2 Best Restaurants in Northern Virginia, Virginia

Brunch lovers unite over this lively Del Ray restaurant, serving French toast, eggs and waffles, and biscuits and gravy all day long. But there are plenty of other menu items as well, including lunchtime salads and sandwiches, and heartier comfort-fare dishes for dinner, including fried chicken and pork chops. Mimosas are de rigeur (though the “brunchy drink” menu has some interesting seasonal alternatives, including spiced pear mule and cassis spritz). Locals know chef Todd Miller as the originator of Ted’s pop tarts, a D.C. phenomenon.

Tuskie’s, as locals call it, is a Loudoun institution. Opened in 1985 in historic downtown Leesburg, it occupies a restored 1899 grist mill. Owner Kevin Malone was a proponent of the “buy local” movement from the start, and the New American menu—with dishes like grilled flank steak with bourbon molasses, slow-braised lamb shank with rosemary sauce, and jumbo lump crab cakes with lemon-leek aioli—reflects this philosophy. You can get salads and sandwiches too; the Barn Yard “Au Jus” smoked beef brisket and pork sandwich is a local favorite.