50 Best American Restaurants near South Riding

“I didn’t expect much when I originally planned to head to Ford’s, but I happened to catch a glimpse of Foster’s in South Riding—and I’m glad I did. The draft lineup really caught my attention. While there aren’t a ton of options on tap, the mix they offer covers a nice range of flavors and includes some awesome local craft brews. And don’t miss their can selection—lots of gems in there too!

What really impressed me was the meal—especially the Reuben, which was packed with flavor. I also had a great chat with the General Manager, Kim, who clearly knows her stuff when it comes to craft beer. Such a cool experience all around. I have a feeling this is going to become one of my go-to spots!“

“The reservation process with OpenTable worked very well. We were able to select a time and seating zone that worked for us. The hostess had our reservation and took us to the table that was prepared for us. Our server and other staff were very efficient and pleasant. We will go again.“

“A friend and I meet at Theisman's restaurant for lunch quite often. I live in Alexandria and she lives in Warrenton so it's a great middle point. We both love the food and the hostesses and waitstaff are excellent. The atmosphere is nice.. the reason I gave it 4 stars is that the music in there was so loud. We decided to sit on the porch thinking it would be quieter and it was such a beautiful day... unfortunately the music was extremely loud out there too and seemed to increase in volume as we were out there for about 2 hours. I noticed a few other people were saying that it was so loud too. We should have said something to the hostess but we had not seen each other in awhile. Wonderful place, but people do want to be able to talk and hear each other. Hopefully, this will get to the right ears ?“

“Carlos is the very best! He is a great server and took care of us. My daughter's birthday was awesome because of him! Kudos to this location which also takes GREAT care of its Beer Club members! We'll be back soon!“

“Friendly, good food. Our waitress, Nicole, was outgoing and great!“

“Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food & Lucky Lounge (BCI: 86) 11927 Democracy Dr, Reston, VA Step into Jackson’s and you’re stepping into a space that bridges eras - a Reston mainstay that blends classic Americana with a contemporary culinary pulse. The curved brick façade, glowing neon, terrazzo floors, and murals set a retro-modern stage that feels both familiar and fresh. The menu is as versatile as the atmosphere. The Blue Crab & Shrimp Fritters arrive golden and crisp, with a lobster-ginger sauce that balances sweet and tang. Deviled Eggs topped with pecans and sugar-cured bacon hit nostalgic notes with a twist. For mains, the Short Smoked Salmon Filet was balanced and flavorful, while the 5 Star Reserve Rib Eye stands out as the indulgent showpiece - perfectly grilled and paired with Brussels sprouts, bacon, and spiced pecans. Gluten-sensitive diners aren’t sidelined here, with Ozzie’s Brick Chicken and even flourless desserts on a dedicated menu. Save room for dessert: the Flourless Chocolate Waffle with Ice Cream was rich yet not overwhelming, and the Lemon Marshmallow Meringue Pie playful and bright. Cocktails, like the Jackson’s Mule, are well-crafted and fairly priced. Service was attentive and well-paced even in a bustling room, though weekends bring a lively (and loud) crowd. Reservations are smart for dinner; weekday lunches are easier. My only miss: the French Dip. Beautifully presented but mine arrived closer to raw than medium rare, with a lukewarm au jus. For $30, I expected more precision. That said, many online reviewers rave about it. So consider it a hit-or-miss item depending on your taste for ultra-rare beef. Whether it’s a business lunch, a date night, or a family dinner, Jackson’s delivers. A broad menu, strong service, and lively atmosphere keep it at the center of Reston dining. BCI: 86 reflects weighted and normalized ratings across multiple platforms, showing that Jackson’s consistently delivers strong experiences. The Brodbeck Confidence Index (BCI) is a proprietary algorithm that blends multi-platform ratings into a single, normalized score to give diners a clearer picture of overall consensus.“

“We had a fantastic meal at Chef Geoff's last night! The Mozzarella crispy, and cobb salad was absolutely phenomenal, perfectly cooked with fresh ingredients. Our server, Ghander, was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable about the menu, making excellent recommendations. The ambiance was cozy and inviting, making for a wonderful evening out. We will definitely be back soon!“

“There is a sign on the door as you walk in that states “Best Breakfast in town” there has never been a more true statement. Well done Yorkshire!!!!!“

“I wanted to share my positive experience with the food and service during my recent visit. However, I was disappointed to learn that filling a growler with root beer was deemed "physically impossible". I hope this can be reconsidered in the future.“

“I had an amazing experience at Silver Diner thanks to our waiter, Badr. From the moment we sat down, he was quick, attentive, and genuinely on top of everything. He checked in at all the right times without ever feeling intrusive, and made sure we had everything we needed.

