"The goal isn't reinvention, it's preservation."
That line came from L'Auberge Chez François on Sept. 1. The restaurant announced that day that it now belongs to Reston-based Thompson Restaurants, and FFXnow republished the InsideNoVa report on the sale. The same thinking describes most of what happened to Great Falls dining this year. No new restaurant buildings went up. Instead, three dining rooms on Georgetown Pike and Seneca Road got new owners. Two of them kept the chef and much of the character. The third kept the address and brought in a kind of place Great Falls Center did not have.
So the village looks about the same from the road. What changed is who runs the rooms, and what each new owner decided was worth keeping.
| Room | New operator | What stayed | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| L'Auberge Chez François | Thompson Restaurants, led by Warren Thompson | Alsatian menu, staff, Chef Jacques Haeringer | Ownership |
| 1025 Seneca Road, Suite I | Julie and Kaveh Safa, with Andrew Cope | Chef Christopher Carey, the wine cellar | Name, menu, wine program |
| 9835 Georgetown Pike | Owner-chef Neel Kamal | The Great Falls Center storefront | Concept, from Tex-Mex to a mountain-lodge bar and grill |
The oldest room promised to change nothing
L'Auberge Chez François has the longest history of the three. Chef François "Papa" Haeringer, a native of Alsace, opened Chez François in Washington, D.C., in 1954. The restaurant moved to Great Falls in 1976 under its current name. His son, Executive Chef Jacques Haeringer, keeps his leadership role under the new owners.
The buyer is a regular. In the announcement, Warren Thompson is described as a longtime guest at the restaurant. His company, founded in 1992, runs 15 brands at more than 70 locations, including matchbox, Makers Union and Hen Quarter. The release promised the "same Alsatian menu, same charm, same staff." Thompson said in the same FFXnow report that places like this "become part of how a community remembers itself."
Of the three rooms, this is the one where the sale changed only the name on the ownership papers.
On Seneca Road, the neighbors kept the chef and changed the menu
The second handoff began over bread pudding. FFXnow reported in July that Julie and Kaveh Safa first ate at Brx American Bistro in July 2023, using gift cards they had bought at a charity silent auction. Their server that night was the owner, who mentioned he was ready to retire and asked whether they would like to buy the business.
The Safas had recently bought a home in Great Falls, on the same street where Kaveh grew up. They already owned Courthaus Social in Arlington and Yum Yum Hibachi in Ashburn. By the end of November 2023 they had closed on both the bistro and Brx Oven, a newer restaurant in Seneca Plaza that they bought from the same owner. Their partner, Andrew Cope, also grew up in Great Falls. Brx Oven still uses the Brx name.
The bistro, which had operated at 1025 Seneca Road, Suite I, for nearly two decades, is now The Cellar on Seneca. The name refers to the wine cellar the building already had. According to The Fairfax Girl, it opened in August 2026.
The owners took their time. They ran the bistro for almost three years before renaming it, and Julie Safa told FFXnow that in that time they "learned the palette a little bit better of our community from what items have and haven't sold." The new menu is smaller and seasonal, with a featured wine each month. Chef Christopher Carey, who joined Brx in 2024, stayed on. Beef comes from Laz E Hill Farm in Haymarket, and much of the produce comes from Spring Valley Farm in West Virginia.
What's new is the wine program built around the cellar:
- The Cellar Club. A named locker for 12 bottles costs $425 a year, and one for 18 bottles costs $550. Members pay no corkage on wine from their locker, get 20% off regular-priced wine, and get early access to rare bottles and wine dinners.
- A weekly schedule. Happy hour runs 4 to 6 p.m. every day, bottles are half off on Tuesdays, and trivia starts at 6:30 p.m. on Mondays.
- Event space. The plans include monthly themed wine dinners and room rentals for corporate events and weddings.
L'Auberge kept everything. The Seneca Road owners kept the chef and the cellar, then rebuilt the rest around what they had learned about local diners while running the bistro.
At Great Falls Center, the room stayed and the concept changed
The third handoff kept the least. Great Falls Lodge Bar & Grill took over a 4,689-square-foot space at 9835 Georgetown Pike that used to be El Tio Tex-Mex Grill. FFXnow reported in June that it would be the third location of a brand that started with Urbana Lodge in Ijamsville and Clarks Lodge in Clarksburg, Maryland. The interior is designed to feel like a rustic mountain lodge, taxidermy included.
Owner-chef Neel Kamal chose a center whose restaurants then included Village Grill, Izumi Sushi Japanese Cuisine, Toastique and Bollywood Bistro. None of them was a bar like the one he planned. "There's not much there, so people are really excited," he told FFXnow.
A new concept in an old room also meant a county buildout. Kamal first aimed for late June. He then told FFXnow in September that Fairfax County's permitting and inspection process "took longer than expected," which pushed the soft launch to Sept. 7. It started with dinner from 3 to 10 p.m., with lunch and happy hour planned later. The opening menu leaned toward American bar food: burgers, flatbreads, baby back ribs, fish and chips, Maryland crab cakes and jambalaya. The brand's fuller menu also includes Indian dishes such as butter chicken and a chili paneer flatbread. By Sept. 19 the Lodge was one of the local restaurants at Celebrate Great Falls' Mingle at the Mill.
Of the three handoffs, this was the only full change of concept.
Where these rooms meet the late-fall calendar
The Cellar's events and the village's own traditions fill the calendar from mid-November through early December. In date order:
- Friday, Nov. 13: a free wine tasting with Pearmund Cellars at The Cellar on Seneca.
- Saturdays, all year: the Great Falls Farmers Market, 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at 756 Walker Road.
- Thursday, Nov. 19, 6:30 p.m.: the Cellar's Mountain Fruit Wine Dinner, five courses paired with Jackson Family wines, $175 plus tax and gratuity.
- Wednesday, Nov. 25: pickup day for the Cellar's Thanksgiving At Home packages, the day before Thanksgiving.
- Friday, Dec. 4: Arts of Great Falls' First Friday at 756 Walker Road. The Kids Fine Art Club runs 4:45 to 6 p.m., and Art Night Out runs 6 to 8 p.m.
- Sunday, Dec. 6, 4 to 6 p.m.: the free Celebration of Lights at Great Falls Village Field, behind the post office. It has hot cocoa, a petting zoo, pony rides and a live nativity, and Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive by fire truck to light the tree at 5 p.m.
The Lodge and the Cellar both go into this holiday season under names they did not have a year ago. L'Auberge Chez François has been in Great Falls since 1976, and its new owners plan to keep it the way it is.
If one of these handoffs got you wondering what's happening to other familiar places around the village, Shepherd Homes Group follows Great Falls closely and is happy to talk it over. Contact us anytime, whether it's about a restaurant on Seneca Road or something bigger.
