The combination of events were the February opening of the massive new flagship Whole Foods supermarket at Broad and Washington and the opening just this week of the seven-screen Paragon movie theater complex in Founder’s Row at W. Broad and N. West streets.
These have put the City of Falls Church over the top. Building on more than two dozen years of concerted economic development in The Little City that has resulted in a population boom (from 9.5 to over 15 thousand, now more than the capital of Greenland), state of the art new public schools now ranked among the very best in the nation, some of the DMV’s finest restaurants, multiple live music and theater venues, among the best around, and (can you believe it?), a declining tax rate.
It’s time the wider world becomes better acquainted with all that Falls Church has to offer it. Welcome! Come on in, the water’s fine!
How can a jurisdiction of only 2.2 square miles have four vibrant nodes of fine dining and entertainment accessible and amenable to all 6.3 million souls in the wider DMV region? After all, getting here from anywhere in this wider region is a comparative breeze, with immediate access off an interstate, the beltway and adjacent not one but two Metro rail stations, with a regional “Bus Rapid Transit” addition running from Alexandria to Tysons well in the works. .
Stretched west to east along Route 7, known in The Little City as Broad Street, the prominent nodes begin with the Hoffman Company’s 10-acre West Falls development that is just starting to shine with its dense new development featuring a hotel, ample residential including senior and condominium options, the nationally renowned Levine music school, medical offices and significant dining options coming on line.
Coming east comes Mill Creek’s Founder’s Row intersection, with Founder’s Row 1 becoming a veritable town center in its own right, featuring the Paragon theater with its seven screens, two of the regionally-acclaimed finest restaurants anywhere (Ellie Bird and Nu) among others (the Seoul Steak House, Chasin Tails, Roll Play and more) senior and luxury apartments, a central gathering space often filled with live music, and more.
Moving further east, comes the Broad and Washington (Rt. 29) intersection. On a given weekend night, there are six music and theater options rocking within a half-block of that intersection, from the majestic 1930s renovated State Theater with its year-around schedule of live performances, to the new Creative Cauldron performing arts venue, trendy local restaurants (the acclaimed Thompson’s Italian) including ones with live music (the popular Clare and Don’s, Ireland’s Four Provinces and Dogwood Tavern), and a large music store, sound studio and a ballet school and a relevant local church with a large, modern sanctuary that is often used for live concerts by regional performers.
Then on the far eastern end there is perhaps the most unique and interesting node of them all, known throughout the eastern seaboard as the Eden Center, which is home to some 120 stores and restaurants run mostly by Vietnamese-Americans offering a wide range of fine restaurants and specialty shops including a supermarket, with a large new Pop Up venue just opening.
It can’t be overlooked that in between these four concentrated nodes are more fine options, including restaurants such as Harvey’s, Koi Koi, Sfizi, Cafe Zevian, The Falls, Solace Outpost, Godfrey’s and Cuates Grill, along with an abundance of regional chain destinations.
Just south of this strip are even more fine dining options, led by the large Grill Marx steakhouse opening soon and the Dolan Uyghur restaurant.
Yes, a lot of the restaurants feature true ethnic offerings, from the Uyghur and other already mentioned ones to the Panjshir (Aghani), Lantern House Viet Bistro, Pho 88 (Vietnamese) and Lucky Thai, Kyuramen and Sweet Rice. Then there are more that we’ve failed to mention here (apologies!).
No area in the DMV is more worthy of a regional identity to mark it as a regional draw than this. Will it work calling it “Falls Church’s World Famous Restaurant Row,” perhaps matching the one that goes by that name on La Cienaga Boulevard in Hollywood?
It’s also got the live music and motion picture options, two very active local public artist studios and music and ballet and theater arts training and performance locations, and some amazing, numerous huge grocery stores, comfy, relaxing pocket parks, quality hotel accommodations, fine athletic fields at the brand new high school, and trees, lots of them, that get lit up brightly during the holiday season.
What prospective visitor could ask for more? It’s an amazing place to visit, and heck, why not just move in?
