Good news, Fairfax foodies. Fairfax County is home to 21 of Northern Virginia Magazine’s 50 Best Restaurants of 2025 — including four of the Top 10. Some are returning favorites and others are new to the list, but they’re all sure to make your mouth water.
By Alice Levitt, Dawn Klavon, and Monica Saigal
Price Key: Entrées = $ 15 and under | $$ 16–25 | $$$ 26–40 | $$$$ 41 and over | * = prix fixe only
2941 Restaurant (No. 1)
Falls Church | Modern American | $$$$
Quarter-life crisis? Not this hallowed culinary ground, which first served guests in 2002. Chef Bertrand Chemel, who has himself been in the kitchen since 2008, keeps his restaurant fresh with monthly menu updates that course the planet for both the best ingredients and the most creative techniques.
Tasting menus include vegetarian and meaty options, and diners can exercise their right to choose for all five courses. A celebration of the summer harvest might include a buttery kampachi crudo swimming in marbled tomato-tarragon sauce with cherry tomatoes and chive blossoms, then move along to creamy corn espuma dotted with kernels and pickled chanterelles. It’s topped with peanuts and popcorn for an elevated take on summer snacking.
Prefer to sink your teeth into a simple steak? The rib-eye here is the best you’ll find — raised humanely, cooked to your liking, expertly sauced, and accompanied by crispy potatoes.
After nearly two decades in the kitchen at this art-filled icon, Chemel isn’t even close to running out of tricks up his sleeve. And we won’t ever stop eating it up.
Eat This: Yellow corn-chanterelles, grilled Braveheart Farm rib-eye, Amaretto & Chocolate
Agora
Tysons | Mediterranean | $$
Tysons’ glinting glass towers melt away the moment the mosaic lanterns of Agora come into view. Inside, the hum is constant as servers dash, plates clatter, and every table races a strict two-hour clock.
Start the countdown with mezzes. Among them are twin cylinders of chilled watermelon, capped with feta, that rest beside peppery arugula, a bite of July no matter the season. Next, a boat-shaped pide sails in, oozing goat and mozzarella cheeses around bursts of cherry tomato and sticky date. Don’t skip the fried cauliflower tossed with Turkish dried figs and swooshes of tahini.
The star of the show is the Ottoman rice: fragrant grains laced with currants and apricots, crowned with sweet fried shallots and pine nuts. By the time tea glasses clink, you’ll understand the rush.
When you step back out into Tysons, the glass towers feel softer. Agora doesn’t just feed you — it whisks you away.
Eat This: Watermelon-feta mezze, Ottoman rice, fried cauliflower with Turkish figs and tahini
Chosun Hwaro
Fairfax | Korean | $$$$
There are many beef short ribs on this list. But this is the only restaurant that specializes in them. Including soups and stews, there are seven ways to sink your teeth into one of our favorite cuts here. Order from among the five varieties of galbi, grilled by expert servers beneath advanced hood systems that prevent you from smelling like smoke.
With certified Angus beef sizzling away at the table to the accompaniment of K-pop tunes, Chosun Hwaro splits the difference between high-end and casual, youth-focused KBBQ restaurants. Think of it as something for everyone, even diners who wish to get their meat grilled while they watch the news at the bar.
The best of the flesh is seasoned, boneless Emperor’s Galbi, and the optimal way to experience it all is the Chosun Hwaro Combo. The small version also includes the bone-in Empress Galbi, thinly sliced brisket, cheese-covered gyeran jjim (steamed egg), and bubbling tofu soup.
Should you desire to embark on an all-out short rib feast, bring a big group to try it all. You’ll get to the meat of the matter in no time.
Eat This: Gunmandu, Emperor’s Galbi, gyeran jjim
Clarity
Vienna | Modern American | $$$$
Locals whisper that Clarity is a date fail-safe, and the odds are in their favor. Slide onto a mustard-yellow banquette beneath halo-like crystal chandeliers and you’ll feel the city’s buzz melt away, even if the next table is close enough to borrow salt.
Servers greet regulars by name and steer newcomers toward plates that could double as still-life paintings.
