Fifty years is a long time to survive in the restaurant business — but the folks at Great American Restaurants have done just that.
The company started back in 1974 with Picco’s, a pizza place in Fairfax City. This was followed up a year later by Fantastic Fritzbe’s Flying Food Factory.
Today, the family-owned hospitality group has 18 restaurants and bakeries in the DC metro area.
They are celebrating tomorrow — Tuesday, September 17 — with a couple of specials at all their area restaurants.
The specials include 50 percent off Great American Restaurants draft beers from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
They are also bringing back a couple of throwback dishes — fan favorites from the past. On Tuesday, you can dig into their Classic 8 Layer Dip as well as their Banana Pudding at all GAR locations.
In Loudoun County, the longtime Sweetwater Tavern over in Sterling is part of Great American Restaurants. It originally opened in 2001 and is still going strong.
Other current GAR restaurants include Artie’s, Best Buns, Carlyle, Coastal Flats, Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food & Lucky Lounge, Mike’s American, Ozzie’s Good Eats, Patsy’s American, Randy’s Prime Seafood & Steaks, and Silverado.
The company’s latest creation is a fast-casual restaurant called Stupid Good BBQ that is scheduled to open in Springfield in November.
(Image at top: Sweetwater Tavern)