This year, Great Falls' best-known dining room was bought by one of its own regulars. The bistro on Seneca Road was bought by a couple who live on the street where one of them grew up. Both new owners kept the chef. Meanwhile, the two true newcomers each filled a time slot the village didn't have: a place that opens at 7 a.m. on Georgetown Pike, and a bar in Great Falls Center that books live music at 7 p.m.
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, and the Celebrate Great Falls Foundation's Halloween Spooktacular fills the Village Centre Green from 3 to 7 p.m. It's the first big community night since these changes settled in. The schedule and the new hours line up almost to the minute.
Two kitchens changed owners and kept their chefs
L'Auberge Chez François is the change with the longest history behind it. On Sept. 1, the restaurant became part of Reston-based Thompson Restaurants, led by Warren Thompson, who FFXnow described as a longtime regular. Executive Chef Jacques Haeringer is staying in his role. His father, François "Papa" Haeringer, opened Chez François in Washington, D.C., in 1954. The restaurant moved to Great Falls in 1976. The new ownership was clear about what it plans to change, according to the restaurant's release as republished by FFXnow:
"The goal isn't reinvention, it's preservation. Same Alsatian menu, same charm, same staff, same sense of occasion that's made this place a rite of passage for generations of first dates, anniversaries and family celebrations in the DC area."
Thompson Restaurants runs 15 brands across more than 70 locations, including matchbox and Makers Union. A group that size could have rebranded the restaurant. Instead it has promised to keep the staff, and in the same FFXnow story Thompson described his role as making sure the restaurant is "here, in the same spirit, for decades to come."
On Seneca Road, the same pattern played out at a smaller scale. For nearly two decades, 1025 Seneca Road, Suite I, was Brx American Bistro. It's now The Cellar on Seneca, named for the wine cellar the building already had. According to FFXnow's July profile, Julie and Kaveh Safa bought their home in Great Falls on the street where Kaveh grew up. Then, over bread pudding in July 2023, the bistro's owner told them he was ready to retire. "We were like, oh my gosh, we can serve our neighbors," Julie Safa told FFXnow.
Their partner, Andrew Cope, also grew up in Great Falls and handles day-to-day operations. They kept Christopher Carey, who had been chef at Brx since 2024. The menu is the part that changed. Julie Safa told FFXnow it would be "a little bit smaller, and it will be seasonal," with monthly featured wines to go with the dishes. She said the team had spent almost three years learning what the community does and doesn't order.
So the two restaurants with the deepest roots in Great Falls each changed owners this year, and in both cases the person running the kitchen stayed.
The newcomers added hours the village didn't have
The two new arrivals fill the opposite ends of the day.
Toastique opened at 9891 Georgetown Pike on Saturday, Jan. 24, according to FFXnow. It's open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Great Falls Lodge Bar & Grill covers the late end. It took over the 4,689-square-foot former El Tio Tex-Mex Grill space at 9835 Georgetown Pike in Great Falls Center. It's the third location of a concept that started in Maryland with the Urbana and Clarks lodges. When it was announced, FFXnow listed the Center's existing restaurants as Village Grill, Izumi Sushi Japanese Cuisine, Toastique and Bollywood Bistro, and noted that none of them was a bar like the one the Lodge planned. Owner and chef Neel Kamal put it plainly in that interview: "There's not much there, so people are really excited."
The opening took longer than planned. In June, the Lodge was aiming to soft-launch around the first week of July. In September, Kamal told FFXnow that Fairfax County's permitting and inspection process "took longer than expected," and the soft launch moved to Monday, Sept. 7. The soft-launch menu includes burgers, flatbreads, baby back ribs, Maryland crab cakes and jambalaya. The longer-term plan is classic American bar food blended with Asian flavors.
Live music is the part that's new to the Center. The Lodge's October calendar books a performer at 7 p.m. most Fridays and Saturdays. The weekend this post publishes, that's 2ndSole Trio on Friday the 23rd and Alexia Christian on Saturday the 24th. Sonic Spell plays Friday the 30th, and Dave Futrell plays Halloween night.
How Halloween Saturday lines up
The Spooktacular is free and runs rain or shine. Boy Scout Troop 55 is building the haunted house, the Optimist Club is taking family photos, and Great Dogs of Great Falls is co-hosting the dog parade. Put the event schedule next to the restaurant hours and you get one continuous day:
- 7 a.m. Toastique opens on Georgetown Pike.
- 3 p.m. Dog parade registration opens at the Village Centre Green gazebo. The Optimist Club takes photos.
- 3:30 p.m. The pet parade around the green starts promptly. Winners are announced and prizes awarded from 3:45 to 4.
- 4 p.m. Leashed dogs need to be off the green. The Cellar on Seneca opens for the evening at the same hour.
- 5 p.m. Trick-or-treating starts on the green, with no pets. Toastique closes.
- 7 p.m. Trick-or-treating ends, and Dave Futrell takes the stage at Great Falls Lodge.
- 10 p.m. The Cellar on Seneca and the Lodge's posted hours both end.
Because of the dog curfew, anyone bringing a dog to the parade and staying for trick-or-treating needs a handoff between 4 and 5. The Cellar on Seneca's 4 p.m. Saturday opening fits that gap. It takes reservations through Resy and has garden seating.
For a more formal Halloween dinner, the evening at L'Auberge Chez François is still a classic Alsatian meal, now under owners who have committed to keeping it that way.
What's still settling
At the Lodge, the menu and hours are still being worked out. Its website says it's "currently serving a curated soft launch menu," with the "full dining experience this October." The site lists daily hours of 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. FFXnow's September report described an initial dinner-only window of 3 to 10 p.m., with lunch and happy hour to come later. If you're planning a late lunch there on the 31st, call ahead.
At The Cellar on Seneca, the website says "Now Open" and invites visitors to join its email list for grand opening details. Last summer, FFXnow reported a tentative grand opening at the end of August. The site lists Sunday hours of 4 to 9 p.m., Monday 5 to 9 p.m., and Tuesday through Saturday 4 to 10 p.m.
The Lodge team is also opening a second Virginia location, the Vienna Lodge, in the former Blackfinn Ameripub at 2750F Gallows Road in Dunn Loring. As of FFXnow's September report, Kamal hadn't given an updated timeline.
The Cox & Cox Group follows changes like these along Georgetown Pike and Seneca Road because they shape everyday life in Great Falls. If you're thinking about a move in or out of the village and want a neighbor's view of how it's changing, Contact Us — Let's Solve Your Home Needs.
