{"id":229015,"date":"2026-01-16T07:34:42","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T12:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/?p=229015"},"modified":"2026-01-25T17:37:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T22:37:02","slug":"one-man-36-cheesesteaks-ranking-northern-virginias-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/one-man-36-cheesesteaks-ranking-northern-virginias-best\/","title":{"rendered":"One Man, 36 Cheesesteaks: Ranking Northern Virginia\u2019s Best"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"custom_featured_image\" style=\"display:none;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour-800x533.png\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"nova cheesesteak tour\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour-800x533.png 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour-768x511.png 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour-585x390.png 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour-263x175.png 263w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour.png 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/div><div id=\"custom_category\" style=\"display:none;\">try them all <\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Something we love to do in <a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/january-2026-northern-virginia-dining-news-va\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Northern Virginia<\/a> is talk about what is the best, or worst, in a certain category, usually food. Best pizza, best bagels, it\u2019s all a hot topic here. With so many transplants in the area, there are plenty of people with opinions about what\u2019s better \u2018back home.\u2019 Ashburn resident Chris Fleming isn\u2019t a Philadelphia native, but he\u2019s a lifelong aficionado of the classic cheesesteak. Over the course of 2025, Chris tried 36 of the top-rated cheesesteaks in Northern Virginia and crowned one the winner, according to him. <strong>Read on for more about the Northern Virginia Cheesesteak tour.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-229023\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour.png\" alt=\"nova cheesesteak tour\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour.png 1000w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour-800x533.png 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour-768x511.png 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour-585x390.png 585w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/nova_cheesesteak_tour-263x175.png 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>About Chris + Cheesesteaks<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chris Fleming is a longtime Ashburn resident and grew up in Northern Virginia. Chris\u2019s first experience with cheesesteaks was when he was working the grill at Pizza Tugos in Ocean City, Maryland. Then, the cheesesteaks were part of his collegiate experience. \u201cThere was a place called Cubbies in Greenville, North Carolina, and it had a bunch of locations in the early 90\u2019s when I was in college. The cheesesteaks were incredible,\u201d he said. \u201cI would take a detour 45 minutes each way to get these cheesesteaks for years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>He moved to the West Coast and worked in several restaurants there, and always wanted to put a cheesesteak on the menu. \u201cI\u2019d call it a California cheesesteak,\u201d he said. \u201cIt had lettuce, tomato, and mayo. It was more of a steak and cheese hoagie.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DNJjUBRSUth\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DNJjUBRSUth\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by Celebrity Delly (@celebritydelly)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Over the years, Chris had cheesesteaks in mind and would try different varieties any chance he got. \u201cAbout 15 years ago, some friends and I went to a bunch of concerts in a row, and I took a detour to try a place I read about in North Carolina,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was probably the first version of the Cheesesteak Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He made his way back to the East Coast, still thinking about cheesesteaks. He even took the opportunity to live in Philadelphia for a year, and says he tried 30-40 local takes on the classic. \u201cI wasn\u2019t ranking them or anything, but I did start to understand what made for a really good cheesesteak,\u201d Chris said. \u201cAnd I learned the importance of the bread. That\u2019s a nod to everybody from Philly, but because if your bread&#8217;s not right, it\u2019s not going to work out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now back in Northern Virginia, Chris said he\u2019s always on the lookout for the next great cheesesteak. \u201cI started keeping track of what was recommended on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/nova\/comments\/1pa1gml\/cheesesteak_tour_2025_final_results\/?share_id=Cra7SRtCtl5wYy-85EX-_&amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;utm_name=iossmf&amp;utm_source=share&amp;utm_term=10\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reddit,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d he said. \u201cIf a place was mentioned more than twice, I would pay attention.