Wegmans, web site [WaPo | The Daily Ping | Manassas Journal Messenger]
- web site, 45131 Columbia Place, Sterling, VA, 703-421-2400 (just north of Dulles International Airport – off Rt.28, turn west at either Commercial or Waxpool) [Baltimore Sun]
- web site, 11620 Monument Drive, Fairfax, VA, 703-653-1600 (off Rt.29)
(Metro Trip Planner – opens in new window)
The best supermarket, with a dozen restaurants inside as well. Imagine Whole Foods times five, plus your favorite brands, plus half a dozen ethnic groceries. I don’t usually list supermarkets, but this place is worth its weight in gold.
The meats are excellent, the seafood selection amazing, the spice selection first-rate, and the cooked foods can be surprisingly good. The cheese and olive bars are hard to believe. An “A” for design as well. Go, and go often, this place has revolutionized food shopping. You might find you don’t even need this guide anymore.
Note: the Sterling branch has better foodstuffs than Fairfax, though both are impressive.
While the restaurants certainly are a cut or three above what you would ordinarily expect to find in a grocery store, they are not at the level of many of the other restaurants discussed elsewhere in this blog. In other words, not a bad option if you’re going to the grocery store anyway and need to grab lunch, but not food for which you should make a detour, at least in my (limited) experience.