There are plenty of places to get a great meal in and around Tysons. Whether you’re in the mood for small plates, elevated Tex-Mex, or a comforting bowl of pasta, you can find it at these eateries, which are from our 50 Best Restaurants list. Here are the best restaurants around Tysons.
By Alice Levitt, Olga Boikess, Dawn Klavon, and Alyssa Langer
Price Key: Entrées = $ 15 and under | $$ 16–25 | $$$ 26–40 | $$$$ 41 and over | * = prix fixe only
Agora
Tysons | Mediterranean | $$
Most of us have learned to expect exactly what’s in the name at small-plates restaurants. Agora is a refreshing anomaly where four or five of those dishes can be enough to feed two.
That’s not to say that guests shouldn’t ask for more — one can’t overestimate the pleasures of tasting their way through the Turkish and pan-Mediterranean selections on offer — but when it comes to satiety, this is one small-plates spot that doesn’t skimp.
A sampler of spreads, paired with hot, sandal-shaped flatbreads, includes six favorites. Whether it’s Greek htipiti or mint-speckled Turkish cacik, it’s all worth dipping in. Grilled rings of squid are garlicky and bright with citrus but also sizzle with heat thanks to Maras chiles. Finish with the cheese stretch of the sweet künefe. The plates are larger than you’d think, and the size of the satisfaction is even greater.
Eat This:
Spread sampler, grilled kalamar, künefe
Aracosia McLean
McLean | Afghan | $$
Lamb and veal can be polarizing. Ethics aside, anyone on the fence about the meats that are less popular in the United States would be well-advised to experience their tenderness at this second-story Afghan restaurant.
A walk up from the parking garage transports diners to a romantic slice of Asia Minor with a large menu of dumplings, kebabs, and stews that, yes, feature lamb and veal. Eager young servers are more than happy to explain the relative advantages of each dish, but the best way to choose is to not decide at all: A sampler plate includes enough options for days of leftovers.
Veal moghuli capitalizes on the adipose melt of boneless shank in a tomato-based braise with eggplant and aromatic garam masala. The lamb chops? Seductively soft without a hint of gaminess. Here, lamb and veal will quickly become part of every diner’s desires.
Eat This:
Dumpling sampler, lamb shoulder chops, veal moghuli
Clarity
Vienna | Modern American | $$$$
Every neighborhood needs a reliable, go-to spot for any occasion, be it date-night drinks, family visiting, or an anniversary. In Vienna, Clarity has long been that place.
Servers are friendly, and the space feels upscale yet casual, the ideal middle ground for most evenings. The food follows suit, achieving a delicate balance between rustic and unpretentious, while also elevated and refined.
Take the Bolognese, a generous bowl of well-sauced pasta that’s dressed-up comfort food incarnate. Similarly, the caramelized scallop appetizer is elegant and nicely seared but dressed down thanks to a modest bed of corn-and-bacon chowder. And then there’s the pork schnitzel, pounded thin, coated in corn flakes, and crisped to perfection, alongside a rich jus and buttermilk spaetzle.
Familiar dishes can lead to disappointment if they’re not executed properly, but Clarity gets it just right. No matter the dining occasion or company, a meal here makes sense.
Eat This:
Caramelized U-8 Day Boat scallop, corn flake–crusted pork schnitzel, Seven Hills beef & Elysian Fields lamb Bolognese
Evelyn Rose
Vienna | Modern American | $$$
It’s hard to see the housemade ricotta cavatelli beneath a liberal ladle of tomato-braised brisket and pork shoulder, but your teeth will know they’re there as soon as they sink in. The likable chew of the pasta, however, is second in importance to the pile of yielding protein that includes chef Nick Palermo’s signature meatballs.
The term “elevated comfort food” has become hackneyed, but refining what feels and tastes good is exactly what Palermo and co-owner Sam Schnoebelen do at the restaurant named for their grandmothers. Imagine a combination of crisp onion rings and beefy French onion soup, and you’ve got the French onion rings that consistently grace the ever-changing menu.
Pasta, such as the cavatelli and double egg-yolk pappardelle in short-rib ragout, are highlights that lift this new neighborhood restaurant to destination status.
Eat This:
French onion rings, whole-milk ricotta cavatelli, fried Amish half chicken
Ingle Korean Steakhouse
Vienna | Korean | $$$$
Remember Clara Peller? She gained fame in the 1980s for demanding, “Where’s the beef?” in Wendy’s commercials. If only she’d lived to experience this temple of bovine goodness.
