The best restaurants in Virginia, at least according to Washingtonian readers, are all in Arlington and Falls Church.
The magazine yesterday published its list of “Your Favorite Restaurants Around DC in 2024.” Under the “Best Restaurant in Virginia” category, readers chose three familiar local spots: Thompson Italian and Ellie Bird, both in Falls Church, plus Ruthie’s All Day in Arlington in the No. 3 position.
The Falls Church restaurant supremacy did not stop there.
Washingtonian also published a compilation of “Our Favorite Dishes of the Year” on Monday and, while no Arlington spots made the list, a Falls Church eatery was included: Truong Tien in the Eden Center and its Bún Bò Huế, a spicy lemongrass noodle soup.
Another restaurant labeled as being in Falls Church, Chay, was included for its Vegan Clam Dip, though it’s located well outside of the little city’s limits, on Columbia Pike in Fairfax County.
Falls Church getting more plaudits for its food scene than Arlington — which is 12x its geographic size and 15x its population size — is not altogether surprising. Earlier this year Washingtonian included twice as many Falls Church restaurants as Arlington restaurants on its ‘100 Very Best’ list. In addition to Ruthie’s, Cafe Colline and Padaek also made that list.
