Evelyn Rose Vienna VA Review | Best Restaurants In Northern VA

I’m happy to say I officially have a new favorite restaurant near home. Evelyn Rose Vienna was the perfect spot for my husband’s birthday dinner and it’s no wonder I’ve been hearing so much buzz about this place lately. The restaurant is owned by Nick Palermo who is also associated with Clarity, another top restaurant in Vienna, and it features a rotating seasonal menu offering only the freshest of ingredients in an elegant and elevated but casual setting.

*I’m not being paid to write this review

Do you need a reservation at Evelyn Rose Vienna?

You should definitely plan on getting a reservation a few weeks ahead of time for Evelyn Rose. The Saturday night my husband and I made our reservation for was full until I was alerted (thank you Resy!) that a table had opened up at a perfect time.

If you decide to go last minute, I would just call them first to see if they might have room for you, or having a back up for somewhere else to eat nearby if they’re full.

Also, as a side note, they were still seating people when we left the restaurant around 9:30pm on a Saturday night although they state the restaurant closes at 9:30.

Evelyn Rose parking & location

Evelyn Rose is located in the adorable downtown Vienna on the historic Church Street, about 30 minutes outside of Washington DC. It’s small but cute and quaint, especially compared to nearby Tysons. A few of my favorite local spots are the Sandwich Shop for lunch, the W&OD trail for a daytime, outdoor activity and the unique, intimate music venue Jammin Java.

Parking: When parking in downtown Vienna you have the choice of both street parking and a parking garage, but no designated parking lots. Uber or Lyft is also a great option to use in Vienna, especially if you’ll be trying any of their tasty cocktails. You can read more about the parking in Vienna VA here.

Where to Stay in Vienna VA

If you’re traveling to the area, be weary of staying in Tysons. Most of the hotels closest to Vienna are in Tysons and the traffic there is the worst in Northern VA in my opinion. Instead I recommend staying at the Archer Hotel Falls Church which is just a few miles away and offers big, modern rooms for a really great price.

My Experience at Evelyn Rose Vienna

As we pulled up to Evelyn Rose we weren’t sure what to expect in terms of how fancy or casual it was going to be. When we walked in we were greeted with friendly faces and seated at our table within a minute or so, already seeing a glimpse of the excellent customer service that would define our dinner!

One of my favorite things about Evelyn Rose dining room is that despite its relatively small size, they place the tables far enough apart for it to feel intimate and private. This is important to my husband and I when we aren’t seated at a booth, so we were very happy even before all the great food and drinks started coming.

The atmosphere was upscale casual, and there didn’t seem to be any sort of strict dress code. There’s also a bar which actually looks into the kitchen. It might be cool to sit up at the bar, especially if coming in alone, to take a peak at everything going on behind the scenes!

They had little lamps on each table to set the mood, which had the intimate feel of candles. I’ll never forget a dinner we had where the tables were practically touching and each had a tall candle burning. I was terrified someone was going to catch fire the whole dinner. So the lamps were welcomed by me!

Evelyn Rose Menu

After ordering a few drinks and being offered complimentary sparkling water, we started looking over the menu. I cheated and looked at the menu in the Uber over – you can find the current menu on the Evelyn Rose site. We both typically opt for cocktails and that’s what we did, my husband getting his usual martini with a lemon twist which he was very happy with.

I got the Evelyn Rose cocktail, since I always like to get what the restaurant is known for, and it was good but spirit forward and strong.

After having just a few minutes to look over the menu, our waiter came over and explained each of the menu items one-by-one which I thought was really classy. He explained that Evelyn Rose features a seasonal menu which can change as often as daily because they are only using the freshest of ingredients. There is a tasting menu at Evelyn Rose Vienna in case you’re interested!

We were pleased to find out that what we were both eyeing were some of the menu highlights. In terms of a type of cuisine, I would say probably Mediterranean American? As a semi-picky eater there was plenty of the menu I would happily eat.

We decided we have to come back to Evelyn Rose Vienna for brunch and again for dinner in a few months to see what type of new menu items they have. They definitely have us hooked.

Food & Drinks

Now for the good stuff! To start, fresh bread and olive oil were brought out to the table. It was very good and we managed to eat all of it without feeling too stuffed to eat the rest of our meal.

The real highlight though was the appetizer we chose.

We had the smoked duroc pork belly after our waiter seconded it as a great choice and OMG. It was unbelievably tender and I would 100% recommend trying this. After looking the restaurant up once our dinner was finished I found out they have a pork belly sandwich during lunch which I’m dying to try now.

After we gobbled down the pork belly, our waiter came and checked on us multiple times. The service was so great, we never had to look around for him but it also didn’t feel overbearing.

I also noticed our server made eye contact while he talked with us and the service felt very personal. He even said that Evelyn Rose is his personal favorite restaurant of all the restaurants he’s been to, and it didn’t sound like he was just saying that either.

When our entrees came out I was amazed. Both dishes were so pretty, especially mine hehe which was whole milk ricotta cavatelli. That may sound generally common but wow, this meal blew me away.

The fresh pasta was so smooth and on top was a combination of freshly shredded 24-month aged parmesan, a delicious braised brisket and pork shoulder sauce and fresh ricotta. YUM!

My husband was equally impressed with his meal which was the wild texas boar rack with a sweet and sour sauce which slid right off the bone. I tried it and I can attest it was delicious.

We left happy and full but with no stomach aches or signs of unfresh food, with the after taste of an amazing meal. I’m sure we will be back soon to try more of the amazing food here very soon.