Where is that perfect little French bistro hiding? (Arlington, Alexandria: appointed, buying)

[ersatz]

Try Pastry Xpo on Strawberry Lane just around the corner from Four Sisters in Merrifield. It is a French-style pastry/coffee/sandwich cafe, even though the owners are Lebanese, I think. It is very small, somewhat obscure behind a office/condo complex and parking is difficult unless you park in the large Great Wall/Unique Thrift Store complex several hundred feet away and walk over.

[saganista]

The Vienna Inn has french fries. Also des saussises avec chili et fromage. That's close enough for a lot of folks.

[Alicia Bradley]

Originally Posted by JEB77

Where on earth did you possibly get that idea? That type of aspiration to "out-posh" other suburbs really is not characteristic of this area. Great Falls is horsey, not chi-chi; Vienna has multiple mattress stores and a KFC and Taco Bell right on its main drag; McLean has no fewer than three 7-11s within a few blocks of one another; and Arlington is full of so many modest houses built in the 1940s that it could be mistaken for Queens or Staten Island. I guess the Tysons Galleria is semi-posh, but I think it's on loan from Houston or somewhere like that, and will probably get spirited back to Texas one night while no one's looking, and then months before anyone notices it's gone.

Earnest and striving? Yes.

High-achieving? Undoubtedly.

Well-educated? More degrees than you can shake a stick at.

High-earning? Yeah, at least until the rent or mortgage comes due.

Posh? Not a chance!

Hey, I wasn't saying I felt the region was 'posh' (or that it aspires to be so), just that IMO a lot of people who have never been there tend to have those sorts of suspicions (the median income stuff might help), based on millions and millions of points of random/anecdotal data I've run across over the years.

[smithy77]

There's a perfect French Bistro that satisfies all of your criteria except one----it's in Georgetown, not NoVa.. It's inexpensive, has a great Euro-vibe, and I had the best soup I've ever had in my life there (unfortunately it was a daily special and wasn't on the menu). Check out Cafe La Ruche.

[Stephen 81]

Originally Posted by Alicia Bradley

I do miss really good produce, though.. especially in the colder months when the local farmers' markets aren't open even for stuff like winter vegetables, late apples and pears, etc. Mmmm.

You do know that Arlington and Falls Church's farmers' markets are open year-round, right? You could have been buying local apples and root vegetables (not to mention eggs, dairy and meat) all winter.

[stpickrell]

Eiffel Tower Cafe on Loudoun Street SW in Vienna. Dinner and soft drinks for two can be had for under $100. Lunch for two can be had for under $50 pretty easily it looks like ...

[Mr Idealism]

Originally Posted by stpickrell

Eiffel Tower Cafe on Loudoun Street SW in Vienna. Dinner and soft drinks for two can be had for under $100. Lunch for two can be had for under $50 pretty easily it looks like ...

This is the closest thing you'll get to what you want in NOVA, but it's in Leesburg.

[michgc]

I'm glad you said that because I was thinking I know Vienna pretty well and have lived in the "SW" quadrant for 10 years, but for the life of me could not imagine where Loudoun Street is. Thought I was losing it...but now it makes sense. :-)

Originally Posted by Mr Idealism

This is the closest thing you'll get to what you want in NOVA, but it's in Leesburg.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by Mr Idealism

This is the closest thing you'll get to what you want in NOVA, but it's in Leesburg.

There are places a good bit closer to Vienna/Tysons than Leesburg that offer what the OP is seeking. Here's the menu for the place in Great Falls I identified (and others have identified other places considerably closer than Leesburg). Many of the items on the menu are identical to offerings at the Eiffel Tower Cafe.

Mediterranee Restaurant - Menus

[robbobobbo]

Outside of OP's preferred location, but

Bistro: Bistrot Lafayette (I haven't tried it)

Casual country French: Le Refuge (really like it, tiny though)

I haven't been to La Ruche in decades, I'd forgotten about it! Nice place, I'll have to make a point to revisit it.