Restaurants in Sterling

Incorporating Spanish, Italian, and North African influences in their French-inspired Mediterranean fare, the eclectic Old-World cuisine of Mediterranee Restaurant earned a spot on Gayot's list of the Top 10 French Restaurants in Virginia Suburbs in 2012. In addition to classics such as house-prepared pâté and rack of lamb encrusted with herbs de provence, chef Imperato and his staff occasionally move beyond the French borders by incorporating flavors like house-made curry into their dishes. For an extra twist, they'll also add Asian flavors with ingredients such as sichuan peppercorns and baby bok choy.

Nuovo peppers its heavy Mediterranean influence––evidenced from the menu to the decor––with a delicious nod to pan-Asian cuisine. Italian and Spanish dishes explore the flavors of land and sea with lemon risotto and slow-roasted veal or lightly fried shrimp, scallops, squid, and salmon. A library of Asian entrees, meanwhile, chronicles favorites such as pad thai and deep-fried pork, as well as lesser-known dishes such as Korean bibimbap––a rice bowl with steamed veggies, egg, beef, and sauces such as spicy peanut or red pepper.

Across one of Nuovo's walls, monochrome depictions of Italian and Spanish landmarks inspire Old-World flashbacks. On the opposite side a bar hosts flat-screen TVs above an honor guard of bottles. Red-cushioned high seats face a broad line of picture windows, and a pool table engenders healthy competition beside a long squishy couch and a wall of paintings. Diners can also hone their dance steps or help spoons realize their passion for forks with the aid of live music on Friday and flamenco on Saturday.

Through an entrance marked by natural woods and a screen of latticed rice paper, the interior of Cafe Ima opens up into an expansive dining space replete with a sushi bar and rows of hibachi tables where chefs deftly manipulate fresh, sizzling ingredients on steel tableside grills. Crafting an extensive menu, highly trained chefs slice, dice, and flip succulent morsels of steak, seafood, and veggies on flat-topped hibachis to create a culinary experience more entertaining than Penn and Teller's famous cooking show in Vegas. Meanwhile, Café Ima's experts behind the sushi bar slice slabs of fatty tuna and freshwater eel into sushi and sashimi, and craft specialty maki rolls filled with deep-fried shrimp, smoked salmon, and broiled eel.

Tableside at the t'Kila dining room, servers' hands are a flurry of motion as they whip fresh avocados, tomatoes, and onions into guacamole before an audience of captivated diners. The bowls of guac nestle up with authentic, housemade Mexican mainstays—each teeming with fresh, organic ingredients—such as chicken empanadas with crema fresca, poblano peppers stuffed with veggies and salsa roja, or shrimp Diablo with grilled pineapple and salsa aji. Amid the din of the lively bar and the glow of eclectic lighting fixtures, bartenders dole out glasses of Latin American beer and wines, muddle their own mojitos, squeeze margaritas by hand, and liquefy the fresh passionfruit, hibiscus, and watermelon of traditional Latino licuados with one sultry look.

Lanterns cast a warm glow through red, orange, and yellow fabrics to illuminate the rich wood accents in Asian Bistro's dining room. Guests sit at polished wooden tables and around an open sushi bar where meticulous chefs slice fresh sashimi and pack sushi rolls with fresh yellowtail, shrimp, and eel. In the kitchen, the culinary traditions of Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, China, Malaysia, and Indonesia blend together to create flavorful entrees, such as lobster pad thai or Korean-style short ribs. After polishing off gyoza appetizers, guests can insulate yakisoba noodles with unique add-ins of cashews and pineapple, or impress a date by eating miso soup using only one chopstick.

On the rare occasion that its 25 television screens are not broadcasting live sports, Broadlands Sports Bar & Grill allows guests to hold their own competitions in an Xbox-equipped lounge. At the center of the dining area, a long wraparound bar sits like a tropical island in an ocean of beer. The bar staff pours 16 on-tap brews to complement the menu of steaks, wings, sliders, wraps, and desserts. Live DJs frequent the bar each weekend, bringing karaoke singers to the stage on Fridays and letting tiny singers out of their road cases to sing during dance parties on Saturdays.