Start with the beet carpaccio, a ruby-and-gold mandala brightened by pomegranate arils and toasted hazelnuts. Follow it with chilled cucumber gazpacho poured tableside over a Maryland-crab salad studded with almonds. Should you surrender to the wild Alaskan halibut, your teeth will be met by a crisp-edged filet crowned with truffle petals and perched on inky lentils that taste like hearth-warm smoke flirting with a salty sea breeze.
Comforting yet polished, Clarity feels like that trusty dress you slip on and remember why you love it — precisely what date night requires.
Eat This: Beet carpaccio, cucumber gazpacho with Maryland crab, wild Alaskan halibut
Elyse
Fairfax | Modern American | $$$$*
Chef Jonathan Krinn, long a fixture of Northern Virginia’s fine-dining scene, has entered his renaissance. At Elyse, he has raised the bar on his own already impeccable standards, delivering a tasting menu so intentional it feels like a memoir written in food.
The monthly tasting menu unfolds like a garden poem. Krinn literally pulls from his own backyard; vegetables like white cucumber and African blue basil are grown just steps away, then plated like edible art. One night, you might encounter heirloom squash with miso ricotta on housemade pain de mie. Alaskan spot prawns might arrive in a pool of zucchini-flower soubise while smoked beef belly lands alongside sweet potato, pickles, and wild mushrooms. Each bite feels rare, and hearing the chef’s open-kitchen laughter makes it all the more intimate.
This meal is a masterclass in storytelling, told one plated chapter at a time.
Eat This: Berkshire pork jowl, Alaskan spot prawns, smoked beef belly
Evelyn Rose
Vienna | Modern American | $$$
There’s a palpable hug-the-room warmth at Evelyn Rose, and it starts with the name: Chef Nick Palermo and co-founder Sam Schnoebelen honor their grandmothers, Evelyn and Rose, who taught them life’s sweetest moments happen when everyone squeezes around the dinner table. That spirit lives on in a dining room framed by exposed-beam rafters and the scent of rosemary focaccia drifting from the open kitchen.
Palermo’s menu is elevated comfort done right. Earth N Eats roasted baby beets arrive jeweled with hearts of palm and clouds of chèvre, brightened by peppery greens. Summer-sweet grilled corn, tumbled with smoky poblano sour cream and goat-milk feta, proves vegetables can steal the show. But it’s the whole-milk ricotta cavatelli — buried under tomato-braised brisket, pork shoulder, and Palermo’s tender meatballs — that turns weeknights into occasions.
What began as a neighborhood haunt has blossomed into a destination where kindred spirits gather over unforgettable plates; Evelyn and Rose would be proud.
Eat This: Roasted baby beet salad, grilled sweet corn, whole-milk ricotta cavatelli
Ingle Korean Steakhouse (No. 7)
Vienna | Korean | $$$$
Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure book series? Packed with choices that would lead to myriad possible endings, the stories were an eminently satisfying way to make kids read. Ingle Korean Steakhouse is the wagyu-powered equivalent.
It starts with the first sip of water, when your server arrives with a tray of cucumbers, lime, and lemon from which to pick. The six-course prix fixe dinner includes a collection of American wagyu cuts of the day, but from there, you have almost as many options to devour as you did as a book-hungry youth.
Shared appetizers might be steamed mussels marinière, cod roe garlic toast, or a scallion pancake with shrimp, but we encourage trying the sashimi salad, spicy-and-sweet hwe moo-chim. Each diner gets to select their own savory meal, be it beef fried rice, soup, or one of three takes on chilled buckwheat noodles.
But when it comes to the tender meats grilled on your table, to paraphrase Sondheim, loving them is not a choice.
Eat This: Corn cheese, hwe moo-chim, wagyu cuts of the day+
Joon
Vienna | Persian | $$$$
Most of us probably consider a Persian kebab a not-so-guilty pleasure, a quick treat when we don’t feel like cooking. But for decades, it’s been Najmieh Batmanglij’s raison d’être to prove that the food of her homeland is something far more refined than marinated meat on a skewer.
The famed cookbook author combines her powers with those of DC chef Chris Morgan in a warren of rooms that delight with their collection of colors — and the flavors presented within. Take, for instance, the Persian cucumber salad, an assemblage of pomegranate, pistachio, feta, and mint that comes together in a symphony of loveliness.
