Sometimes we diners are so busy looking for the hot and new that we forget about the tried and true—restaurants that have been providing consistent, homey cooking out of the spotlight’s glare, often for decades.
Northern Virginia has its gems, and there are through lines that speak to their staying power. Customer loyalty is a big one. Many proprietors share stories of diners who stopped in for first dates and later returned with toddlers, then college graduates, and now grandchildren, keeping the tradition going. Those sentimental bonds kept many beloved establishments afloat through the pandemic, even as newer restaurants shuttered. “We had a customer buy $10,000 worth of gift cards,” recalls Grace Abi-Najm Shea, co-owner of Lebanese Taverna, “and people really tipped generously to make up for lost incomes.”
Lately, forces of change have brought more challenges, from new technologies and skyrocketing food and supply costs, to evolving menu expectations around food allergies and other dietary restrictions. Some longstanding restaurants face uncertain futures, with leases set to expire and children who have no interest in carrying on the family business.
At the same time, the keys to their longevity are clear: Be adaptable. Don’t mess with the menu too much. Provide excellent service. Don’t take customers for granted and be active in the community.
“We’re not just a place for food and drinks,” says Almaz Dama, co-owner of Dama Restaurant and Cafe on Columbia Pike. “We are a social gathering place. We are involved in the community and donate food to all the Ethiopian churches. That makes us happy.”
Here are some treasured dining spots that have been serving hungry locals for 25 years or more.
Dama Restaurant & Cafe
Open since 1999
Even in the middle of the day, the parking lot of this eatery near the Air Force Memorial is full—mostly with rideshare cars whose Ethiopian drivers are hanging out inside drinking coffee, shooting the breeze and nibbling on confections such as chornake (deep-fried dough) and doughnut-like bonbolinos.
Dama has two parts: a 60-seat restaurant and a 30-seat bakery and café with a display case full of treats by co-owner and pastry chef Almaz Dama, including mousse cake, fruit tarts, cream puffs and napoleons, many of which are vegan.
The business is a family affair. Sister Kelem does the savory cooking; brother Hailu handles purchasing and management duties, while his wife, Amsale Saife-Selassie, assists Almaz with pastries and wedding cakes. Kelem’s 26-year-old daughter, Rita Mulugeta, helps with catering. She wants to carry on Dama’s legacy.
The Dama family’s story personifies the American Dream. The oldest brother, Tesfaye (one of nine siblings), immigrated to Wisconsin in 1969 to study. Others followed in the ’70s and ’80s, fleeing political turmoil in their homeland and settling in the D.C.-area because of its large Ethiopian population. “Most of our family were in prison and one of our brothers was killed. We couldn’t go home,” says Almaz. “America was heaven.”
The original Dama, which Almaz’s sister Yeshi opened on North Capitol Street in the District in 1982, had a four-year run. That’s where Almaz first started cooking. The café was buying so many croissants and pastries that she decided to learn how to make them herself, taking courses at L’Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda (now closed) under former White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier. Today, she and her siblings are partners in the Arlington family business.
Regulars flock to Dama for Ethiopian specialties such as wats (stews), tibs (cubes of protein sauteed with spices and vegetables) and kitfo, a spicy beef tartare with farmer’s cheese. All savory dishes are served with injera, the spongy flatbread that is fundamental to any Ethiopian meal.
Many of the menu offerings are vegetarian or vegan, including plant-based versions of meat dishes. The kitchen makes its own meat alternative with wheat flour and tofu, and even offers vegan dulet, a dish that’s usually made with offal. // 1505 Columbia Pike, Arlington
Lebanese Taverna
Open since 1979
When Tanios and Marie Abi-Najm scraped together the money to buy the Greek restaurant at the corner of McKinley Road and Washington Boulevard in 1979, they didn’t have enough left over to change all of the letters on the sign out front. That’s how Athenian Taverna became Lebanese Taverna in Westover. Now the couple’s five children oversee a DMV chainlet of five full-service restaurants, six quick-service outlets (called LebTav), a catering facility, a market and a concession at Reagan National Airport.
