The Top 100 Places to Eat Near Foode

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Joy Crump

1. Washingtonian 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

Peter Chang has quietly turned the D.C. suburbs into a Sichuan outpost, and Mama Chang is his tribute to the women of his family who actually did the cooking. The warm-wood dining room is upscale-casual Chinese, the kind where dry-fried cauliflower seems to land on every table without anyone admitting they ordered it. The New York Times and The Washington Post have both put it on their D.C. essentials lists, which for a Fairfax strip mall is a flex.

1. The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now
2. The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
3. Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.

A chain-link curtain separates the Salamander hotel lobby from Kwame Onwuachi's Afro-Caribbean restaurant, which pulls from his Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Creole roots. The menu is built for sharing, with hoe crab served in the shell alongside plantain cakes, and a crispy lamb bowl that nods to Ben's Chili Bowl. It landed on North America's 50 Best Restaurants list, and the room fills like it knows.

1. AAA Four Diamonds
2. Condé Nast Traveler The best new restaurants in the world
3. 50 Best #37 · North America's 50 Best Restaurants

1. AAA Four Diamonds
2. James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
3. Northern Virgina Magazine #1 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Time Out The best Chinese restaurants in America

1. Eater The 15 Best Coffee Shops Around D.C.
2. Time Out The 20 Best Coffee Shops and Cafés in Washington, DC
3. Washingtonian Best Coffee Shops in DC

1. Washingtonian Best Coffee Shops in DC
2. Time Out The 20 Best Coffee Shops and Cafés in Washington, DC

The steak tartare comes dressed with Thai papaya salad and malt-vinegar chips, which tells you everything about how the kitchen thinks. Ellie Bird is a casual New American restaurant in Falls Church where Yuan Tang, of Rooster & Owl, runs global mash-ups alongside rigatoni Bolognese and kimchi-rice brunch bowls. The New York Times put it on their restaurant list and Washingtonian ranked it among the DC area's favorites, so the room fills accordingly.

1. The Rammys Finalist · Pastry Chef or Baker of the Year · Rachel Sherriffe
2. The New York Times The Restaurant List
3. Washingtonian Thai Papaya Salad Steak Tartare · Our Favorite Dishes of the Year in the DC Area

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - The Fried Rice Collective
2. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
3. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Scott Drewno and Danny Lee - Fried Rice Collective

1. Time Out The 20 Best Coffee Shops and Cafés in Washington, DC
2. Washingtonian Best Coffee Shops in DC

1. The Rammys Finalist · Beer Program of the Year
2. Washingtonian 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC

The rice alone explains why the New York Times put this upscale Persian restaurant on its 2024 restaurant list: the tadig comes out with a shattering crust, and the fluffy sour-cherry version beside it is its own argument. Classic stews anchor the menu, with duck fessenjoon and beef with dried lime doing the heavy lifting. The room is relaxed enough for families, polished enough for a proper date.

1. The New York Times The Restaurant List
2. Washingtonian #35 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
3. Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.

1. Eater The 15 Best Coffee Shops Around D.C.
2. Washingtonian Best Coffee Shops in DC

1. The Rammys Finalist · Beer Program of the Year

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
2. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Washingtonian The Hot List: 10 Restaurants Around DC We’re Loving Right Now

Nautical decor that stops short of kitsch anchors this seafood restaurant on the Southwest waterfront, where the patio looks straight out over the marina. The menu pulls from Chesapeake waters and a D.C. urban fish farm, so northern puffer fish arrives whole and crispy fried, and a Maryland crab crumpet nods to the place's Scottish sister spot. Save room for the Virginia peanut tiramisu, which sounds like a dare and tastes like a good idea.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. Washingtonian #77 · 100 Very Best Restaurants
3. Eater Design of the Year · The 2025 Eater DC Award Winners

1. The Rammys Finalist · Best Brunch of the Year

1. The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
2. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. The Rammys Finalist · Hottest Sandwich Spot of the Year
2. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Rahman "Rock" Harper

1. The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.
2. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

Fabio Trabocchi's fine dining room at the Wharf is all coastal blues and polished brass, with floor-to-ceiling windows over the Potomac that make the room feel like it floats. The Spanish menu runs from jamón croquetas and spreadable sobrasada to paella loaded with lobster and giant prawns, with impeccably simple fish in between. The crowd dresses up, as they should.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. Washingtonian #49 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