You could have one of several kebabs, but the grilled rockfish with sour-orange-and-parsley beurre blanc is a stunning fusion of French and Iranian influences. The crisp-skinned fish is topped with jewel-like smoked trout roe, then paired with crunchy-topped rice flavored with dill and meaty fava beans.
Joon is Batmanglij’s world, and we’re lucky to be invited to join her, especially if that invitation means a bite or two of rich chocolate and kataifi pie.
Eat This: Persian cucumber salad, grilled rockfish, chocolate and kataifi pie
L’Auberge Chez François
Great Falls | French | $$$$*
Far fewer of us have visited Strasbourg than Paris. Fewer still have traveled to Obernai, the small city on the Alsatian wine route where François Haeringer was born in 1919. But more than 100 years later, Northern Virginia diners are still treated to a taste of Germany-bordering Alsace in the name of the great chef.
His son Jacques now leads the restaurant in a culinary ballet that begins from the moment guests arrive at the maître d’ stand and ends with housemade truffles that come many mouthfuls after diners have achieved satiety.
This is especially true if they order La Choucroute Royale Garnie à L’Alsacienne, an artful pile of Teutonic sauerkraut inlaid with cured pork belly, snappy sausages, duck confit, and melting foie gras.
The prix fixe — comprised of eight courses if you count touches like addictive garlic bread and a sorbet palate cleanser — is far cheaper than a trip to northeastern France, but for its duration of a few relaxed hours, it’s every bit as fulfilling.
Eat This: Crêpe à la ciboulette, La Choucroute Royale Garnie à L’Alsacienne, tarte au chocolat
Maharani Palace
Herndon | Indian | $$
At Maharani Palace, the drama begins before the first bite. A towering golden peacock greets you at the entrance, chandeliers twinkle above jewel-toned booths, and ornate umbrellas float like parasols overhead. It’s part restaurant, part royal fantasy, and completely worth the spectacle.
The menu is just as theatrical, offering a tour of India’s culinary map. Start with the gol gappa, crisp puris filled with garbanzos, potatoes, and sweet chutneys, served with spiced water that jolts the palate in the best way. Move on to the coconut machi curry, composed of delicate cod bathed in coconut milk, curry leaves, and mustard seeds. It is fragrant, silky, and deeply satisfying. The bhindi do pyaza is another standout, where okra sings alongside caramelized onion and chat masala.
Come with friends. Come hungry. It’s a sensory spectacle from start to finish, with you cast as the star.
Eat This: Gol gappa, coconut machi curry, bhindi do pyaza
Mama Chang
Fairfax | Chinese | $$
Family restaurant? Many gourmets want nothing to do with those two perfectly acceptable words when they’re lumped together.
But hold on.
This is no Chili’s. You might see children speeding through the dining room, but consider it part of the theme. Mama Chang is bound by the love of three generations of celebrity chef Peter Chang’s family, but also by cuisine that will placate sophisticates. No less than The Inn at Little Washington’s chef Patrick O’Connell has said that he goes out of his way to sink his teeth into the pan-Chinese vittles here.
The best eats on offer are chile-spiked dishes from Hunan and Sichuan, but don’t miss hand-pulled noodles for a homestyle bite that tastes like a grandmother’s kitchen. Whether or not your grandmother had the patience to make her own pasta for your gatherings, Mama Chang is proof that “family restaurant” is not a cursed phrase.
Eat This: Scallion bubble pancake, Ganghood fried chicken, three pepper beef tenderloin
Modan (No. 6)
Tysons | Japanese | $$$$
At this stunner hidden inside the luxury high-rise Heming, drama unfolds in silence. Dry-aged fish dangle behind glass, chefs work with samurai-like focus, and every plate arrives as if summoned from a dream. This is modern Japanese dining at its most polished, and Tysons may never be the same.
The king salmon carpaccio glistens with truffle aioli and sweet onion salsa, each bite capped with crispy shallots for crunch and balance. Dry-aged lamb chops come lacquered in spicy miso, with a dusting of shichimi togarashi and are a marquee item in every way. Save room for dessert. That’s where the magic lingers. Choose between the molten-centered chocolate cake with a vanilla gelato or a towering passionfruit kakigori that hides sweet lychee in its shaved-ice folds.
With attentive service, sleek interiors, and food that entices both visually and on the palate, Modan feels like a quiet celebration. It’s part art show, part sushi reverie.