Running a family business hasn’t always been a smooth ride, says Grace Abi-Najm Shea, who handles operations, sales and marketing. The Covid years were especially rough, although Lebanese Taverna’s origin story puts it all in perspective: With their 13- and 15-year-old sons about to be forced into the military, the elder Abi-Najms fled Lebanon in 1976 amid a civil war, with $500 to their name, joining other family members who had already emigrated to Virginia. Today, most of the family lives in McLean (Shea, an Arlington resident, is the exception). Tanios, the patriarch, is 93. Marie is 80 and still checks on the restaurants to make sure the food and cleanliness remain up to her standards.
Shea says one key to their company’s enduring popularity has been to continually evolve without compromising quality. When the first Lebanese Taverna opened in Arlington, specialties such as baba ghanoush, kibbeh nayeh (lamb tartare) and baklava were novelties for American palates. “We used to be a destination place,” she observes. “Now there are Mediterranean restaurants closer to where people live. No one knew hummus before. Now you can get it at Clyde’s and buy SpongeBob hummus singles at Costco. But ours is still better.”
The Abi-Najms were early adopters, branching into the fast-casual market in 1998 and highlighting gluten-free fare in 2007. “Lebanese cuisine is timeless. We fit into a lot of trends—like the pomegranate craze and offering vegetarian and vegan items,” Shea says. The restaurant’s vegetable-forward dishes were never a stretch, she adds. Lebanon’s large Christian culture has always demanded meatless options for Lent.
Today, she and her siblings have nine children among them, all of whom currently or previously worked in the restaurants during their high school and college years. So far none has expressed an interest in taking the reins. That choice is up to them, Shea says. “We felt like we had to do it to support our parents. We don’t want to put that on them.” // 5900 Washington Blvd. (Westover) and 1101 S. Joyce St. (Westpost), Arlington; 2001 International Drive, Tysons
McLean Family Restaurant
Open since 1969
Not even six degrees separate this venerated eatery from 14 Grand Slam title-winning tennis champion Pete Sampras. His father was one of three partners who 55 years ago bought the Jewish deli that would become McLean Family Restaurant, a local institution.
“The three owners were my uncles,” explains Peter Kapetanakis, now the diner’s general manager. “They came from Greece in the ’60s, worked in different restaurants and bought the place in 1969, running it as a deli for 10 years before turning it into a restaurant in 1980.”
In 1978, Kapetanakis’ brother, George, who lives in McLean, bought out Sampras’ parents’ shares. He acquired the remaining shares in 1991 and is now the restaurant’s sole owner.
Outfitted with plain booths and pictures of Greek islands and local landmarks dotting the walls, the 100-seat eatery serves breakfast daily until 3 p.m. On weekend mornings, the place is packed with locals digging into eggs Benedict, pancakes, Belgian waffles and skillets. Lunch and dinner bring usual diner favorites like club sandwiches and hot roast beef or turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, plus tuna melts, steak-and-cheese subs and Reubens.
Given the restaurant’s pedigree and the fact that its chef is Greek, it’s no surprise the menu also features Greek specialties such as moussaka, gyros, souvlaki, stuffed grape leaves, spanakopita and baklava. “We go through gallons of avgolemono soup every day,” Kapetanakis says.
The diner’s location in the Salona Village shopping center makes it a popular gathering spot for IT workers and defense contractors, as well as Pentagon and CIA employees. Politicos spotted at its homey tables include Terry McAuliffe, Patrick Leahy and Gov. Glenn Youngkin. // 1321 Chain Bridge Road, McLean
Peking Gourmet Inn
Open since 1978
It’s practically a rite of passage for anyone who claims DMV provenance to visit this Falls Church strip mall destination for its renowned specialty, Peking duck. The restaurant has been sourcing poultry from Joe Jurgielewicz & Son’s farm in Pennsylvania for 46 years and serves more than 80,000 ducks annually.