1. The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.

1. The Rammys Finalist · Casual Restaurant of the Year

1. The Rammys Finalist · Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year
2. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Washingtonian The Hot List: 10 Restaurants Around DC We’re Loving Right Now
2. Northern Virgina Magazine #6 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Outstanding Chef · Peter Chang

1. The Rammys Finalist · Casual Restaurant of the Year

The dining room is swathed in impressionist pastels and fresh florals, which sets expectations that the kitchen then quietly meets. This is a modern Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church serving dishes that take the cuisine somewhere more composed, think pho-spiced chicken-liver mousse or handmade pappardelle with a lemongrass short-rib ragu that borrows from Vietnamese beef stew. The cocktails lean dramatic and photogenic, and the crowd arrives dressed accordingly.

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
2. Washingtonian #79 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Nominee · Outstanding Chef · Peter Chang

1. The Rammys Finalist · Wine Program of the Year

1. The Rammys Finalist · Wine Program of the Year
2. The Rammys Finalist · Hottest Sandwich Spot of the Year

1. The Washington Post The 8 best Ethiopian restaurants in and around D.C.

1. Bon Appétit The Very Best Bagels in the US (Yes, Outside New York)

The "clam" dip is made from tofu, the fried fish contains no fish, and somehow none of that feels like a compromise. This vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church is where the chef makes her own faux meats and seafoods from scratch, turning lemongrass noodle soup and papaya salad into fully convincing arguments that the meat was never the point. Devout carnivores tend to figure this out about halfway through the meal.

1. Washingtonian #41 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

A strip mall in Fairfax with walls of actual greenery sets the scene for this casual Southeast Asian restaurant covering Thai, Malaysian, and Singaporean ground with real range. Chili crab comes with soft-shells in a red sauce and sweet buns for mopping, and a fried rice pyramid topped with lump crab closes the loop nicely. The pandan castella cake keeps dessert from being an afterthought.

1. Washingtonian #88 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

1. The Rammys Finalist · Beer Program of the Year

1. The Rammys Finalist · Fast Casual Restaurant of the Year

Fewer than twenty seats, one chef, seven courses, and a kitchen so quiet you can hear the thinking. Nasime is an intimate Japanese tasting room in Old Town Alexandria where the Ginza-trained team runs a set menu that moves through seasons rather than trends. The pacing is unhurried, the combinations are precise, and the sashimi course arrives with a buzz-button flower that earns its spot on the plate.

1. Washingtonian #12 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

Pho Thin is a pho shop whose signature move is wok-searing ribeye in garlic before it ever meets the bowl. The broth leans savory rather than the sweet, star-anise-heavy style common around DC, and the noodles are wide and chewy instead of threadlike. The Falls Church outpost of a Hanoi institution, it arrived already pulling crowds. Order the pickled raw garlic that comes to the table and don't leave it untouched.

1. Washingtonian The Hot List: 10 Restaurants Around DC We’re Loving Right Now

1. Washingtonian 9 Great Pubs for a Full Irish Breakfast Around DC

Seng Luangrath is widely credited with bringing Laotian food to the DC dining conversation, and this Falls Church strip-mall restaurant is where that reputation took root. The menu leans into bright, lime-forward salads, fragrant soups, and banana-leaf-wrapped fish, with a crispy coconut-rice salad that regulars treat as non-negotiable. Homestyle Laotian cooking in a room that's casual enough for a weeknight but specific enough to feel like a find.

1. Washingtonian #42 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

A Neapolitan pizza restaurant a few miles from Arlington Cemetery, run by the same Sicilian family for close to half a century. The pies follow STG rules, meaning a pillowy, charred crust, properly melty cheese, and a lot of the ingredients shipped over from Italy. The room skews elegant for a pizza place, and the menu stretches well past pizza into pastas and starters, with a wine list that takes itself seriously.

1. 50 Top Pizza #37 · 50 Top Pizza USA

An Irish gastropub in Shirlington where the full Irish breakfast runs on weekdays too, not just weekends. The owner is from Tipperary, and it shows: rashers, puddings, beans, eggs, and a potato cake with homemade brown bread on the plate. The kind of place where a pint and a proper fry-up at noon on a Tuesday feels entirely reasonable, which is really the whole point of an Irish pub.

