On a Sunday night in late September, the parking lot at 332 Springvale Road was full. Inside, servers in red vests brought menus to tables in the timbered dining room. Other staff set down the garlic toast and herbed cottage cheese that arrive before anyone orders. Jacques Haeringer, in chef whites, worked the room and told one table, "Mr. Thompson moved into the neighborhood." Tom Sietsema described that dinner in The Washington Sun on Oct. 1. He wrote that the script was the same as on his visit five years earlier.
The new owners planned it that way. This November's holiday calendar at L'Auberge Chez François shows the plan in detail.
A Sale Designed to Change Nothing Guests Can See
L'Auberge Chez François is now part of Reston-based Thompson Restaurants. The change was announced on Sept. 1, 2026, FFXnow reported in a story republished from InsideNoVa. The Washington Sun reported that the deal was finalized in late August. Company president Warren Thompson had been a regular there for years. Founded in 1992, his group runs 15 brands at more than 70 locations, including Makers Union, matchbox, Hen Quarter and Big Buns Damn Good Burgers.
That portfolio is why some longtime regulars wondered what would come next. The restaurant's own announcement answered directly: "The goal isn't reinvention, it's preservation. Same Alsatian menu, same charm, same staff, same sense of occasion." Ruben Paredes, the Thompson Restaurants managing director handling the transition, said much the same to The Washington Sun: "We have no intention of changing the food, service or ambience."
The changes Thompson does plan happen out of sight. Paredes named purchasing power and technology. His example was Starlink service, added to improve internet connections in this semirural corner of Great Falls. The restaurant employs almost 100 people across the main dining room and the more casual Jacques' Brasserie downstairs. Better ordering and a reliable connection affect that operation every day, even though no guest will notice them.
Haeringer's family history runs through all of it. His father, Chef François "Papa" Haeringer, a native of Alsace, opened Chez François in Washington in 1954. He moved it to Great Falls in 1976 and modeled the new location on the country inns of Alsace. The restaurant describes Jacques Haeringer as continuing as executive chef. In a personal note dated Sept. 4, he wrote that he would stay in the kitchen and at the table. The Washington Sun described the arrangement as keeping him on as a consultant to maintain standards. Either way, the family that built the restaurant is still in the room.
Thanksgiving Runs on Papa's Recipe Book
Thanksgiving is the first big holiday under the new owners, and it is the clearest example of preservation in practice. The Thanksgiving page describes a seven-course dinner on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2026. The centerpiece is a Whiffletree Farm organic turkey "with all the trimmings, straight from Papa's handwritten recipe book from Alsace."
The meal opens with a bread basket and an amuse-bouche. Diners then choose an appetizer, followed by La Salade de l'Auberge and a homemade sorbet. A choice of main course and a choice of dessert come next, with chocolate truffles to finish. The prix fixe menu lists lobster bisque, braised Wagyu beef cheeks, Dover sole with lobster and twin beef tenderloins alongside the turkey. That is the same multi-course format, with a palate-cleansing sorbet, that Sietsema described from an ordinary September Sunday.
Here is how the two Thanksgiving options compare:
| L'Auberge dining room | Jacques' Brasserie | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Seven-course prix fixe | Separate Thanksgiving menu |
| Entrée prices | $150 for turkey up to $162.50 for rack of lamb | $63.50 for turkey up to $81.50 for the hunter's plate |
| Children under 12 | $95 | |
| Seatings | 11:30 a.m., 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. |
Each dining-room seating lasts 90 minutes. Thanksgiving reservations opened Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. and require a credit card. No-shows and cancellations made less than 48 hours ahead are charged $75 per person. If your plans change over the holiday week, that window matters.
November Leads Up to the Decorations
The regular events calendar is also running as usual. Two November dates bracket Thanksgiving week:
- Saturday, Nov. 21: Thanksgiving Wine Festival Luncheon. The event starts with a walk-around tasting of nine wines and seasonal canapés, followed by a four-course lunch, for $160 per person.
- Sunday, Nov. 29: Thanksgiving Weekend Musical Brunch. A four-course brunch for $130 per person, with guitarist Jarrett Laskey.
The holiday decorations in the Rooster Room are switched on Thanksgiving Day, and the event page bills the brunch three days later as a first look at them. It also lists a holiday pumpkin-mousse cake and mulled wine on the seasonal menu.
Regular hours, as posted on the restaurant's site, are lunch Wednesday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner runs Wednesday through Friday from 4:30 to 9 p.m., Saturday until 9:30 p.m., and Sunday from 3 to 8 p.m.
The Rest of Great Falls Keeps Its Own Calendar
L'Auberge's November fits into a community calendar that also returns each year. Here are the dates near the village:
- Wednesday, Nov. 11, 11 a.m. to noon: A Veterans Day ceremony at the Great Falls Freedom Memorial behind the library, 9830 Georgetown Pike. If it rains, the ceremony moves to the Grange, according to Celebrate Great Falls.
- Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 21–22: Great Falls Studios holds its free Holiday ArtFest in Millen Hall at St. Francis Episcopal Church, 9220 Georgetown Pike. That puts it on the same Saturday as the wine luncheon on Springvale Road.
- First Fridays through December, 6 to 8 p.m.: Art Night Out, also from Great Falls Studios. Stops include Artists' Atelier and The Loft at 756 and 766 Walker Road and Broadway Galleries at 1025-J Seneca Road. The remaining 2026 dates are Nov. 6 and Dec. 4.
- Sunday, Dec. 6, 4 to 6 p.m.: Celebration of Lights on Great Falls Village Field behind the post office. Santa lights the tree at 5 p.m., and admission is free.
This is also the first holiday season for a restaurant with no history here. Great Falls Lodge Bar & Grill, at 9835 Georgetown Pike in Great Falls Center, planned a dinner-only soft opening for Sept. 7, FFXnow reported. It is the first Virginia location of a concept that started with the Urbana Lodge and Clarks Lodge in Maryland. Its website now lists daily hours from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and weekend brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. That is a wider schedule than the dinner service it planned to open with.
Well-loved Great Falls institutions rarely change hands, and the details that make them valuable are easy to lose in a transition. If you own a home here, or are weighing a sale or purchase in the area, Sheehan Team can walk you through what has changed in this market, what hasn't, and what that means for your own timing. Work With Us.
