Silver Diner, Reston, VA

An old colleague and good friend of mine who recently moved to West Virginia suggested we meet in Reston, Virginia for lunch on a weekend. Reston?! The thought of venturing that far into Virginia frightened me, but then I thought -- why not check out a new restaurant? But, as I searched around, I didn't find many vegan options in Reston -- maybe I just didn't look in the right place. But, after having such a good experience at the Silver Diner a year ago, I figured that would be a solid place to meet and so we did.

Back in 2013, the Silver Diner expanded their menu to many healthy choices including lots of vegan fare. It was surprising and exciting at the same time. You can read my first review of that menu here. Since then, the menu has continued to evolve and continues to add lots of fresh vegan options. So, we met at the Silver Diner in Reston. It looked the same as the others -- the retro decor inside and outside makes you feel like you are stepping back in time. We were seated at a small booth that did not have a personal jukebox -- oh well.

The menu showed that they still had lots of vegan and gluten-free options. Set on trying something new, I ordered the Teriyaki Glazed Portabellas for $12.99. I just couldn't turn down the opportunity to have farro in a diner! Farro is an ancient grain that is difficult to find. It is hearty and filling and I was pleased to have it here. They placed three teriyaki glazed portabello mushrooms atop chipotle seasoned farro with garlic, cremini mushrooms, asparagus, butternut squash, and scallions and garnished it with cilantro and black sesame seeds. This is not the typical diner fare, for sure. It was absolutely delicious and a generously sized portion. The only thing I didn't like was the amount of salt used. The dish wouldn't have needed much salt at all, but this dish tasted like they dumped tablespoons of salt in it. It was way too much salt.

But, besides how salty it was, it was really good and for what I got, $12.99 seemed like a fair price. The service on this Saturday afternoon was particularly slow and we finally had to flag down the waitress to get her to give us our check. I didn't care that much as we were there to catch up and were too enthralled in conversation to let the slow service bother us. Other than that, it was a great experience and Silver Diner could easily become my go-to lunch spot.

Previous Review
June 26, 2013

Silver Diner

11951 Killingsworth Ave
Reston, VA 20194 

(703) 742-0801