1. Washingtonian 9 Great Pubs for a Full Irish Breakfast Around DC

Fava beans, not chickpeas, go into the falafel here, which tells you something about how seriously this Falls Church spot takes its Egyptian identity. It's a warmly informal, homestyle restaurant where the owner greets everyone like a relative and the menu runs deep, from lamb shank with roasted potatoes to beef moussaka with pine nuts. The kind of room that smells like someone has been cooking since morning, because someone has.

1. Washingtonian #87 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

1. Washingtonian Neighborhood Guide: Where to Eat, Shop, and Play in Middleburg
2. Washingtonian Where to Eat, Shop, and Play in Middleburg

1. The Washington Post The 8 best Ethiopian restaurants in and around D.C.

Tucked deep inside the Eden Center mall, this Vietnamese restaurant operates on the assumption that you came ready to work for it. The staff speaks limited English and menu descriptions don't give much away, but the rice-cake and tapioca-dumpling appetizers, some banana-leaf-wrapped, some chicharrón-crusted with tiny shell-on shrimp, make the ordering process forgiving. The spicy lemongrass noodle soup with rustic meatballs in a rich beef broth is what regulars are usually after.

1. Washingtonian #94 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

1. Bon Appétit The Very Best Bagels in the US (Yes, Outside New York)

1. The Washington Post The 8 best Ethiopian restaurants in and around D.C.

1. Time Out The 20 Best Coffee Shops and Cafés in Washington, DC

1. Eater The 38 Essential Restaurants Around D.C.

1. The Washington Post The 8 best Ethiopian restaurants in and around D.C.

1. Eater The 15 Best Coffee Shops Around D.C.

The benne dosa here folds like a quesadilla rather than rolling into a cylinder, which tells you this is Bangalorean, not generic Indian. It's a casual dosa counter in a Herndon strip mall that somehow has the quiet confidence of a place that doesn't need to explain itself. The butter-lacquered exterior crisps up hard while the inside stays soft with masala potatoes and podi, a coarse spice mix that the Washingtonian named among its favorite dishes of the year.

1. Washingtonian Podi Masala Dosa · Our Favorite Dishes of the Year in the DC Area
2. Washingtonian #78 · 100 Very Best Restaurants

1. Time Out The 20 Best Coffee Shops and Cafés in Washington, DC

1. The New York Times The 25 Best Restaurants in Washington, D.C., Right Now

1. Eater The 15 Best Coffee Shops Around D.C.

1. The Washington Post The 40 Best Restaurants In and Around D.C.

1. Time Out The 20 Best Coffee Shops and Cafés in Washington, DC

1. Washingtonian 9 Great Pubs for a Full Irish Breakfast Around DC

1. Washingtonian 9 Great Pubs for a Full Irish Breakfast Around DC

1. Washingtonian The French dip/French onion soup mashup · 7 Delicious French Onion Soups to Keep You Cozy All Day Long

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Washingtonian 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC

1. Washingtonian 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC

1. Washingtonian 8 Exciting and Delicious Vegan Restaurants Around DC

1. Washingtonian 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC

1. Washingtonian 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC

1. Washingtonian Chicago Dog · Our Favorite Dishes of the Year in the DC Area

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia
2. James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Matt Hill

1. Washingtonian 9 Delicious Doughnut Shops Around DC

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Washingtonian Where to Eat Near the National Mall

The polished metal trays arrive loaded with banchan, and the arrangement shifts every time, which is half the point. Baek ban is the format, a Korean rice-set meal with a main and a rotating cast of small dishes, and at this Chantilly spot the lineup might include cubed radish kimchi, sesame-glossed glass noodles, or a perilla-leaf omelet. The smoky-sweet bulgogi landed on the Washingtonian's favorite dishes list, so that one is worth keeping an eye out for.

1. Washingtonian Bulgogi Baek Ban · Our Favorite Dishes of the Year in the DC Area

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Michael Reginbogin and Jason Berry - KNEAD Hospitality + Design

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic · Peter Prime

1. Northern Virgina Magazine #5 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine #4 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Washingtonian Nashville Hot Chicken Bánh Mì · Our Favorite Dishes of the Year in the DC Area

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine #2 · The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia

1. Northern Virgina Magazine The 50 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia