Group Behind Sweetwater Tavern Will Celebrate 45 Years of Greatest Hits at New Restaurant

Great American Restaurants, the group that’s grown from a 16-seat pizzeria in Fairfax to a 13-business lineup of Northern Virginia staples such as Sweetwater Tavern, Carlyle, and Mike’s “American” grill, is opening a three-part complex this spring that will honor its history dating back to 1974.

The restaurant group announced the project on Valentine’s Day with a Facebook post that said two new brands, Patsy’s American and Randy’s Prime Seafood & Steaks, would be housed alongside the company’s second Best Buns Bread Company on Leesburg Pike in Tysons Corner.

Northern Virginia Magazine reports that three quarters of the menu at Patsy’s, named after partner Randy Norton’s wife, will feature “all-star dishes” from across GAR’s restaurants. The magazine specifically references smoked salmon with poblano cheddar crisps, lobster rolls, and a drunken ribeye. The bar at Patsy’s will have 40 beers on tap, draft wine, and milkshakes that pay tribute to the group’s old Fantastic Fritzbe’s Flying Food Factory.

It’s unclear if one of the group’s most popular desserts, the flourless chocolate waffle at Mike’s “American,” will be part of the opening menu.

MIke’s American/Facebook

Randy’s will cater to a ritzier crowd than GAR’s other restaurants. According to Northern Virginia Magazine, the 28-table establishment will traffic in seafood towers, wagyu steaks, and an American-heavy wine list with critics’ ratings of various vintages printed on the menu.

GAR’s collection of restaurants also includes Artie’s, Jackson’s, Ozzie’s Good Eats, Coastal Flats, and Silverado.

• Great American Restaurants honors its patriarchs with Patsy’s American and Randy’s Prime Seafood & Steaks [NVM]