McLean Claims Two Of Best Casual Eateries In The Region

MCLEAN, VA—It's not easy to make Washington Post food reporter Tim Carman's list of the region's 25 best casual eateries. This year McLean did it twice.

The best casual eateries list is based on years of reviewing hundreds of locally-owned restaurants in the DC region. The restaurants all had a chef or owner who make food from their home countries or hometowns—and have stories to tell. In McLean, Fahrenheit Asian and Amoo's Restaurant made the list.

Amoo's Restaurant serves Persian classics with flavors from around Iran. Carman's review highlights the five kinds of Persian rice it serves, as well as dishes like jerk-chicken kebabs and saffron-and-cirtrus sea bass. It's described as "an establishment that stretches the boundaries of what an Iranian restaurant can be in America."

Sichuan eatery Fahrenheit Asian opened in late 2016, aiming to preserve traditional methods of cooking. Carman says "the family isn’t simply reanimating Chinese provincial dishes for McLean diners. They’re also isolating the compelling intersections of competing cuisines, as they do with their soups."

The best casual eateries list isn't meant to be the same thing as a cheap eats list, Carman wrote. Seven of the restaurants are in Northern Virginia, seven are in Maryland, and the remainder are in DC. The restaurants are not ranked in any particular order.

See the region's top 25 casual eateries here.