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A family-run Greek restaurant with a loyal Northern Virginia following is preparing to cross the Potomac after building its reputation on flaming cheese, slow-braised lamb and recipes passed down through generations.
Our Mom Eugenia plans to open its first Maryland restaurant at Westbard Square in Bethesda in fall 2026. The location will be the family’s first standalone building and is expected to include a year-round outdoor patio.
The expansion brings chef Eugenia Markesini Hobson back to Bethesda, where she cooked early in her career. It also comes nearly a decade after the restaurant’s original Great Falls location opened in December 2016.
Recipes rooted in Zakynthos
Hobson was born and raised on Zakynthos, an island in western Greece, and learned to cook from the grandmother whose name she shares. She has worked as a chef for 30 years and has cooked at the World Bank.
She met her husband, John, in Athens while he was stationed there with the U.S. Air Force. Married for 50 years, the couple has three children and six grandchildren.
Their sons, Alex and Phil, opened Our Mom Eugenia as a tribute to their mother. The brothers grew up between Manhattan and Athens, with one later playing professional basketball in Greece and Italy and the other working with Greek media companies in the technology sector.
The family connection carries directly into a menu centered on traditional Greek home cooking. Dishes retain their Greek names, including avgolemono, a chicken soup thickened with egg and brightened with lemon; fakés, a lentil soup offered on Tuesdays; and arni giouvetsi, bone-in braised lamb flavored with ouzo.
Among the restaurant’s best-known dishes is saganaki. Kefalograviera cheese arrives in a hot cast-iron skillet, is doused with brandy and ignited tableside before being finished with lemon.
Other staples include oregano-and-lemon grilled octopus, dakos served on double-baked Cretan barley bread and a trio of tzatziki, fava and taramosalata accompanied by grilled bread. Branzino is filleted at the table.
Three distinct Northern Virginia locations
The Great Falls restaurant remains the original and most intimate of the three Virginia locations. Its close-set tables, low lighting and occasional live Greek music have helped make it a destination for celebrations and quieter neighborhood dinners alike.
The family expanded to Fairfax’s Mosaic District in August 2020, opening during the pandemic. That location operates seven days a week and serves both lunch and dinner.
A third restaurant opened in Arlington’s Shirlington neighborhood in March 2023. Each dining room has its own rhythm, but all three feature Greek wines, ouzo, Metaxa and menus grounded in the same family recipes.
The restaurant was included among the Washington region’s top 40 restaurants for 2025 and has also received recognition from the Greek-American newspaper Ethnikos Kyrix. Its OpenTable rating stands at 4.9 stars across nearly 1,300 reviews.
Those reviews frequently focus on more than the food. Diners describe staff members remembering their names and orders, while longtime customers say they return for a sense of personal attention that can be difficult to find in a growing restaurant group.
The family intends to carry that approach into Bethesda when the fourth location opens in 2026.
Our Mom Eugenia currently operates at 1025 Seneca Road, Suite H, in Great Falls; 2985 District Avenue, Suite 185, in Fairfax; and 4044 Campbell Avenue in Arlington. The planned Maryland restaurant will be at Westbard Square in Bethesda.