Eat This: King salmon carpaccio, lamb chops, passionfruit kakigori
Nostos (No. 2)
Vienna | Greek | $$$
A flash of tableside flames from sizzling saganaki is every bit as rousing as what you’ll find in Athens.
White curtains billow like sails, conversations drift in half a dozen languages, and servers nudge you toward a glass of crisp Assyrtiko from the restaurant’s delightful Greek wine list.
Begin with the trio of housemade dips — cool dill-sparked tzatziki, smoky eggplant, and creamy Santorini-style fava crowned with diced purple onion — which arrives with slices of freshly baked pita still warm from the oven. Each bite is a postcard from the islands.
Then arrives the standout moussaka, baked and served in its own petite cast iron skillet, where cinnamon-laced beef, eggplant, and potato hide beneath a bronzed béchamel cloud. Finish with paidakia, the chargrilled lamb chops paired with simply grilled asparagus.
At Nostos, consistency is the secret seasoning. Each visit feels like a homecoming, only with better olive oil and a little more sunshine on the plate.
Eat This: Flaming kefalograviera saganaki, skillet moussaka, lamb chops with asparagus
Ometeo
Tysons | Tex-Mex | $$$
In Mexican cuisine, it’s all about the sauce, or shall we say, salsa. And though Ometeo is staunchly Tex-Mex, the same can be said for Tysons’ tile-adorned landmark. Meals begin with freshly fried, complimentary chips (made from heirloom corn, naturally) with zippy salsa verde and tomato-based salsa ranchera, and the flavors explode from there.
Fried cauliflower, with the potential to become pub grub, is instead an elevated showcase for the sophistication of the kitchen team. That’s because the battered bites combine the nutty flavors of hot sesame salsa macha and liltingly sweet mole almendrado, a complex ode to the humble almond.
Ometeo also has a house mole, which dresses a spice-rubbed Cornish hen with a deep, dark concoction that sings with cinnamon and chocolate. The poultry dish is paired with brilliantly seasoned basmati rice, an unusual accompaniment for Mexican food, but one that lovingly brings South Asia to the party.
The dulce de leche–sweetened tres leches, with its trio of milks poured tableside, is enhanced by the sauces that caress the cake, too. Even at a fancy French restaurant with a saucier schooled in the work of Escoffier, you won’t find a better collection of liquid love.
Eat This: Fried cauliflower, pollito con mole de la casa, tres leches
Padaek
Arlington & Falls Church | Lao | $$
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
Roberto’s Ristorante Italiano
Vienna | Italian | $$$$
When Roberto Donna and his wife, Nancy Sabbagh, opened their first restaurant in Vienna, the goal was to create an eatery the neighborhood would love. Three years on, the bustling dining room proves they’ve succeeded in that goal.
But Donna also said that he wanted to bring back guéridon service. With a cooking station wheeled to nearly every table, they’ve mastered that art, too. At Roberto’s Ristorante Italiano, it’s almost a sin not to order the fettuccini alla parmigiana.
The fresh pasta is twisted and turned — with a bit of the water in which it was boiled — in a wheel of aged parmigiana. The al dente result is George Clinton–level funky, creamy, and all-around pleasurable.
Don’t skip dessert. The dome of chocolate-and-hazelnut-flavored semifreddo all but melts into its pistachio cream sauce. It’s so intensely nutty, it nearly skims into bitterness.
Yes, Roberto’s is beloved by the neighborhood. But an everyday neighborhood restaurant? It’s miles above it.
Eat This: Pancetta di maiale croccante, fettuccini alla parmigiana, semifreddo di gianduia
Sense of Thai
Ashburn & Chantilly | Thai | $$
In the decade since this beloved purveyor of hot stuff first opened, Northern Virginia has grown discernably bigger and tastier. Sense of Thai debuted on this list in 2016. Today, with additional locations in South Riding and Bethesda, our palates tingle as much as ever just thinking about its spicy salads, creamy curries, and laudable devotion to innovation.
To start with the bolan larb gai is to ignite one’s mouth for an explosive meal. The minty minced chicken salad in lime-chile dressing may necessitate a few sips of Thai iced tea or a mini daiquiri shot, but that’s part of the fun.