If you’re not craving wagyu cooked to its ideal, dine elsewhere. The immaculately trained staff here doesn’t fire up the grill for any old meat. In fact, diners can also order gift boxes of the coddled cattle. Beef even appears in starters and sides such as steak tartare and fried rice.
The prix fixe features four heavenly cuts, including a marinated zabuton (“little pillow,” from the chuck primal) that could be called nothing less than meat candy. Everything from the rugged tri-tip to the marbled galbi is a gustatory delight. Here’s the beef we’ve all been waiting for.
Eat This:
Corn cheese, hwe moo-chim, wagyu cuts of the day
Joon (No. 10)
Vienna | Persian | $$$
Saffron, pistachio, rose, sumac, pomegranate. The aromatic beauties of Persian cuisine could be described as the food’s life force, a concept summed up with a single Farsi word, “joon.”
In fact, this elegant restaurant, sandwiched between the Tysons locations of Rolex and Tiffany & Co., is full of that guiding frisson. From servers who feel like friends sharing a secret with you, to bursts of color on the walls and ceilings, Joon is vividly alive.
This owes more than anything to the flavors. The menu is primed for sharing, whether it’s whole roasted branzino or rotisserie duck, all served with crispy rice. Appetizers and desserts? Also worth splitting with your companions. It’s part of a life-affirming evening of flavors that awaken the senses and introduce Joon into your vocabulary — and dining rotation.
Eat This:
Lamb and pistachio meatballs, sabzi polow ba mahi, saffron and rose water ice cream
Nostos (No. 6)
Vienna | Mediterranean | $$$
You won’t even know what hit you; this charming Greek restaurant comes to Hellenic life from the moment you hear the strains of the bouzouki. Diners are ushered through the white-walled dining room, adorned with nostalgic black-and-white photos of Zorba the Greek himself, Anthony Quinn, and opera grande dame Maria Callas. Memories of a Mykonos adventure come to mind as parties converse over freshly prepared tzatziki and fava Santorinis.
Kefalograviera cheese is pan-flamed tableside for a saganaki that merits a shout of “Opa!” The simply prepared but supremely tasty grilled swordfish, steak, and chicken souvlakis are memorable for their quality and flavor.
Dessert takes the meal to the next level. Varieties of baklava abound, but our money is on the traditional version, brimming with coarsely chopped walnuts and a divine honey drizzle.
A meal at Nostos is an inspired event from the moment you step foot inside the door. Enjoy every outstanding morsel as if you’d paid for a flight to Greece to enjoy it.
Ometeo (No. 7)
Tysons | Tex-Mex | $$$
Tex-Mex north of Dallas has a deservedly bad reputation for plastic cheese and bottled sauces. But Long Shot Hospitality, the group behind The Salt Line, had the foresight to recruit Austin-based Top Chef winner Gabe Erales to collaborate on its latest restaurant. The result? A Tex-Mex palace that would wow even in Erales’ home state.
Fajitas get the star treatment, arriving in sizzling pans girded with queso asadero that melts and caramelizes as the vegetables beneath the meats soften. Those proteins might include a simple chicken breast or skirt steak, but they can be upgraded to shareable feasts that combine flesh such as bone-in short ribs and rib-eye. Diners fold them into corn and flour tortillas, both made before their eyes on a rotating comal in the open kitchen.
Think you don’t like Tex-Mex? Ometeo will prove you wrong.
Eat This:
Pineapple aguachile, fajitas de res con todo, tres leches cake
Roberto’s Ristorante Italiano
Vienna | Italian | $$$$
When a chef and restaurateur has gained Roberto Donna’s level of fame, it would be easy to sit on one’s laurels. But while James Beard Foundation Award– and Iron Chef–winner Donna may have decamped to quieter Vienna from DC, he’s not shy about continuing to challenge himself.
The menu is approachable to suburban diners, but Donna adheres to seasonality with fervor, making additions and subtractions almost daily. The results can be lip-smackingly creative. Diners shouldn’t be afraid to try a dessert of fried ravioli stuffed with tomato jam and drizzled with creamy dots of pistachio sauce. After all, it’s an appealing way to prolong the lives of summer tomatoes.
Guests feel like valued friends as they dine beneath a candy-colored Chihuly chandelier. As comfortable as they are, their chef is never one to sit still, and the meal is all the better for it.
Eat This:
Culatello e fichi, pappardelle al cinghiale, tiramisu
Feature image of Agora by Alice Levitt
This story originally ran in our November issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
