L'Auberge Chez Francois

Address: 332 Springvale Rd., Great Falls, VA 22066

Phone: 703-759-3800

Neighborhood: Great Falls

Cuisines: French

Opening Hours: Open Tuesday through Friday 11:30 to 2 and 5 to 9:30, Saturday 4:30 to 9:30, Sunday noon to 7:30.

Wheelchair Accessible: Yes

Price Range: Very expensive

Dress: Formal

Noise Level: Chatty

Reservations: Required

Website: Click here to open in new window.

Best Dishes Onion soup light on cheese and heavy on stock; crepe with chives, mushrooms, and Madeira-truffle sauce; grapefruit-mint sorbet; choucroute; chicken braised in Riesling with jus and haricots verts; broccoli purée; hazelnut soufflé; plum tart with cinnamon

Special Features:
Wheelchair Accessible

Step inside this cottage and you’ll feel a world away from reclaimed barnwood, 15-minute cocktails, and other restaurant trends of the day. Little has changed since late owner François Haeringer relocated his Alsatian restaurant, Chez François, here from downtown DC in 1976.

In the main dining rooms, dinners are six-course affairs, prix fixe according to which entrée you choose. The menu is filled with vestiges of another era of fine dining, such as Châteaubriand for two and powdered-sugared soufflés. The newer Jacques’ Brasserie, which has its own entrance, serves many of the place’s hits on an à la carte menu.

It may not be to everyone’s taste, but for lovers of Julia Child and old-guard formality, there are few better places to toast a birthday or anniversary. Don’t miss: Shellfish in rémoulade sauce; pâtés; Roquefort salad; Caesar salad; lobster in Sauternes butter; choucroute garni; Alsatian tart with bacon; chocolate, raspberry, and Grand Marnier soufflés. L’Auberge Open: Tuesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner. Jacques’ Open: Tuesday through Sunday for dinner. Moderate to very expensive.