Looking for a place to find a great meal in Arlington? Look no further than these nine eateries our critics selected as some of the 50 Best Restaurants of 2025. You’ll find top-of-the-line sushi, fast-casual fusion, comforting Southern food, and more to satisfy any craving.
By Alice Levitt, Dawn Klavon, and Monica Saigal
Price Key: Entrées = $ 15 and under | $$ 16–25 | $$$ 26–40 | $$$$ 41 and over | * = prix fixe only
Café Colline
Arlington | French | $$$
We all wish we had a regular haunt off the Champs Elysées. Here, the golden-hour glow filters through tall windows, lighting up whitewashed walls, café tables, and a bar that hums with regulars sipping French martinis.
Start with the roasted beets and Puy lentils, stacked into a jewel-toned tower and crowned with blue cheese. The heirloom tomato salad, layered with slivers of cucumber and compressed ricotta, is summer dressed for dinner.
But it’s the moules frites that cause the real stir. The black-shelled mussels swim in a white wine and tarragon broth so delectable you’ll guard the bowl from your tablemates. Then comes the loup de mer, seabass blanketed in toasted almonds and floating over tender haricots verts. End your meal with the house-churned vanilla ice cream, kissed with fresh mint and spearmint oil.
Café Colline doesn’t just transport you to another country. It tempts you to stay awhile and return often.
Eat This: Roasted beets, moules frites, loup de mer
Carbonara (No. 8)
Arlington | Italian | $$$
As quickly as you can say “red sauce Italian,” most of us already know what our order will be. But while there’s nothing wrong with a craving for fried mozzarella or spaghetti and meatballs, it’s a pity not to take advantage of veteran chef Mike Cordero’s showmanship.
NoVA food obsessives likely already know about the housemade bucatini, spun tableside in a wheel of parmigiana. But since Carbonara’s debut last year, Cordero has continued to break new ground.
Where else will you find chicken parmigiana gnocchi? The Frankenstein of earthly delights features an enormous, flat chicken breast beneath a blanket of melted mozzarella. A server comes to the table and slowly eases a pile of airy gnocchi in vodka sauce on top of the breaded bird. You may only succeed in eating half, but that means more to love as leftovers.
This is one Italian destination where it’s best to keep an open mind and choose the chef’s latest edible innovation.
Eat This: Fritto misto, chicken parmigiana gnocchi, pistachio-ricotta dusted cake
CHĪKO
Arlington & Sterling | Chinese and Korean | $$
Practically as soon as you order them, there are bowls on the table at CHĪKO. But don’t call it fast food. With chefs Scott Drewno and Danny Lee at the helm, this casual, inexpensive local chain boasts James Beard–fueled cred. Indeed, the pair have been nominated by the famous foundation more than once, most recently as outstanding restaurateurs this year.
At the family-friendly NoVA locations, diners can expect big flavor that comes from the chefs’ dual expertise in Chinese and Korean cuisine. Where else can you make a meal of some of the crispiest Korean fried chicken around, paired with pulled lamb and ropy fresh noodles in a Hunan-influenced sauce?
For many chefs, dessert is an afterthought, but the coconut custard — which gets an unusual spin thanks to a shower of spicy gochugaru and lime zest — is worth a trip on its own. Food may come out quickly, but this well-oiled machine makes meals you can feel great about sharing with sophisticated friends.
Eat This: Double-fried chicken wings, cumin lamb stir fry, coconut custard
Padaek
Arlington | Lao | $$
The first thing you notice at Padaek is the mural of hibiscus and orchids tumbling across the wall like a Laotian garden in full bloom. The second is the energy from tables packed with diners.
Chef Seng Luangrath builds her menu around comfort and memory. Crispy Lao chive cakes arrive warm and herb-packed, sharpened by tamarind sauce. Garlic chicken wings, sticky and crackling, are impossible to resist. Kao pad brings fried rice studded with basil and peppers, while the crispy blue catfish, bathed in a chile-herb sauce, anchors the table. Service is quick and gracious, the kind that keeps the evening moving without ever rushing you.
Then comes dessert: Mango sticky rice draped in coconut cream, sesame seeds glinting on top. Like the mural at the door, it leaves you with brightness, warmth, and a reason to come back.
Eat This: Lao chive cakes, catfish stir-fry, mango sticky rice
Ruthie’s All-Day
Arlington | Southern | $$$
Step inside Ruthie’s and you’ll feel like you’ve been invited to someone’s home. Not just any home, but one where the brisket is legendary and the midcentury charm is effortlessly cool. Housed in a former 1950s ice cream shop, this all-day diner hums with the joy of comfort food reimagined, from its citrusy mocktails to its smoke-kissed meats.