What really stood out was his personality — friendly, upbeat, and funny. He added little jokes and light conversation that made the meal feel even more enjoyable. You can tell he really enjoys his job and cares about giving great service.

Overall, Badr made our visit memorable. Silver Diner is lucky to have him. Highly recommend asking for Badr if you want top-tier service!“

“I have lived in Chantilly for 30 years and you CANNOT find a rack of ribs better than Backyard Grill! The potato skins and beignets are wonderful as well!“

“TGI Fridays has an event ladies night every Thursdays.. happy hour 3 to 9pm“

“Great music on a Friday night!“

“We went to the restaurant down at the wharf….. To start, the hostess at the front was on her phone and not really paying any mind to the people walking in the door. Come to find out after that was the floor manager. Then we get sat and none of the workers talk about who is in charge of that section. We did. It get me is or silverware. The very nice bartender comes up, gets us some water and menus gets us started and finally the sever comes over to us. The server took our order and checked on us twice. When the food was brought to the table we still didn’t have silverware and had to ask the food runner. Our server had a a ten top when we arrived and she was checking on her the whole time not paying any mind to the other tables she has. It was to the point I had to go up to someone ask for water refill bc both our glasses were empty. We finish our meals that were very good and no one but the bartenders are on the floor. I see our sever walk over to the restroom, she comes out looks at us and sees that we are sitting doing nothing, then walks over to a new 10 top and disappears. It’s at thing point I now have to walk over to the bartender and get our check and they are the ones that cash us out. Thank you to the bartender that took care of us“

“Thanks for hosting our monthly meetings. Foods great!“

“Reservations were easy to make! We ordered the filet mignon with lemon butter on top, this was by far the best filet I have ever had. We also ordered salmon over beans and mushrooms which was amazing. The flavors of both meals was outstanding! The ambience was very romantic!“

“My first time here. The atmosphere was great, parking was readily available on the street and lot, and the staff was very attentive.“

“The staff is friendly and attentive! Love that. Always great music. Food is delicious. Atmosphere very welcoming.“

“We recently hosted a rehearsal dinner and welcome party at City Tap. The evening was absolutely fabulous! From the initial visit, planning meetings and the final events, the process was smooth. Our events coordinator, Emily, was so helpful and brainstormed with me since we had a rather large group. The wait staff attentive and friendly, the food delicious and cocktails tasty. Our guests continue to rave about the evening. Thank you City Tap Loudoun!“

“Great place to celebrate your milestones .“

“Excellent food and service“

“I wish this pub was closer to my house! The service is great! The bartenders are your servers and man they set the bar high! Majority of the food is cooked to order and I can taste the effort that is put into making sure it is just right! The atmosphere is very pub like! I walk in and feel welcome but be warned this place can be busy depending on the day of the week and time of day! The specials are great! A couple of weeks ago, we experienced 1/2 price burger night. Last week, we experienced taco Tuesday. Both of those days will be in my radar in the future. Breakfast is super yummy! Every bartender there has their own personality but they are all so friendly!!… so much so that I will not isolate my review to just one!“

“We enjoy Open Road - Reston a lot. It's a 40min ride for us, but we think it's worth it. The food is good, a little pricey, but most things are these days. Most of our service has been great. Everyone has been friendly, but occasionally we have gotten a waiter that forgets us in the back of the restaurant or brings fries instead of sweet potato fries. It's the details you know. I highly recommend it and look forward to going again.“

“Excellent food, service and family!💙“

“Had a totally wonderful experience at the Manassas location — everyone was friendly, helpful and quick and then the food gave us that warm and fuzzy feeling that we were looking for. AAAAA+++++“

“Best cappuccino around! Perfect for business meetings“

“We live Blue Ridge Grill. We’ve been eating here as a family and as a happy hour location for years. It is a staple of the town of Leesburg. The staff is wonderful and the food always tastes great. Highly recommend BRG as a journey and a destination. A+++“

“Good food and good customer service“

“My fiancé and I tried this place last night and we 10/10 recommended! Great staff & service. Food was amazing! We recommend the crab dip and pizza! Will come back again“

“First time here while traveling for work and it was 💯 amazing!!! Very friendly staff and AMAZING Ribeyes! Definitely will be back and definitely recommend trying it out!! 💪🏼🔥“

“I love this place! I tired it the first time last August when my son was here for a baseball event. We’re back and I have literally dreamed about eating this again for a year!“

“I randomly found this place based on some reviews.
I had the chicken Caesar wrap, and let me tell you, this was a perfect wrap. I enjoyed my lunch!!!! Will be going there for sure to try out other items on the menu.
Highly recommended and I love supporting small businesses.“

“We ordered around 15 lunches in advance for a training that we were running. The food was ready on time and several of my teammates said the sandwiches were very good and tasted fresh.