It’s mesmerizing to watch a carver dressed in a crisp white shirt, apron and bow tie take a cleaver to a bird tableside, deftly removing the crispy skin and slicing the rosy flesh into bite-size pieces. Using spoons and legerdemain, the server presents diners with their first thin pancake, rolled up with duck skin, meat, cucumbers, scallions and hoisin sauce, leaving them to carry on with the remainder.
Today, George Tsui, 73, reigns over the 9,000-square-foot, 325-seat restaurant that was passed to him by his father, Eddie, who retired in 1996 and died in 1998.
Eddie Tsui, a native of Shandong, China, was a Hong Kong restaurateur who immigrated to the U.S. in 1969, originally settling in Bethesda. He later moved to Virginia when alcohol laws changed to allow restaurants to sell liquor. He was proprietor of Arlington’s South Pacific Restaurant (now closed) before opening Peking Gourmet Inn, which serves mostly Northern Chinese cuisine.
George lives in Purcellville near the 145-acre farm his father purchased 40 years ago to cut out the middleman in the supply chain. The farm grows specialty produce—namely garlic chives and spring onions—exclusively for the family business.
The dining room at Peking Gourmet Inn features red and gold patterned carpet, high-back red leather dining chairs, fringed Chinese lanterns and walls chockablock with photos of the famous folks—politicians, movie stars, sports figures—who’ve dined there. Chief among them is George H. W. Bush, whose son Marvin turned him on to the place when he was vice president. (George Tsui can still recite 41’s regular menu picks by heart: Sichuan beef, salt-and-pepper shrimp, Peking duck, stir-fried green beans, and garlic sprouts with pork, shrimp or chicken.)
Also worth a taste: bok choy with shiitake mushrooms; stir-fried pea shoots; sea bass with black bean sauce; and crispy Peking-style lamb chops stir-fried with black pepper, ginger, onion, soy sauce and sherry. // 6029 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church
Kazan Restaurant
Open since 1980
“I’ve been here [almost] 45 years,” says Zeynel Abidin Uzun, the 69-year-old chef and owner of this longstanding Turkish restaurant in McLean. “I’m here every day, or my son or my daughter [is]. If we do 100 dinners, 99% of them are for regulars.”
They come for the warm welcome and to feast on house specialties like beef or cheese boregi (filled cigar-shaped pastries); braised lamb shank with eggplant and rice pilaf; levrek (grilled branzino flown in from Turkey); and, on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, doner kebab—tender slices of rotisserie veal and lamb piled onto pita rounds and slathered with yogurt sauce.
Uzun was a chef during his military service in Turkey, where he was recruited to cook for then-president Fahri Korutürk at Topkapi Palace in Ankara. After an 18-month stint, he worked for Sheraton Hotels and then joined Royal Caribbean cruise lines, which brought him to the States in 1976. Two years later, he became chef at Nizam’s Restaurant in Vienna (now closed), whose owner sponsored Uzun for his green card.
Kazan, which seats 100 inside and 35 outside, opened in 1980 to a rave review from Phyllis Richman, then The Washington Post’s food critic. (A kazan is a cauldron-like cooking vessel.) The 2,900-square-foot restaurant still occupies in its original location, having undergone three renovations. The décor, with its simple blue tablecloths, intricately patterned porcelain and walls hung with Turkish tapestries, is charming.
Uzun lives close by in McLean. “It’s a very cosmopolitan area,” he says, “with lots of State Department people, Langley [the CIA] and people familiar with Turkey.” He delights in rattling off the names of luminaries he’s served through the years. Nancy Reagan once ordered his orange baklava for a state dinner. Others who have come to dine at the restaurant include Katharine Graham, Kenneth Starr, Newt Gingrich and nine Turkish ambassadors, not to mention retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. “I once put four senators at one table,” Uzun says. “Two Republicans and two Democrats. Back then, everyone got along.” // 6813 Redmond Drive, McLean
Panjshir
Open since 1985
Aziz Niazy opened in 1985 (it moved from its original location on West Broad Street to the Southgate Village Shoppes in 2017), lamb lovers have it made. The aroma of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves signals the arrival of Afghanistan’s national dish, quabili palow, a rib-sticking lamb stew (also available with chicken or beef) combined with basmati pilaf flecked with shredded carrots, raisins and almonds.
