pot and grill buffet, and the pricing is the headline: $25.99 for weekday lunch, $39.99 for dinner and all day on weekends, with bubble tea, fruit tea and the rest of the drink bar included when you dine in.

UMI runs more than 30 buffets on the East Coast and lists Alexandria as its only open Virginia location, with Rockville and Catonsville as the nearest Maryland stops. On opening morning the ice held snow crab legs, oysters, crawfish, steamed blue crabs and razor clams, the sushi bar was restocking rolls and nigiri, and the ramen station was cooking bowls to order. UMI’s Alexandria page.

UMI Alexandria buffet prices

Everything below comes off the menu card and the price board inside the restaurant. Prices are before tax, and a 15 percent gratuity is added for parties of six or more.

Kids note: the menu card says children over 10 pay adult prices, so an 11-year-old is $25.99 at lunch and $39.99 at dinner.

What is on the seafood line

The seafood station is the reason most people will drive here. Snow crab legs sit on ice in a pile you serve yourself, and UMI says they are available at lunch as well as dinner. Around them at the opening: steamed shrimp, oysters, clams, razor clams, steamed blue crabs, crawfish in a spicy sauce, squid, grilled scallops, salmon, steamed flounder, stuffed shrimp, coconut shrimp and crabmeat baked with cheese. Lobster and king crab legs were on the ice on opening morning too, though neither is printed on the menu card, so ask before you count on them.

UMI’s own pitch is that seafood is flown in fresh seven days a week from more than 12 countries. That is the company’s claim, not something we can check from the dining room. What we can say is that the trays were being swapped out constantly during the first hour of service.

Sushi and sashimi

The sushi bar runs two lanes. One is rolls and nigiri: salmon, tuna, shrimp and tamago nigiri, inari pockets stuffed with seaweed salad, California-style rolls and a rotating set of topped specialty rolls. The other is sashimi, sliced at the station and laid out in trays of salmon, tuna and white fish over ice, with seaweed salad alongside. For a buffet, the sashimi is the part worth going out of your way for. It is cut to order rather than sitting pre-plated.

Hot pot and made-to-order ramen

Hot pot works the way it does at a dedicated hot pot restaurant, minus the bill. Pick a soup base, load a tray from the display case with sliced beef, pork belly, seafood, greens, mushrooms, tofu and noodles, build a dipping sauce at the sauce bar, then cook it in your own pot at the table. UMI says there are four broths, and its site singles out a Sichuan mala broth.

The ramen counter next to the BBQ line makes bowls to order in tonkotsu, miso, seafood and a house “Umi Mystery” broth. It is included with the buffet when you dine in. If you only want a bowl to go, ramen is $9.99 at carry-out.

The grill and the hot line

The beef section lists rib-eye steak, T-bone steak, oxtail, beef short ribs and lamb chops, and the lamb chops were on the line at the opening. Pork comes as grilled spare ribs and braised pork belly, both out on opening morning. Chicken runs from wings and General Tso’s to Thai-style and a marinated chicken. The hot line also carries dim sum steamers, dumplings, lo mein, string beans, spring rolls, fried banana, pizza, onion rings and french fries for the kids who came for none of the above.

Soups include hot and sour, seafood, a traditional Chinese chicken soup, a chicken herb soup and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, the slow-cooked seafood and meat soup that rarely shows up on a buffet.

Drinks and dessert are included

Every drink is included for dine-in guests. The self-serve station pours milk tea, taro milk tea, Thai tea and fruit slushies, and the menu adds bubble tea, fruit tea, mango pomelo sago and Ramune soda. Dessert is a case of flan, jello, ice cream, taro cake, cheesecake, coconut cake, chocolate cake and strawberry cake, plus fruit.

The rules to know before you go

Carry-out buffet by the pound

If you do not want to sit down, UMI sells the buffet to go by weight. The board lists regular food at $9.99 a pound, a mix with seafood at $11.99 a pound (no snow crab legs), seafood at $13.99, sushi at $13.99, sashimi at $19.99 and snow crab legs at $19.99 a pound. Ramen to go is $9.99. Drinks are not included with carry-out.

Where UMI is in Alexandria, and parking

UMI is at 4650 King Street, in Alexandria’s West End, on King Street just west of I-395, before North Beauregard Street. It is the building that housed a TGI Fridays for years, now with a new facade, three pink blossom trees out front and a mirrored ceiling inside. It sits in a shopping center lot with free parking, and a sign at the entrance points to covered parking behind the building.

It is roughly three miles from Old Town by car, and Alexandria’s DASH and Metrobus routes run along King Street. There is no Metro station within walking distance, so plan to drive or ride-share.

About UMI, and the Maryland locations

UMI Hotpot Sushi & Seafood Buffet started in the Northeast and has grown to more than 30 locations across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Florida, Texas and beyond, with several more marked coming soon, including Henrico, Virginia. Food Republic named it one of the 11 best seafood buffets in America in August 2026, pointing to the 200-plus items, seafood from 12 countries and the fact that some families drive close to two hours for one dinner.

The closest existing locations are Rockville, at 1471 Rockville Pike, and Catonsville, at 5624 Baltimore National Pike. UMI runs a free rewards program with an app for points, and the brand posts openings and specials at @umipremiumbuffet. All UMI locations.

For more openings across the region, see this month’s things to do in Northern Virginia and our restaurant coverage.

Frequently asked questions about UMI Buffet in Alexandria

Photographs by DC Spot, taken at UMI Alexandria on opening day, September 12, 2026.

Published September 12, 2026. Prices, hours, the kids and senior rules, the two-hour dine-in limit and the carry-out rates were read off UMI Alexandria’s printed menu card and in-store signage on opening day. Hours, phone and the reservation status were checked against UMI’s Alexandria location page and its Google Business listing. The 200-plus items, 12-country sourcing and daily air freight figures are UMI’s own claims. The Food Republic ranking is dated August 1, 2026. What is on the buffet line changes by day and service, so treat the item lists as what was out at the opening, not a guarantee.