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The Best Places to Eat in Fairfax

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The best places to eat in Fairfax, according to the experts: The Infatuation, The Washington Post, and The New York Times have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Mama Chang comes out on top.

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Dolcezza and Dolce Vita hold the next two places. Washingtonian shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with AAA next.

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  1. 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.


    Address
    3251 Blenheim Blvd, Unit 101, Fairfax, VA · Fairfax
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Wed 11 AM

    Tuesday 11 AM–2:30 PM, 5 PM–9:30 PM

    Reserve
    Resy
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  2. Rank 2. Dolcezza

    Italian Dessert


  3. Rank 2. Dolcezza

    Italian Dessert


  4. Rank 4. Dolce Vita

    Pizzeria

    The awards


  5. The awards



  6. Address
    4070 Jermantown Rd, Fairfax, VA · Fairfax
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Wed 11:30 AM

    Tuesday 11:30 AM–3 PM, 5 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  7. 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.


    Address
    9530 Fairfax Blvd, Fairfax, VA · Fairfax
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Wed noon

    Tuesday Noon–3 PM, 4:30 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    Resy
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  8. Jonathan Krinn's fine-dining tasting menu restaurant pulls vegetables from a garden steps from the kitchen, so what arrives on the plate might include a cucumber or basil variety you've never seen in a supermarket. The monthly menu changes as the garden does, and the open kitchen means you can hear the chef laughing while you work through it. Bring the kind of time and appetite that a slow, course-by-course evening demands.


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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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      Stay Score

      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you changes the order, never the score.

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        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.