Best Restaurants for Outdoor Dining in South Riding

First time here and was immediately impressed by the ambience. The atmosphere was inviting and thoughtfully designed, making it a great spot to relax and enjoy a meal. The food, while good, didn’t quite stand out—it was standard fare that met expectations but didn’t exceed them. I wouldn’t call it disappointing, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression either. Service was the one area that left something to be desired. I had to call the waitress over a couple of times to get attention, which interrupted the flow of the evening. That said, I understand everyone has off nights, and I’m willing to chalk it up to that. Overall, the experience showed promise, and I’m curious to see how it fares on a second visit. I’ll be giving it another go in the future!

We had a reservation and were seated within a few minutes of our arrival - just enough time for us to get a view of the buffet. The buffet was well staffed and had a wide variety of items to choose from. Since this was our first visit, the hostess who seated us gave good description of buffet and explained the menus and beverages. Our waiter, Aaron, was just as good, introducing himself, explaining and taking our drink orders, and keeping track of the needs of our table and I'm sure, the others he was responsible for. A manager, Dean, stopped by to answer our questions about Founding Farmer and to make sure we had what we needed and our expectations were being met. Both he and our waiter Aaron were very pleasant, helpful, and met our needs in the midst of a very busy environment.

Went for Christmas dinner. Foggy Bottom was one of the two locations that had the a’ la carte menu which was why I picked the location. It was a little crowded waiting for our reservation time and they were behind but we expected that and didn’t mind. There were three of us and we all were happy with our meals. We had wings and the corn bread skillet for appetizers. The wings were really good. I’m not a fan of corn in my cornbread but it still tasted good. I had fried shrimp with fries, coleslaw and corn bread. The shrimp and fries were really good. The coleslaw was a little blah. Our other two diners had a platter with ribs, cheeseburger sliders and fried chicken and coleslaw. They both loved theirs but also were not fans of the coleslaw. The staff was friendly and professional and fast. We enjoyed talking to them and the two different sets of patrons sitting beside us. We had a great Christmas dinner despite it not being an “traditional” Christmas dinner and would come back again.

We had the nicest Christmas dinner. I’m so glad we went. Throughly enjoyed everything! Food was delicious and fresh and the service was outstanding too.

Our tasting experience was fair but our meal and service with Sam was outstanding. He was very friendly and attentive and made us feel like it mattered that we were at Cooper’s Hawk for our meal. Food, service, wine was awesome!