Other tempting offerings include lamb kebab; braised lamb shank with rosemary and garlic; and the bestselling kadu chalow, a vibrant stew of braised pumpkin and lamb in tomato sauce, flavored with Kashmiri masala, a paprika-based spice mix. (A vegetarian version is also available.)
Niazy emigrated to Arlington from his native Kabul in 1975 with a couple hundred dollars in his pocket, joining two brothers who already lived here. “He started working in restaurants, saved his money, got his visa and then ours,” says his son Esmat, 54, who lives in Falls Church. “My mother, brother, three sisters and I came over in 1979.”
Today, Esmat is Panjshir’s sole owner. He took over the business in 2004 when his father, now in his 90s, retired and passed the cooking duties to Esmat’s sister Maria.
The restaurant, Esmat explains, is named after Afghanistan’s Panjshir Province. His father chose it as a statement of national pride during the Russian occupation of his homeland. “It was a time when Ahmad Shah Massoud, the freedom fighter who was called ‘The Lion of Panjshir,’ was in the news.”
The 1,700-square-foot dining room, which seats 63, is festooned with woven Afghan textiles, heirloom muskets and ornate mirrors. Kites, an important part of Afghan culture, hang from the ceiling. (The Taliban outlawed kite flying in 1996.)
Though the menu hasn’t changed much over 39 years, the kitchen has added beef and chicken options for meat-eaters who don’t want lamb. (The choices already include the many vegetarian stews that are central to Afghan cuisine). Kadu chalow still accounts for 60% of sales. “That’s what keeps our doors open,” Esmat says. // 114 E. Fairfax St., Falls Church
Nam Viet
Open since 1986
“We are the last remnant of the Little Saigon area,” Richard Nguyen says of the landmark Vietnamese restaurant his parents, Nguyen Van Thoi and chef Ngoc Anh Tran (known as “Mrs. Thoi”), opened in Clarendon in 1986—back when the neighborhood held a large concentration of refugees from war-torn Vietnam.
“Our building still looks the same while everywhere around us has been upgraded,” he remarks. Most of the Vietnamese businesses that formed the fabric of Clarendon’s diaspora in the ’80s decamped to the Eden Center and Annandale as Arlington rents increased.
The family’s immigration story is dramatic. After Saigon fell in April 1975, Nguyen Van Thoi spent two years in a re-education camp before he managed to negotiate a ransom for his release. He and his wife fled Vietnam on a fishing boat with their two oldest children, somehow evading North Vietnamese patrols and finding their way to Thailand. Catholic Charities facilitated the family’s move to Arlington, where they opened a 15-seat restaurant called My-An on North Highland Street in 1984. It closed two years later when they debuted Nam Viet. A second location of Nam Viet closed in D.C.’s Cleveland Park neighborhood in 2017 after a 20-year run.
Today, Richard, 39, runs the 80-seat restaurant, but the kitchen is still his mother’s domain. (His dad died in 2005.) “She helps out on a daily basis and oversees every herb, seasoning and vegetable,” he says.
The biggest sellers, by far, are crispy rice-paper spring rolls stuffed with pork, chicken, crabmeat, carrots, onions and vermicelli noodles. Back when the family still owned two restaurants, “we’d roll 10,000 a week between the two locations,” Richard says. Now they’re down to one kitchen, but the spring roll quantities haven’t changed. “People still travel near and far for them.”
Other fan favorites include phô, grilled lemongrass pork and chicken, and deep-fried spareribs with garlic and chilies. // 1127 N. Hudson St., Arlington
Metro 29 Diner
Open since 1995
Metro 29 is a delicious slice of nostalgia—an Art Deco railcar-style diner gleaming with chrome and glass bricks. Half of the 12,000-square-foot space is devoted to a lower-level bakery that turns out the heaping meringue pies, strawberry-topped cheesecakes and generously frosted chocolate cakes that fill a glass display case behind the Formica-topped counter. “We make all of our cakes, cookies, muffins and Danish pastries, plus the challah we use for our French toast,” says co-owner Peter Bota, who opened the eatery with business partner John Kanellias in 1995. “We bake six days a week.”
