Wherever you go, please remember to tip well for the people working on Christmas Eve.

Anonymous wrote:In NoVA, try Majestic Cafe in Alexandria. Quality food and kid friendly. Another option would be Ray's the Steaks.

In DC, we're going to Dino, which is closing in a few weeks, but has great kids menu options.

Majestic cafe is lovely. But, don't just show up without a reservation confirmed.

In NoVA, try Majestic Cafe in Alexandria. Quality food and kid friendly. Another option would be Ray's the Steaks.

In DC, we're going to Dino, which is closing in a few weeks, but has great kids menu options.

Check Open Table - you can search by date and location and then narrow down from there. I'm in MD so I can't give suggestions but there seemed to be tons open on Xmas Eve, and I know my friend's husband who works at a very upscale DC place is working on that night.

We've done Carlyle before. Everyone can get what they want from a salad to steak. They have a bar for the adults and are pretty family friendly with good service.

I would do fondue. The melting pot has a Christmas even dinner.

The food at Ireland's Four Provinces (mentioned above) is surprisingly good. We've taken my parents and in-laws there. There is something for everyone on the menu, and they're incredibly kid-friendly. Plenty of parking also.

Anonymous wrote:Better have rez already , especially for a group

We often go out on Christmas Eve, nothing fancy, and are often one of the few families out. We will be going to Macaroni Grill this year. The chains are eerily quiet on that day.

I don't have any to suggest as I'm not familiar with the restaurants there, but just chiming in to recommend checking with the place you choose first to make sure they'll be open, have a menu that will be okay, and that they'll have room.

I say this because the first year in our neighborhood (downtown DC), we wanted to go out to dinner before church and found that every place we wanted to go was either closing at 4:00, had a special menu (with no meatless options for me the vegetarian), or were too booked up to seat us!

Annoying but kind of funny too as we started to feel a bit like Goldilocks or something, but it would have been awful with 2 little ones and relatives.

Better have rez already , especially for a group

Four Peas Irish restaurant in Falls Church is fun.

Macaroni Grill is family-friendly. There's one in Alexandria:

5925 Kingstowne Towne Ctr
Alexandria, Virginia 22315
703-719-9082

Merry Christmas!

Op here. Not sure inlaws would go for Chinese, but in case they do any restaurant suggestions? All the places by us we've tried are just ok.

Chinese

In an attempt to break up the monotony of family in our house for a week straight, I was thinking of doing dinner out for Christmas Eve..... Nothing too fancy as we have a 4 yr old and a baby. Preferably somewhere in Arlington Alexandria or dc. Any suggestions?