3. J. Gilbert’s
6930 Old Dominion Drive, McLean | 703-893-1034 | jgilberts.com
A McLean institution, this is the place to take the grandparents or the folks you hope will be your in-laws someday. A soup-to-nuts buffet is set up in the bar area every weekend, with options including seafood (oysters on the half shell, ahi tuna and more), prime rib, cheese and crackers, chicken piccata, bacon, eggs, chocolate-covered marshmallows and three kinds of panna cotta. As if that weren’t enough, waiters bring fried doughnut holes with a caramel apple dipping sauce and pie-shaped Belgian waffles to the table as soon as you are seated. Don’t-miss dishes include the ham-and-cheese quiche and baked salmon cakes. A word to the wise: Pace yourself. “I tell everybody it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s okay to start with chocolate,” says bar manager William Trahan. “Nobody’s gonna judge.”