A taste of the globe without travel

Prepare your taste buds: The City of Fairfax is offering Summer Restaurant Week. Scheduled to run August 29 – September 29. 4, offers a robust cuisine from 27 internationally diverse independent restaurants.

Throughout the city, diners can enjoy brunch/lunch options for $20/person and three-course, prix fixe dinners for $35/person, couple and family-meal options. Offered, too, will be two-for-$10 deals at participating bakeries and coffee shops.

Participating restaurants include Anita’s New Mexican Style Bar & Grill, Baku Sweet, Bellissimo, Big Buns, Bollywood Bistro, Capital Ale House, Coyote Grill & Cantina, Dolce Vita Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar, Draper’s Steak & Seafood and Earp’s Turn.

Also participating: El Pollo Rico (Pollo La Brasa), Hamrock, High Side (Asian street food), Kim’s Kitchen Bar (Vietnamese food), Marumen (Ramen Shop), Okonomi Asian Grill, Ornery Beer Company, PJ Skidoos, Patriots Pub and The Grill, Rufino, Red Hot & Blue, Steakhouse Steakhouse, Old Shebeen (Irish Cuisine) and Winery.

$10 deals are available at Cameron Coffee & Chocolate, CupCakes & Beyond, and Foundation Coffee Roasters. For example, Cameron’s Special would be a four-piece box of any Belgian truffles and a 16-ounce, fresh Cameron Blend coffee or hot or iced tea. And CupCakes & Beyond offer flatbreads and soft fries.

“We’re excited to give people one more reason to visit Fairfax in the winter,” said Fairfax Mayor David Meyer. “From the cultural richness of our city to the many outdoor festivals, concerts and parades and our walkable shopping districts, we have a lot to offer as a summer destination. At the Fairfax City Restaurant Week Summer Show, we’re excited to spice up the deal and showcase our unparalleled restaurant community, while visitors taste, drink and enjoy the food that’s uniquely Fairfax.

Plus, diners can help a non-profit while enjoying some top-notch food. The Lamb Center — a late-night Fairfax city day shelter serving the poor and homeless — was selected as the event’s featured charity to receive support from participating restaurants. Also during this week, some restaurants will donate a portion of their gift card sales back to the Lamb Center.

The city of Fairfax prides itself on its diverse culinary scene, and the upcoming event is the first official Summer Restaurant Week, marking the start of two restaurant weeks a year. This event will be the fifth of its kind and will build on the success of previous ones.

The sponsors are the City of Fairfax Economic Development Authority and the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce. The 2022 Restaurant Week Committee plans and executes the event. The goals are to let visitors and locals know what Fairfax City has to offer, increase the number of deries each restaurant receives this week, and expand brand recognition for participating restaurants.

Diners are encouraged to follow @FairfaxCityRestaurantWeek on Instagram and Facebook and tag #FairfaxCityEats. Go to for more information https://www.fairfaxcityrestaurantweek.com/.

Below are just a few examples of the restaurant’s many entrees (not the entire meal, including appetizers and desserts).

Bollywood Bistro

Chicken labadar – fried chicken cooked in onion-tomato sauce; Lam Patiala – lamb chops cooked with Punjabi spices and potatoes; Sarson Machi – white fish cooked in mustard sauce; Paneer do Piazza – cheese and chopped onions in a special sauce; Malay Kofta – Carrot and cheese croquettes rolled in a rich Mughlai gravy. Each entree is served with a side of basmati rice.

Cupcakes & Beyond

BBQ Chicken Flatbread – filled with barbecue sauce, mozzarella, smoked gouda, red onion, arugula; Margherita Flatbread – fresh mozzarella, roma tomatoes, classic marinara, drizzle of olive oil; Pepperoni Flatbread – Mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and classic marinara sauce; And Smoothies: Strawberry Banana, Tri-Berry, Peach, Mango, Caribbean Colada.

Sweet life

Steak Pizzaola – Wiffle Tree Farms hanger steak grilled and tossed with capers, olives, white wine, tomato sauce and served with roasted potatoes and local seasonal vegetables; pan-seared bronzini (Mediterranean sea bass) with gremolata in Mediterranean couscous; Capellini Pomodoro Fresco – Homemade angel-hair pasta served with heirloom cherry tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil (vegetable). Diners can add wine pairings to each course for $15/person.

Matchbox piece

The $20 lunch includes a choice of pizza and three beignets. Pizza Choices: Cheese, Holy Grail Margherita, Fire + Smoke (Chipotle, Roasted Garlic, Red Onion, Roasted Red Peppers, Smoked Gouda, Basil, Zesty Tomato Sauce), Veggie, Pepperoni, Meat Box, Chicken Pesto, and Fig+ They are prosciutto. (Fig Jam, Ricotta Truffle Sauce, Garlic Puree, Blue Cheese, Mozzarella, Oregano, Prosciutto).

PJ Skidoos

BBQ ribs – half rack served with fruit and corn; Shrimp Scampi – Shrimp, tomato, scallions, garlic in lemon-butter, white wine over linguini; Chicken Scalopini – grilled chicken breast with lemon butter, mushrooms and capers on linguini in a light cream sauce; Louisiana Pasta – Shrimp, chicken, andouille sausage, tomatoes, scallions, spicy creole cream sauce, penne pasta; Grilled Atlantic Salmon – with honey-mustard glaze or lemon-butter sauce on a bed of spinach with a side of rice; London Broil – Grilled flank steak, on thin mashed potatoes, with mushroom wine sauce.

Wine house

Braised Lamb Shank – served with cannellini beans and chorizo, red potatoes, rosemary demi-glace; Faroe Island salmon fillet – with leek bere blanc, saffron risotto cake, haricot vert; Winery Jumbo Lump Crab Cake – with basil aioli, mixed green salad, apple fritters; Pork – with prosciutto and olive tapenade, red wine bordelaise, mashed potatoes, haricot vert; Steak Frites – Flat iron steak with pompis frites, black-pepper core cream sauce; Braised Boneless Short Ribs – with chipotle demi-glace, mashed potatoes, haricot vert; Summer Risotto – Champagne cream, asparagus, haricot vert, parmesan cheese.