Unsure where to go get a holiday meal this season? Want to stay home for the holidays with a delicious dinner, cocktail or sweet treat? Looking to give the perfect present for a foodie friend or family member? Luckily, the city of Falls Church offers an array of local eateries and businesses to satisfy one’s sweet, spicy, salty and savory tooth. 

Dining Out

Dining out during the holidays can be a great way to spend time with family or friends while enjoying a fulfilling meal. Anthony’s Restaurant provides various “signature” dinners perfect for holidays. Greek souvlaki platters, broiled salmon and New York steak are just a few of the many options one can hungrily decide on at Anthony’s. 

Harvey’s is offering a special menu on Christmas Eve that is filled with various appetizers, pastas and entrees. One can start with beef tartare or porcini and chestnut soup, pick between spaghetti carbonara or fusilli bolognese and finish their dining experience with a fire roasted duo of duck, cedar plank salmon, seven hills farm ribeye and more. 

Glory Days offers a large selection of holiday specialties, such as a winter salad with spinach, pears, apples, candied pecans and dried cranberries, a citrus salmon meal that is lightly cured with kosher salt, sugar and spices, and a bourbon butter cake served with caramel and ice cream.

On Christmas Eve, one local restaurant is offering a traditional holiday dish still popular among diners. Sfizi Cafe cooks up their famous seven fish dinner, which includes fresh steamed fish, cured cod, stuffed baked clams, grilled salmon and jumbo shrimp. Assorted desserts and wine will also be served along with the dinner. 

Moussaka — an eggplant or potato-based dish — and filet mignon steak are special holiday meals offered at The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill. For people who prefer a non-meat plate, the Great Greek Rice Bowl has rice pilaf as its foundation and can be topped with feta cheese and one’s choice of vegetables.  

Take-Out

For those who prefer to enjoy a meal in the comfort of their home, many F.C. restaurants offer eats and treats for take-out. Yayla Bistro offers many Turkish delicacies, one unique, but popular option is the Mezze platter, which includes cacik (Turkish tzatziki), htipiti (red pepper and feta dip), hummus, chef’s cigars and dolomas falafel.   

Seafood lovers will be excited to learn that Steamboat Wharf Oyster Co., based in Morattica, VA, offers $25 Christmas preorders for their delicious oysters. For Falls Church residents or neighboring communities ordering from the company, the pick up date will be December 22nd (date and time still being determined), just in time for the holidays.

With the popularity of platters and boards still prominent, charcuterie and cheese boards can be the perfect meal for those who want to snack on cheese, grapes, bread and more while enjoying the warmth of their home. Dominion Wine and Beer provides hummus platters, and charcuterie and cheese boards that can be paired with their selection of sparkling wines. 

Mostly known for their sugary baked goods, Happy Tart also serves to-go entrees, such as deep dish quiche and family-sized spinach lasagnas perfect for at-home Christmas dinners and parties. Cookie platters and stollen — German Christmas bread — are also offered by the bakery to satisfy one’s sweet tooth after a filling meal. 

Drinks

Sometimes, a cocktail can get someone into the holiday spirit, especially if the drink is themed. Vintage “spiked” holiday eggnog is available now at Dogwood Tavern, which has been prepared and aged the same way by the restaurant for a decade. This holiday delicacy can be enjoyed at the restaurant, as well as at home as one can buy eggnog in bottles.   

Liberty Barbecue serves a drink that will certainly spice up one’s holidays. The restaurant’s Apple Cider with whiskey can be paired with their duck confit, which is served with pan-roasted fall vegetables and cranberry reduction. 

Want a warm drink to ring in the holiday season? Preservation Biscuit Company provides hot cocoa to diners paired with a sweet and savory peach biscuit; perfect for a cold, winter breakfast. 

One local event for tea lovers and the occasional cocktail consumer will get people warm and ready for the holidays. Northside Social will be hosting their Holiday Tea event on December 10th — December 11th, which offers a selection of teas, housemade fours and one glass of sparkling wine. 

Tasty Gifts

Gift shopping can be difficult, but for those who want to surprise their family member or friend with a food-centered present, local businesses have just the right products to put a smile on one’s face and stomach. Disturbingly Delicious can help ring in the holidays for a gift giver and receiver with their array of traditional condiments, sauces, dips and toppings. These can “pack a little heat into those stockings” this holiday season, including Harvey’s restaurants’ very own “Harvey’s Sauce.”

For those who have a “spicy” tooth instead of a sweet one, Penzeys offers themed gift boxes filled with an assortment of spices. Salad-friendly seasonings, grill and broil spices, baker-friendly flavoring and more are great gifts to someone who calls the kitchen their second home. 

Coffee lovers will be delighted at being given a coffee box from Cafe Kindred, while beer enjoyers can finish out the holiday with Casual Pint’s advent craft beer box.  

Sweet Treats

Desserts and treats will make one’s holiday season quite “sweet” with various cookies, cakes and even baklava. Only during the holidays, the Italian Store will be selling linder tarts — pastries filled with apricot jam or chocolate — and cookies. One popular holiday treat the store offers is Panettone — filled with candied fruits and raisins — and Pandoro cakes — not filled with candied fruits and raisins.  

Known for their “Turkish Mom’s Cooking,” Borek-G offers holiday deals for half trays or full trays of their famous baklava, as well as loafs of their chocolate babka — yeast risen coffee cake— and Turkish-jam cupcakes. For those who prefer a savory taste over a sweet one, Borek-G also serves mushroom and spinach and cheese quiches. 

German Gourmet has an array of holiday treats popular in Germany. Gingerbread cookies and iced gingerbread cookies will add a little sweet and spice to one’s holiday season.