Vegetarian options: We were very happy that they have vegetarian options.“

“Absolutly amazing food and service. I had the chicken piccata with shrimp. It was to die for. The shrimp was perfectly soft, i swear it must have been breast fed or something. We had a server named mason. He was hilarious and super charismatic. He made the whole experience a lot better. He made me a mocktail from scratch. It was a strawberry blueberry drink with lemon juice and rosemarry and mint. It had a beautiful frozen lemon rose ice cub. I also had the mascarprone for desert it was perfectly balanced of sweet and chocolatly. The place was absolutly stunning and such pretty set up. Even my youngest cousin (4 year old) had lots of fun here and got to have great food too. Literally everything i had was super delious.

Vegetarian options: My grandmother had the vegtable platter

Kid-friendliness: There is good kid options as well and our server was really nice and iteractive with the kid. He was rea“

“We live out of the area but we drive to Reston for special occasion dinners. It was a perfect dinner. Our servers, Henry and Sasha, did an amazing job. Both are extremely professional and personable. We also had a nice meeting with the manager, Sierra. She is very attentive and highly professional. It is obvious all the staff at Ruth's Chris love their job. And the food....outstanding!“

“Wonderful little spot! Food was great, staff was so friendly and accommodating! I absolutely loved the happy atmosphere, you can certainly tell that everyone enjoys what they do and their customers! We will definitely be back when in the area!“

“Good restaurant with a variety of American foods. Burgers are excellent. Bar has a lot of TVs for sports. Seems to have a regular following.
Since leaving this review I have received reheated fries rather than fresh fries so I revised my review appropriately“

“Was super bz on a Sunday and service was okay but our waitress wasn’t all that great.“

“Great Grillef Buffalo Chicken sandwich.“

“Monday $1 oysters on half shell; usually 3-4 east coast varieties. Both the fish and chips, and the shrimp tacos are my lunch go to options.“

“Everything was wonderful not what I expected 👌🏾“

“Clifton Cafe is our new favorite evening spot on the weekends. We’ve been customers since the original owners opened it years ago, but until this past fall we did more to go orders than dine in since the service and time to prep food was often slow and unpredictable. Now we go almost every week. We’ve noticed big improvements since they expanded their kitchen and redesigned the bar area. Their new pull up bar is beautiful and spacious. The new owners and management are great too! We love the evening staff as well, especially Ian and Nicole. They are very personable, accommodating, and attentive. They have great happy hour specials from 3-6 and make the best margaritas and espresso martinis. Some of our favorite dinner items include the crab dip, Mediterranean salad, cuban sandwich, burgers, crab cakes, quiche specials, banana pudding, and too many crepes to name! We also appreciate that they have become more family friendly. We had a last minute party of 14 on a Friday evening (half of which were children ages 1-11) and they didn’t hesitate to pull some tables together in a private nook to accommodate our large group (again thanks to Ian and Nicole). We noticed they finally got a changing table in the large bathroom, which they are about to install. Our kids are past that stage, but there were several times when they were little that a changing table would have been helpful.“

“Family atmosphere and great food“

“Thank you Cracker Barrel for stepping up your "Customer Service" skills. I receently picked up a take out order that I was not pleased with. When I went to pay for the order, the cashier acknowledged the complaint and called for a manager. The manager immediately apologized and corrected the problem. Thank you for getting it right! This is why I keep coming back. ? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ See you soon!“

“Amazing food great atmosphere and they except reservations“

“Wonderful food, the trout was amazing and so was the shrimp and crab fritter appetizer. Our waiter Matthew was seriously the best and sweetest waiter I’ve ever had in my life. We are here for vacation but we will without a doubt come back here the next time we are in the area.“

“Had the best Cuban Sandwich ever, Khalysha is awesome - will be back again - thank you!!!“

“We went here to eat at the Midway Cafe without realizing that the cafe was inside XCAL Shooting Sports & Fitness. So, the cafe employees were good and the food was good too. The atmosphere is lively - there's lots of people coming in and out, some eating, some going to the range and others working out. Honestly, it was a unique situation for a cafe, but we liked it for the fun vibe.“

“Had a wonderful dinner with friends here. The menu has a great selection. The food we ordered were all delicious. We had the scallops, meatballs and crab dip for appetizers. Lamb chops, crab cakes and ribeye for main course. Mango sorbet and cappuccino creme brûlée for dessert. We liked all of it except the risotto that accompanied the lamb chop. Our wonderful server was fantastic. I give this restaurant 5 stars for quality of food, price and service.“

“I’m from South Carolina and this place can compete with the restaurants in Charleston!!!! Try it. You’ll love it!“