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Falls Church Restaurant Week will return from Jan. 31 through Feb. 9, bringing 10 days of special menus, discounts and dining offers to 40 restaurants across the city’s 2.2 square miles.

The second annual event follows a strong debut in 2024, when more than two-thirds of participating restaurants reported increased sales despite three days of snow. Mayor Letty Hardi said the program supports small businesses during the typically slow post-holiday season while drawing visitors to Falls Church’s growing food scene.

“Restaurant Week is just a really great way to celebrate the small businesses we have in Falls Church,” Hardi said, noting that many of the city’s restaurants are independently owned.

The city covers marketing expenses, and restaurants pay no fee to participate. The event is sponsored by the Falls Church Economic Development Authority and managed by Economic Development Office staff member Sarah Swinton. Preservation Biscuit Company owner Tricia Barba serves as coordinator.

Barba said Restaurant Week gives diners an opportunity to save money while exploring the city’s international, immigrant-owned, innovative and award-winning establishments. About 20 restaurants have recently opened or are expected to open soon in Falls Church, she said.

Hardi said the city has gained recognition across the Washington region as a dining destination. Ellie Bird, located at 125 Founders Ave., was included in a New York Times list of 50 restaurants its critics, editors and reporters were most excited about.

Supporting restaurant owners is also personal for Hardi. Her family owned Fortune restaurant in Bailey’s Crossroads, and her father later opened a sister location in Reston during the 1990s.

“Having grown up in kind of a restaurant family, it’s been part of my upbringing of wanting to support the families and the livelihoods and the stories behind the businesses we see,” she said.

Hardi described herself as focused on measuring the return from city investments. After the inaugural Restaurant Week, she asked whether participating businesses experienced increased traffic and sales and whether Falls Church collected more meals-tax revenue. Restaurants performed well based on their reports, she said, even with the poorly timed snowstorm.

This year’s lineup includes established restaurants and newer arrivals representing a wide range of cuisines. Ellie Bird is offering a three-course prix-fixe menu for $65 per person, including house-made focaccia with miso butter. Luzmila’s, a woman-owned Bolivian restaurant known for salteñas, is offering 10% off to customers who mention Restaurant Week.

Other participants include Thompson Italian; Borek-G, a mother-and-son-owned Turkish restaurant; Dolan Uyghur, which opened in November; chef David Peña’s La Tingeria; Japanese matcha shop and bakery Midori Tea House; Afghan restaurant Panjshir; and Seoul Prime, a Korean steakhouse that opened in January. Some participating businesses had not yet announced their offers.

Hardi pointed to Dolan Uyghur and Borek-G as examples of less familiar cuisines that diners can discover alongside the city’s Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese and Mexican options.

“We’re kind of like the United Nations of eating,” she said.

Falls Church’s expansion is also visible in its independent coffee shops. Hardi recalled that Cafe Kindred became the city’s first independent coffee shop around 2015. Since then, businesses including Rare Bird Coffee Roasters, Northside Social and The Bake Shop have added to the local cafe scene, with more expected.

Outdoor dining has grown as well. Hardi said she recently held a meeting outside at Godfrey’s because the interior was crowded. With heaters and a nearby fire, she found the patio comfortable despite temperatures around 35 to 40 degrees. She said restaurants have invested more deliberately in outdoor gathering spaces since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hardi declined to name a favorite restaurant but said winter is “pho season” for her family, which often visits Eden Center for noodles and soup. The family also maintains a Friday takeout tradition started during the pandemic, rotating who gets to choose the meal each week.

During Restaurant Week, she joked, two Fridays may not be enough to visit all the places they want to support.

For Hardi, the event is about more than restaurant sales and tourism. Sharing meals can strengthen connections among residents, she said.

“Eating is not just about eating,” Hardi said. “It’s also the gathering and the communal aspect of people getting together.”