That challah French toast figured prominently in a 2010 episode of Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, a Food Network television show that still streams every once in a while. “It aired the Friday after Thanksgiving and the bump we got was incredible,” Bota says. “People in McLean and Falls Church discovered us and we had lines out the door, like at the grand opening.”
Bota, now 60, and Kanellias, 68, both had early experience in the restaurant business. In college, Bota worked at a cousin’s Brooklyn diner; Kanellias at his brother-in-law’s diner on Long Island.
They were visiting friends in Northern Virginia when they noticed a dearth of New York-style diners and ended up purchasing the property near the corner of Glebe Road and Langston Boulevard. “We asked [ourselves] what we would need to do to break even and far exceeded that from day one,” Bota says. He’s on the floor of the 210-seat dining room most days, while Kanellias is in the kitchen cooking or expediting.
Like any good diner, Metro 29 offers burgers, club sandwiches, chef salads, broiled pork chops and the like—but breakfast is the big draw, be it Belgian waffles, a swath of crispy corned beef hash with two eggs any style, lox and bagels, a stack of silver dollar griddle cakes or a pancake shaped like Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse. // 4711 Langston Blvd., Arlington
Crystal City Sports Pub
Open since 1994
Thirty years ago, three friends and college classmates from Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland decided to open a sports bar. The owner of a hardware store on Crystal City’s 23rd Street was closing up shop and asked the trio—Bill Bayne, Art Dougherty and Jim Madden—if they wanted to take over the lease.
They jumped at the chance. Bayne already owned a nearby strip club (the Crystal City Restaurant and Gentlemen’s Club, which had started out as Arlington Luncheon when his father opened it in 1963), so the location just up the street was hard to beat.
After opening the Crystal City Sports Pub in 1996, the owners continued to rent until 2003. That’s when they bought the 4,000-square-foot property, put on an addition and acquired the space next door, doubling the size of their establishment. “Twelve years later, we popped in a third floor with lots of TVs and made a private smoking lounge,” says Dougherty, who lives in the neighborhood. “[Rudy] Giuliani and the president of Bosnia would go in there.” The bar seats 250.
Pretty much every bit of wall space is covered with sports gear, photos and memorabilia, most of it drawn from the collection of Arlington resident and entrepreneur Michael O’Harro, who opened the first Champions Sports Bar in Georgetown in 1983. On prominent display is the iconic and now-vintage (circa 1979) “Poverty Sucks” poster that features O’Harro standing next to a Bentley wearing jodhpurs and holding a glass of Champagne.
The pub is open 365 days a year from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., even in severe weather. “We bought generators in case of power loss,” Dougherty says. The formula is simple: pool tables; good quality food, such as burgers, crabcakes, filet mignon and chicken wings; and plenty of TV screens tuned to sporting events.
The owners are active in the community, whether they’re hosting a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for kids aiming to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., or sponsoring a local sports team.
Covid was hard on the bar. “The debt load was a mess—$50,000 a month. Things got ugly real quick,” Dougherty says. A PPP loan and money they’d been saving with hopes of becoming a sports betting destination held them over.
Other challenges remain. “Crystal City was decimated by BRAC,” Dougherty says, referencing the U.S. military’s Base Realignment and Closure effort from 2005 to 2015, which prompted an exodus of the DOD agencies and contractors that provided a steady stream of clientele. Now add the post-pandemic work-from-home trend. “There is a lot of empty office space,” he says. // 529 23rd St. S., Arlington
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This no-frills, late-night Virginia Square eatery has been cooking up subs, wings and pizza since 1957.
A Falls Church favorite for antipasto, piccata, lasagne and veal ragu since 1972.
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Rocklands Barbeque and Grilling Co.
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David Hagedorn is Arlington Magazine’s food critic.