Five local restaurants honored with Annie Awards

The bar at Silverado.

Five restaurants were presented “Annie Awards” by the Annandale Blog as the top dining choices of Annandale area residents.

Silverado was named the best overall restaurant. Honey Pig received an Annie for being the best Korean restaurant. The JukeBox Diner got the nod as the best restaurant for breakfast/brunch. BonChon was named best place for chicken, and Valentino’s was named best for pizza.

The restaurants were selected in an online survey. The winners were announced at the Taste of Annandale on Oct. 14.

The popular salmon salad at Silverado.

Silverado opened in 1994 in the Annandale Shopping Center sat 7052 Columbia Pike on the site of Fantastic Fritzbe’s Flying Food Factory. Frizbe’s opened in 1974 as the first restaurant in the Great American Restaurants chain, which has since grown to a dozen locations.

The Silverado menu, featuring American cuisine with a southwestern accent, has barely changed over the years.

“We’re known for our fajitas,” which are the most popular items on the menu, says Manager Jennifer Keeler. Other big sellers are the “drunken ribeye steak,” which was added a year ago, the smoked salmon salad, and the hickory-grilled fish.

Seasonal specialties now on the menu include acorn squash and a pumpkin spice cake with maple bourbon glaze.

Busy times during Silverado's dinner service.

The most exciting recent change, Keeler says, is the ability to make online reservations on Resy, which is reducing the crowd of people waiting in the lobby during the dinner hours. Diners can download the Resy app or access it from the Silverado website.

Keeler has been with Great American Restaurants for 25 years, working at just about all the locations, and had been a managing partner at Silverado for a year and a half.

Despite being part of a chain, Silverado has a real neighborhood feeling, Keeler says. “When you come in, everyone knows everyone. Teachers who come in see their former students. There’s a real sense of community here.”

Many employees are recent Annandale High School graduates enrolled at Northern Virginia Community College or George Mason University.

“Our staff has grown up in the community,” Keeler says. “Our guests have been coming here forever. It’s a familiar place that feels like home, and it’s a great place to get a home-cooked meal.”

The Honey Pig in Annandale.

The Honey Pig, at 7220-C Columbia Pike in Annandale, specializes in traditional Korean meals with lots of courses, including meat cooked at the table served with rice, noodles, soup, and multiple side dishes. The most popular menu items are pork belly, beef ribs, and pork ribs, says Honey Pig’s director of marketing Hanna Kuark.

“It’s an authentic Korean restaurant with the mood and feel of a restaurant you would find in Seoul,” says Kuark. “Korean barbeque is all about the full experience.” Portions tend to be large, so “it’s all about sharing,” she says. The restaurant offers “a communal dining experience where you’re connecting with the person you’re sharing a meal with.”

Honey Pig meals are meant for sharing.

Honey Pig debuted a new concept, called “Honey Cup,” at the Taste of Annandale. It’s a fast-casual version of Honey Pig, where diners can mix and match ingredients.

The Annandale Honey Pig, the first restaurant in the Honey Pig chain, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Kuark credits the restaurant’s success to the involvement and control exercised by her family. Her aunt, Micky Kim, founded the Honey Pig company, and her father June Kuark, is the CEO.

There are now Honey Pigs in Centreville, Va.; Germantown and Ellicot City, Md.; and Taipei City, Taiwan. A sixth location is set to open in Rockville, Md., next spring.

The JukeBox Diner is like a trip back to the 1950s.

The JukeBox Diner, the winner of an Annie Award for best restaurant in the breakfast/brunch category, is decorated like a 1950s-era diner, with murals of Elvis and the Rat Pack, a soda fountain set-up, and an actual jukebox.

The theme was reinforced in a cosmetic remodeling effort recently, with new booth seating resembling car upholstery from the 50s.

Purita Seno has been at the JukeBox for 29 years.

The JukeBox Diner opened in 1996 at 7039 Columbia Pike, Annandale, on the site of an Amira Bank, says owner Joe Attyah. Two other JukeBox Diners were added more recently, in Sterling and Manassas.

The most popular items on the menu are chicken souvlaki, the Reuben sandwich, and pancakes, Attyah says. Breakfast is served all day.

Attyah tweaks the menu every six months but doesn’t make major changes. “We have a lot of regular customers who don’t like change,” he says. The addition of prime rib on Friday nights has been popular, he says, as well as weekend specials, such as cranberry French toast. A gluten-free section has been added to keep up with dietary trends.

Elvis is remembered at the JukeBox Diner.

What sets the JukeBox apart is the use of real, fresh, high-quality ingredients in the burgers, milkshakes, and everything else, Attyah says. “We use ingredients with absolutely no preservatives whatsoever and no hormones. We’re very particular about our supplies, like buying cage-free eggs. We like to buy local to help the local economy.”

New murals and seating at the JukeBox.

The JukeBox occasionally hosts fundraisers, like a recent comedy show in support of a church, and the Manassas restaurant often has benefits for law enforcement groups and medical research.

There’s an informal car show at the Annandale JukeBox on Friday evenings during the warmer months, where people bring their lovingly restored vehicles from decades past.

BonChon is in the heart of Annandale.

BonChon, the Annie Award winner for best chicken, opened in 2014 at 7215 Columbia Pike under the direction of manager Tae Ko. The entrance, however, faces the Giant parking lot,

The specialty is double-fried chicken with a choice of spicy or soy garlic sauce. But there is much more on the menu, including pork belly buns, bibimbap, potstickers, chicken fried rice, and seasoned fries.

It’s part of a Korean-owned franchise chain that started in 2002. The first BonChon in the United States was on Little River Turnpike in Annandale. That location closed in 2013, but the chain now has 236 restaurants in nine countries, including more than 63 in 19 states across the United States.

Valentino's offers full dinners, as well as pizza.

Although it’s not actually in Annandale, Valentino’s Pizzeria & Restaurant (at 4813 Beauregard Street in Lincolnia) overwhelmed the competition when local diners selected an Annie Award winner in the best pizza category.

Manager Wally Aszali, the son of the owner, Joe Aszali, attributes to the restaurant’s success to its use of fresh, high-quality ingredients and the generous portions. “We’re famous for our 20-inch pizzas,” while the pizzas at most other places are 18 inches, he says.

A large selection of pizza toppings are available at Valentino's.

The Aszali family, which also includes Wally’s brother Armand, moved the restaurant from Queens in New York City to Lincolnia in 2003. They subsequently opened two other locations, but are in the process of selling them.

When asked what are the biggest sellers on the menu, Wally says, “everything is popular.” More people order pizza than pasta, however, because it’s easier to grab a slice and eat it anywhere, and it’s less expensive; you can get two slices for $8 or $10.  Everything is made in-house, including the canolli and other desserts.

The menu hasn’t changed in the last 30 or 40 years, Wally says. “We know what people are looking for.”

Valentino's has outdoor seating.