Restaurants in Fairfax Station

Warm hardwood covers nearly every inch of Backyard Grill Restaurant’s dining room, with flat-screen televisions sparkling like glittering jewels all along the crown molding. Through these pixel-painted windows, diners glimpse sports action and beloved commercials from across the globe, taking in scored goals, touchdowns, and home runs side by side. Several times a week, arena events give way to electronic trivia nights, live music, and karaoke.

A gargantuan menu holds its own amid the onslaught of entertainment. Chefs use the whole United States and several other corners of the world as their pantry, adding Asian sweet chili or Mediterranean olives to seafood, piling North Carolina–style pork atop a barbecue sandwich, tossing andouille sausage into spicy creole jambalaya pasta, and gently waving an American flag over a bacon cheeseburger. The tot-friendly, easily scrubbed interior is capped by a kids' menu that ranges from grilled cheese to steak.

Lucia’s Italian Ristorante is a team effort by the Impellizzeri family, which is headed up by native Sicilian Tino. At the feet of his Italian mother and a father who was a chef by trade, Tino mastered his family's recipes, which he now showcases on Lucia's menu. Tantalizing selections include housemade pizza, pasta, and from-scratch sauces. Many of the restaurant's pasta dishes and gourmet pizzas, including the chicken ranch, can be made in the kitchen without the use of gluten or blaring disco music. Chefs enable authentic noshing at home by freezing dinner entrees, pizzas, and sauces for customers to enjoy around their family dinner tables or crypts.

Romance is in the air at Carmello's, where diners perch on ivory padded chairs surrounded by the warm tones of exposed brick walls, dark wood, and golden accents. In crafting its dishes of seafood, pasta, and chops from scratch, the kitchen draws on Italian and Portuguese influences. The ingredients are fresh from local purveyors, so the offerings change with the seasons. These dishes can be complemented by selections from the eatery's wine menu—its more than 50 Portuguese wines earned it Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence and two thumbs up from Bob.

Ultimate Chicken Bistro’s housemade dishes incorporate signature soy-garlic sauce, spicy crushed-red-pepper sauce, and ingredients from Asia and Europe. Yet, unsurprisingly, one ingredient dominates the list: chicken. The lengthy menu, broken down by the region from which each dish takes its inspiration, occasionally strays into shrimp, beef, or vegetables, but poultry steals the show. Prosciutto and swiss cheese stuffed inside a roasted chicken breast tempt diners to sample the chicken cordon bleu, and the Korean-style fried chicken's secret blend of spices is as mysteriously delicious as a steak pulled out of a magician’s hat. Inside the restaurant, sleek wood tables surround an open kitchen space behind glass, creating an inviting space to enjoy a rib-sticking meal.

At HeeBeen Asian Bistro, visitors delight in a culinary exploration that’s aided by a wide buffet counter topped with myriad dishes that invite sampling. Trays of Korean barbecue meats lay next to hot entrees of ramen, teriyaki, tempura, and oysters rockefeller. After trips to the sushi section, patrons’ chopsticks grip morsels of unagi nigiri, slices of sashimi, or pieces of a smoked sake crunch roll. While enjoying their spread, patrons sit beneath ceiling-mounted cubes lit from within, comforted by sleek woods that dominate the dining room. And behind one of the buffets, a glass case shows off small pieces of art beneath clusters of small fairy lights.

Fresh herbs release their aromas as Primo Italiano's chefs slather gourmet pizzas with marinara and white ricotta sauce, toss shrimp and chicken with linguini, and layer roasted vegetables with mozzarella in paninis clasped by fresh-baked bread. The kitchen carefully taste tests each ingredient before ordering from suppliers and checks all shipments for stowaway gondoliers.