German Gourmet - Purveyor of Fine German Foods in Falls Church, VA

5838 Columbia Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041
Bailey's Crossroads
Tel: (703) 379-8080

There is treasure trove of German, Swiss, Austrian, and Norwegian food right here in Northern Virginia and it is called German Gourmet.  

The German Gourmet was founded in 1962 in Washington, D.C. Shortly afterwards, it relocated to  Northern Virginia. Since its establishment, it has changed several owners, both German and Swiss. Its current Swiss owners opened the Bailey's Crossroads location in 2007 and began offering a breakfast and lunch dine-in menu served in a small sectioned-off area near the counter with several tables.

Here you can get the Frikadellen sandwich, which they call "European Hamburger," made with ground beef, pork, parsley, onions served on a Brioche bun. Or a Weisswurst sandwich with a side of tyrolean cabbage, beet or spaetzle salad.

For the most part, German Gourmet is a grocery / carry-out. Much of its business is from its online mail-order service and its grocery carry out with an extensive selection of regional delicacies. 

But it is nothing short of a treat to visit its brick-and-mortar location!

You can sample a delicious variety of its groceries, including bratwurst, sausages, coldcuts, cheeses, breads, homemade salads, chocolates, cakes and pastries, beer and wine, and party platters. While their grocery prices may seem a bit on the higher end, its unique and rare offerings are an exceptional find! The eat-in prices for breakfast and lunch sandwiches are a bargain ranging between $4.95 and $7.95. The choices are quite extensive and different from what you would get anywhere else.

Because the dine-in area is small and often hosts visitors, we suggest calling ahead to see whether any events are planned when you are setting out to come here to eat in.  Don't forget to pick up a souvenir on your way out, almost as if you actually traveled to Germany or Switzerland.

We will definitely be coming back here for their wine tastings and their amazing decadent Sacher Torte!

 

 Small dining area

Ted’s Bulletin, Reston, VA

11948 Market Street
Reston, VA 20190

703-956-9510 (Ted's takes call-ahead reservations) 

Take your basic diner, add Mom’s unique and special ingredients, add nostalgia, add charm and comfort, and you get Ted’s Bulletin.  Movies from the 30’s, a menu spread on newsprint, daily specials (Thursdays—TV Dinners!), homemade pop tarts, and charming décor are just the tip of the iceberg here.

Ted’s has grown from a quaint storefront restaurant in DC’s Barracks Row neighborhood to an area chain with two DC locations (Capitol Hill and U St) and two in Northern Virginia (Reston and Merrifield).  We’ve only been to two, but the atmosphere, menu (and unfortunately service) is similar in each.  The first time it was breakfast.  The Big Mark was more than sufficient with 3 eggs, 4 meats, and a homemade pop tart—yes, you read right—a homemade pop tart.  Fresh out of the oven, and what sets the downtown DC location apart from our most recent lunch visit in Reston was the welcoming site of a fully staffed bakery in the front of the dining room.  Other than the bakery, this “Reston-raunt” is no different from the others: same décor, same old fashioned movies playing on the big screen (we saw the 1933 version of King Kong and what looked to be shorts from the Our Gang/Little Rascals series), same menu, same (could be better) service.  It is tucked into the stores, restaurants, movie theaters and corporate offices in Reston Town Center. 

We started with the baked pretzels with cheese/beer sauce.  Hot, fresh, delicious, but small (four finger-length pretzels).  The server’s suggestion to hold on to the rest of the cheese sauce to dip with the lunch sandwich was key as I ordered the Reuben with fries and the sauce did go very nicely with the fries.  The Reuben was very large conglomeration of lean corned beef, crunchy and tangy sauerkraut with 1,000 Island dressing.  We also had the Chicken Parmesan—a heaping monstrosity of battered chicken with tomato sauce and cheese over a bed of spaghetti served with two triangles of grilled texas toast and the Smoked Alabama Chicken—a full half chicken 1/2 chicken, white BBQ sauce that came with a sides choice.  In this case we had the creamed corn (delish) and the homemade mac and cheese.  Everything was plentiful and tasty.  If only it came out within a reasonable amount of time.

It was not that the place was crowded (it usually is, but they do have a call-ahead reservation service).  We ate around 2pm and the house was about ¼ full.  Perhaps the staff was reeling from a larger lunchtime crowd that affected the service, but we can’t give them the benefit of the doubt on that.  A salad that accompanied the Chicken Parm came out after the Chicken Parm.  Not good.

Will we go back to Ted’s?  Sure.  It’s comfortable and the food is top-notch which kind of takes the edge off the bad service.  This is akin to waiting in a line for an hour just to ride the roller coaster at a theme park.  You shrug off the wait because you know what’s on the other end of the line.  And you don’t have to be “this tall” to ride this one.

Ireland's Four Provinces, Falls Church, VA

105 W. Broad St.
Falls Church, VA
(703) 534-8999

Ireland’s Four Provinces is a tale of two restaurants. Weekdays and weekend evenings, it’s a very nice Irish Pub serving fine bar food and the perfect pint. On Sunday morning it becomes an entirely different place. Ireland’s Four Provinces becomes a cleaned-up, relatively refined dining establishment that offers one of the best and economical brunch buffets in Northern Virginia. We’ve tried the brunch there a few years ago, and can honestly say this “Best of NoVA 2010” winner* has not skipped a beat. In fact, it is maturing with age. This place does a great job of mixing the local feel of a nice neighborhood bar/restaurant while representing the best of Ireland’s pubs (it just takes one visit to the men’s room to see a poster entitled, “The Urinals of Ireland.” Take a guess where you'll find the poster hung in the men's room).

Friendly hosts guided us past those without reservations (we highly recommend reservations if you’re planning brunch during the busy hours around noon) and sat us in a very crowded dining room. Drink orders were taken and off to the buffet we strolled. The buffet, situated in the bar area is cramped, but fully stocked and frequently replenished with fresh foods. The array begins with cold salads, salmon and breads. The warmer foods are presented next with a wide variety of breakfast fare including French toast, waffles, scrambled eggs, breakfast meats, corned beef hash, eggs Benedict, spotted dick (yes, spotted dick), and the assorted accoutrements to compliment all the above (syrup, butter, cream cheese, etc). This is followed by some assorted lunch fare including the almost mandatory Sheppard’s Pie. The end of the line sits an omelet and a roast beef station professionally manned by a chef ready to take your omelet order and slice some roast beast. On the way back to the dining room is a table containing a wide variety of juices and for those who believe its “5 o’clock somewhere” a Bloody Mary station.

Everything we took from the buffet lived up to our expectation as evidenced not only by our empty plates but by the frequent return trips to the buffet. All the food was fresh and well stocked. The eggs were light and fluffy, the waffles were crispy and the eggs Benedict came with a very creamy hollandaise sauce. Coffees, waters, and sodas were kept full by a very attentive wait staff. Hosts frequently checked (but not too excessively) to make sure our brunch experience met our expectations.

At $16 bucks per adult, this local Falls Church City Sunday brunch is a local best bet. Just be sure you make reservations first.

*According to Northern Virginia Magazine