Start with the deviled eggs. They are whipped until silky and topped with garlic croutons that crackle with flavor. The brisket is fork-tender and deeply smoky, served with pickled cucumbers and fluffy milk bread. For sides, the hand-punched fries arrive hot and herb-dappled, and the mac and cheese is the kind you’ll remember long after the plate is clean.
Whether you stop by for a quick lunch or settle in with a garden sipper, Ruthie’s wraps you in comfort and sends you on your way feeling full and cared for.
Eat This: Deviled eggs, smoked brisket, Ruthie’s mac and cheese
Sabores Tapas Bar
Arlington | Spanish | $$
An oasis in the bustle of Arlington, Sabores is a colorful, cozy escape where Spanish music sets the tone, and small plates steal the show. It’s the kind of place where you’ll want to linger with friends, a pitcher of sangria, and a table full of tapas. The space is casual but artful, with honey-hued lighting, geometric tilework, and pops of floral color.
The bacon-wrapped dates arrive crisp and smoky, perched on honey aioli like they know they’re irresistible. Garbanzos con espinacas (a Moorish-style chickpea stew with spinach and tomato) is comfort in a bowl. The mejillones al vapor (mussels in sofrito and white wine) are deeply flavorful and served with charred bread for sopping up every last drop.
Sabores is a mood. This is the kind of spot that invites laughter, lingering, and maybe one more glass of sangria before you head out.
Eat This: Dátiles con tocino, garbanzos con espinacas, mejillones al vapor
The Salt Line
Arlington | Seafood | $$$
Looking for a restaurant that brings a lot to the table? Fresh Chesapeake oysters start an ample meal at The Salt Line. The plump, briny beauties are presented on ice with all the right accompaniments. Pimiento crab dip is tangy, indulgent, and sized for sharing, especially paired with zesty Old Bay–seasoned crab chips. Crispy, maple-Sriracha-glazed Brussels sprouts won’t last long — have a fork ready for action.
The flaky rainbow trout, set atop a bed of fennel and spring-onion soubise with chewy farro, is a refined, health-conscious entrée choice. Heartier appetites will judge the Portuguese stew to be a highlight. The generous medley of mussels, clams, and fresh fish swims in a fragrant, fennel-kissed broth. Finish strong with sugar-dusted Boston cream doughnuts, delivered with silky vanilla diplomat cream and luscious fudge sauce. It’s a raft of deliciousness that will leave you and your table more than full.
Eat This: Portuguese stew, fried Brussels sprouts, Boston cream doughnuts
Sfoglina
Arlington | Italian | $$$
“Happiness is a bowl of pasta made with love,” chef Fabio Trabocchi has said. At his homage to handmade noodles, the word “lust” may be just as appropriate for diners. As prettily herb-topped as they are, his dishes are a deeply visceral experience.
Provolone garlic bread oozes with melted butter at first bite, as the haystack of grated Parmesan on top fuses to the crunchy, allium-suffused loaf. Get it with the shareable-sized gnocchi. The velvety-plush potato dumplings all but disappear in a sauce that’s dotted with cheesy mini meatballs, fennel-redolent Italian sausage, salty pancetta, and hearty cubes of braised beef. The gigantic bowl empties with embarrassing speed, so get more than one pasta to ensure that there will be leftovers.
Even the tiramisu, with its intense, coffee-soaked bitterness, bests what you’ll find at other Italian restaurants. Sure, it was made with love, but your passionate drive for another bite (Dare we say “gluttony”?) is as sinful as the carb-filled meals served here.
Eat This: Provolone garlic bread, gnocchi Sunday sauce, Sfoglina tiramisu
Yume Sushi (No. 4)
Arlington | Japanese | $$$$
Your taste buds do the dreaming at this Arlington gem. A laid-back, mural-dotted vibe pervades here, but what lands on the table is anything but casual. The menu reads like a love letter to excess in the best way. Every bite is a confident “yes,” thanks to luxe ingredients and precision plating that feels almost too pretty to touch. Almost.
Chef Saran Kannasute’s creativity shines in the Monster Trio: a decadent lineup of A5 wagyu with foie gras, scallop with uni, and toro dressed with truffle oil and caviar. The sunomono salad balances clean shrimp with a kiss of citrus and heat. But the dish you’ll be dreaming of is the citrusy ceviche, served with wasabi-flavored nori chips. It is sharp, fresh, and unforgettable.
The space fills fast, the service is gracious, and the whole experience feels like a quiet flex. Come hungry, leave enchanted — and possibly a little spoiled for sushi anywhere else.
Eat This: Monster Trio, ceviche with wasabi chips, sunomono salad with tiger shrimp
Feature image of Carbonara by Michael Butcher
This story originally ran in our November issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
