Looking for a place to find a truly memorable meal? Look no further than Manassas, where the dining scene features upscale American, Mediterranean, and Italian cuisines fit for any palate. Our critics chose these three Manassas restaurants as some of the Best Restaurants of 2024.
By Alice Levitt, Olga Boikess, Dawn Klavon, and Alyssa Langer
Price Key: Entrées = $ 15 and under | $$ 16–25 | $$$ 26–40 | $$$$ 41 and over | * = prix fixe only
The Black Sheep
Manassas | American | $$$
A good meal is determined by the food. A great one goes hand-in-hand with warm hospitality and a beautiful setting. At this Manassas gem that’s the centerpiece of an entertainment complex, a handsome vintage barn has been transformed into an accessible dining venue with a wide-ranging American menu.
Crispy calamari may sound like a ho-hum standby, but here it’s punched up with cherry peppers and fried to perfection. Shrimp are always tempting here, especially when suffused with lemon, garlic, and salty capers. A decadent version of mac and cheese is as chock-full of lobster as it is melting fromage. Juicy and flavorful wagyu beef sliders feature bacon jam and cheddar cheese.
Yes, the food is excellent, but the special treats at The Black Sheep are caring servers who allow diners to truly relax beneath a well-placed chandelier.
Eat This:
Calamari, wagyu beef sliders, bourbon butter cake
Carmello’s
Manassas | Mediterranean | $$$$
This warhorse of a bistro has been serving Italian and Portuguese fare for nearly 40 years.
Don’t expect anything but a lively scene while eating at the bar, or caring service in the white-tablecloth dining room. Appetizers are hearty. They include arancini (crunchy, cheesy rice balls), flavor-packed tips of filet mignon, and most notably, tender, grilled octopus spiked with lime.
While it’s hard to resist ordering the Flintstone-sized bone-in prime rib, opt for the meaty pork chop, known for its intense, umami flavor. Meltingly tender agnolotti are sauced with sizable bites of lobster. The bright and springy limoncello sponge cake with a rich mascarpone mousse offers a refreshing finish to an indulgent meal.
With a final bite of made-to-order zabaglione, it’s easy to see how this charmer has delighted diners for decades.
Eat This:
Picadas de bife, pernil de porco, limoncello cake
Semifreddo Italian Cuisine
Manassas | Italian | $$$
Chef Franklin Hernandez’s celebrated eatery in an everyday shopping center hides a pleasant surprise — sharp white tablecloths and simple elegance. Knowledgeable staffers are supremely attentive, offering enticing menu descriptions and frequent check-ins.
Hernandez creates unexpected pleasures like grilled Romana salad — his version of a Caesar — with value-added char to the lettuce’s exterior. Classic calamari fritti balances delicate crispness with zesty marinara, achieving exceptional results.
Housemade pastas prevail here, with plenty of choices; ravioli polpa di granchio (crab ravioli) is bathed in lobster bisque for a rich, hearty plate. Diverse entrées like pan-seared barramundi filet or vitello marsala provide consistently noteworthy options. Don’t leave without sampling the restaurant’s namesake semifreddo to end your experience on a sweet note. The strip-mall location may not be able to boast of its beauty, but Semifreddo’s other assets make it amply clear what diners find attractive about this Italian eatery.
Eat This:
Grilled Romana salad, ravioli polpa di granchio, semifreddo
Feature image of The Black Sheep by Rey Lopez
This story originally ran in our November issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