Whatever the season, it’s smart to order a steamy bowl of brothy noodles. Is the best of these coconut-flavored lamb khao soi or pillowy braised pork in sweet-and-sour tom yum broth? It’s up to you to decide, so order both. It’s the perfect way to celebrate 10 years of filling your senses with Sense of Thai.
Eat This: Bolan larb gai, green curry, braised pork ramen
Trattoria Villagio
Clifton | Italian | $$$
Even the best restaurants often have a weak link or two, but we dare you to find one here. In the quaint hamlet of Clifton, this inviting Italian spot exudes warmth and charming Mediterranean flair.
Gracious service in a setting that bursts with character is a sign of good things to come. From the first bites of focaccia dipped in olive oil, the menu delivers a well-curated celebration of Italian favorites, enhanced by offerings from a tempting raw bar.
Lightly dressed Caesar salads and crispy calamari with housemade marinara are formidable preludes for standout plates like rustic baked meatballs, Asiago-stuffed gnocchi, and tangy lobster-filled ravioli. The seven-layer dark chocolate cake, draped in caramel sauce, offers a decadent finale.
Clifton’s welcoming, small-town setting only enhances the home-style appeal here. And as you leave, you’ll note that there was nary a hiccup to an evening of la dolce vita.
Eat This: Baked meatballs, stuffed gnocchi, seven-layer chocolate cake
Trio Grill
Falls Church | Modern American | $$$
Mouthwatering cuisine and noteworthy hospitality in a tranquil setting? Sounds like the restaurant triple crown.
Gems like zesty garlic shrimp bathed in citrus and white-wine butter, served with rustic grilled bread, impress right out of the gate. Dreamy dayboat scallops atop sweet corn with roasted mushrooms, tender filet mignon enriched by Chianti jus, and soy-glazed Chilean sea bass paired with silky carrot-ginger purée are all noteworthy entrée options.
Bourbon peach cobbler, generously partnered with vanilla ice cream, is brought by attentive servers to end an enchanting evening that’s accompanied by live piano music. With its triptych of outstanding service, exceptional cuisine, and inviting ambience, Trio Grill is a winner.
Eat This: French onion soup gratinée, pan-seared dayboat scallops, Bourbon peach cobbler
Trummer’s
Clifton | Modern American | $$$
The menu at Trummer’s says, “An American Bistro.” But is it? Your pair of thinly pounded pork schnitzels with warm, dill-riddled potato salad might suggest otherwise, especially if you get it with a side of cheesy buttermilk spätzle.
Yes, co-owner Stefan Trummer leaves the imprint of his early life in Austria, but executive chef Zack Ridenhour is a Virginia native. His melting pot approach includes nods to Europe, but you’ll find them alongside dishes like smoked eel with pressed crispy rice and seared scallops flavored with sumac and pomegranate molasses.
The restaurant’s famous rotisserie leaves chicken with a crisp, paper-thin skin, but it’s the chef’s additions of spicy garlic-honey jus, truffly orzo mac and cheese, and sweet carrots that make it pure American comfort.
The restaurant is, in fact, the best of America, with influences from every American, whether they brought wasabi, chile crisp, or lingonberry jam to the party.
Eat This: Badger Flame beets, Joyce Farm chicken, Chocolate & Lavender
Wren
Tysons | Japanese | $$
Don’t be fooled by its lobby setting inside The Watermark Hotel: Wren is anything but an afterthought.
What seems at first like a buzzy perch for cocktails and conversation quickly turns into a revelation once the plates begin to arrive. Sleek interiors, a lively bar, and plush seating set the stage for Japanese flavors served with just enough whimsy to keep things fun.
The Hamachi carpaccio is a showstopper, with buttery yellowtail layered over avocado and lifted by a warm jalapeño-citrus soy that lingers on the palate. Sweet corn kaki-age tempura, a tumble of kernels fried crisp and dipped in soy dashi, is playful and addictive. Then come the puffy pork belly bao buns, stuffed with slow-braised meat, cucumbers, and herbs.
By the time the moist miso black cod arrives, paired with tiny sweet peppers and sesame-dressed green beans, it is clear that Wren is no ordinary hotel restaurant.
Eat This: Hamachi carpaccio, pork belly bao buns, miso black cod
Feature image of Roberto’s Ristorante Italiano by Rey Lopez
This story originally ran in our November issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
