The Falls — Restaurant in Falls Church

I really like the seasonal mid-Atlantic concept and menu of the place, but I think the execution of the food that we've tried so far fell a bit short of expectations. In general, I think the food needs improvement to be worth the price. Thoughts on individual dishes:

The deviled eggs were served with a bit of salty thick cut bacon which completely overpowers the deviled egg due to salt level. Without the bacon, the principle taste of the deviled egg is Old Bay. The Oysters Rockefeller were fine but were dusted in a breadcrumb that seemed to make everything dry and took away from the flavor, something other reviewers also seem to note. The bread basket is definitely the best thing we ordered, with each buttery bread pairing well with the honey and sweet whipped butter. The fried chicken was the biggest disappointment. The batter was so thin it was practically non existent, so the entire outside of the chicken had dried out and become tough. It also had no distinguishing flavor itself, with its primary flavor coming from the handful of fried thyme that garnished it. The comeback sauce for the chicken was good but couldn't save the dried out chicken itself. The fries were cold, soft, limp, and soggy with oil. As it was a busy night, they may have sat around too long. The street corn (elote) is quite traditional. They put quite a mound of cotija cheese on one side, and you'll get a good whiff of the unique stank as you go in for a bite. Quite a bit of the husk is left on the cobb which causes a nonuniform distribution of sauce and cheese. The charred green beans were the best accompaniment we tried, with a nice smoky and buttery flavor giving it depth. They still possess the squeaky quality of green beans which bothers some people but not me personally. The smashed marble potatoes are a bit oily and salty. The tangy minty green goddess sauce does cut it, but the sauce is also kind of too strong itself. The Mac and Cheese was very one dimensional. It feels like the dominant flavor is just milk or flour. Perhaps it could use more cheese flavor. The texture is quite pasty overall. Black eyed pea salad were good, no complaints there. The restaurant was decorated nicely but very loud. A server brought food for the table next to us. The guests looked confused, so the server asked what they ordered. The people next to us told him that they couldn't hear him. The server couldn't hear them, so he assumed he got the order wrong. Turns out, the server had the...

It was my first visit to The Falls. Parking was easy. I had reserved for Thanksgiving 'really' early lunch. I ended up dining alone. It was quiet when I arrived.

The decor is lovely. My waitress was nice and trying her best. I had picked this place because of their homely Thanksgiving sides like Mac n cheese, sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole. I was really excited. The starter was amazing - I had the Roasted Squash. It was really nice.

Before the second course came, the manager sent the waitress over to ask me a bunch of questions about why was I doing a la carte and not the prix fixe menu because I was ordering 'a lot of food' (I had asked for the sweet potato casserole and Mac n cheese too which isn't even part of the prix fixe). I was being pressured to do the prix fixe menu basically and I was flat out embarrassed to be told I'm ordering a lot. I literally had to pull out my phone calculator and show her I knew what I was doing so she would believe me.

For my second course, I went for the turkey platter and it was okay. I was given a good portion of food and I liked the idea of the dark meat gravy but sadly, I felt like the seasoning on the mashed potatoes was missing and the stuffing felt really soggy and wet to me.

My heart absolutely dropped when I saw the Mac n cheese was void of any cheesy flavor. No melted cheese. Don't order this. The sweet potato casserole had white potato in it - HUH? I was expecting some brown sugar flavors at least bare minimum but someone literally sent out plain mashed sweet potato and white potatoes with nothing added except a few random walnuts. It didn't taste of much at all. So disappointing.

I didn't feel comfortable to say how I felt at this point. My morning was already horrible before I arrived there and I just got pressed over my order so I just scooped up what I didn't eat, skipped dessert and left feeling defeated and even sadder than I did coming in. Maybe it's because I was alone or came too early. Maybe the focus was on the pick up orders at that time. Who knows - I hope the later diners had a better experience.

Sorry but I won't be able to come back here. It wasn't the experience I...

I have visited The Falls two times now and both times I was really pleased. The first time my wife and I enjoyed happy hour at the bar. We kept it basic by drinking some of the HH beer specials and having the wings. As previous reviewers mentioned the $1.00 wings are a home run. The cost-to-quality ratio is off the charts. Meaty, with a great smokey flavor. I don't even use the sauces. They were not "crispy" wings, but that did not matter one iota. The flavor and texture were still there. Very satisfying. I am not a huge lager person, but their house lager was rock solid. Again the price was great in a world of the $10.00 draft beer. In addition to the wings we had a few other sides. This is the real hidden secret. ALL the sides we've had are great. Beet salad, refreshing relief from the richer wings, kissed with smoke for complexity. The green beans were umami bombs with just the right amount of caramelized shallots and a kiss of brown butter. So good. Service at happy hour was collegial and attentive.

Three of us had dinner earlier this week. Sat at a very comfy booth near the bar. The noise level was high, but did not bother me. I actually like the energy it provides. We ordered 3 entrees including the ribs, brisket, and trout. Every dish hit the mark. My wife is trout fanatic and was really impressed with the finesse and simplicity of the presentation. Very flavorful. I had the 'baby back" ribs. Very tender, with right amount of fat to lean meat ratio. Loved the smokey, hoisin flavor. Nice Asian touch. The brisket was moist and well seasoned. Maybe a tad fatty, but that comes with the territory. Service was impeccable. The callow waitress was very attentive and pleasant. We ordered a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and one of the managers brought us an ice bucket without us asking and topped off our wine. Just the right touch of leaving us alone but also being attentive. The portions were large. We all took home a box and basically ate the leftovers for lunch.

Anyway, two visits in and I am happy. No weaknesses that I observed so far. Let's hope...