\u201d Over the course of 2025, Chris tried 36 of the most frequently mentioned and highest-rated cheesesteaks per the platform\u2019s commenters. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>Read more:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/cars-and-coffee-a-weekend-tradition-northern-virginia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cars and Coffee: A Weekend Tradition Throughout Northern Virginia<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost people from Philly will tell you, I&#8217;m not eating a cheese steak in Northern Virginia because you don&#8217;t have a legit cheese steak. That&#8217;s all there is to it, right? But the thing is, I&#8217;m going to eat cheese steaks no matter what. So I want to know where the good ones are, where the best we have to offer,\u201d Chris said.&nbsp; \u201cMaybe none of them would be legitimate Philadelphia cheese sticks, but I&#8217;m still going to eat them. I want the best one I can get.\u201d<br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chris planned his weekends around trying the cheesesteaks, sometimes spending up to five hours a day in the car, getting around Northern Virginia. His most ambitious day had five stops. Two turned out to be misses: food trucks that weren\u2019t open during their posted hours. \u201cI realized this would take forever if I just went one spot at a time,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I started doubling up, which meant I was driving all over the place on the weekends.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The Rankings<\/h3>\n<p>Chris said he feels qualified to rank Northern Virginia cheesesteaks, but would not rank Philadelphia cheesesteaks. \u201cI considered whether the Northern Virginia cheesesteak could be served seriously in Philadelphia to rank the highest ones,\u201d he said. He also had a standard definition for what a cheesesteak was, versus a steak and cheese sandwich. \u201cThe meat is ideally rib-eye, and then it&#8217;s cooked with onions on the grill,\u201d he said. He emphasized the importance of the meat and onion mixture, as it forms the base for the essential melted cheese layer.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>See more:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/herndon-moo-thru-old-town-coffee\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">It\u2019s a Family Affair at Herndon\u2019s Moo Thru Ice Cream<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>In terms of evaluating the sandwiches, Chris had three factors. The number one factor is the bread, which Chris says is what makes the Philly cheesesteaks so special. The second factor is the taste of the meat, cheese, and onion mix. Chris said that over his quest, he observed many restaurants putting Cooper Sharp cheese on the sandwiches instead of the traditional provolone or White American cheese.&nbsp;<br \/>\n<script>\n  (function(w, d, t, h, s, n) {\n    w.FlodeskObject = n;\n    var fn = function() {\n      (w[n].q = w[n].q || []).push(arguments);\n    };\n    w[n] = w[n] || fn;\n    var f = d.getElementsByTagName(t)[0];\n    var v = '?v=' + Math.floor(new Date().getTime() \/ (120 * 1000)) * 60;\n    var sm = d.createElement(t);\n    sm.async = true;\n    sm.type = 'module';\n    sm.src = h + s + '.mjs' + v;\n    f.parentNode.insertBefore(sm, f);\n    var sn = d.createElement(t);\n    sn.async = true;\n    sn.noModule = true;\n    sn.src = h + s + '.js' + v;\n    f.parentNode.insertBefore(sn, f);\n  })(window, document, 'script', 'https:\/\/assets.flodesk.com', '\/universal', 'fd');\n<\/script><br \/>\n<script>\n  window.fd('form', {\n    formId: '67c74f9450f1321faacb88f8'\n  });\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p>The most important factor, which became the deciding factor between the two top choices, is what Chris calls \u2018the drip\u2019 &#8211; that magic mixture of the cheese, meat, and onions. \u201cYou know if the mix is right, it looks right. If you squeeze it and you get the right juice, you&#8217;re good,\u201d Chris said. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI came to the realization that if you have a ton of meat and cheese in there, it&#8217;s more likely to drip. If you don&#8217;t have a, perhaps excessive, amount of meat and cheese, maybe it won&#8217;t. So whether it drips or not, not the most important thing ever. But that is what put number one over number two was the drip.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Chris\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/nova\/comments\/1pa1gml\/cheesesteak_tour_2025_final_results\/?share_id=Cra7SRtCtl5wYy-85EX-_&amp;utm_medium=ios_app&amp;utm_name=iossmf&amp;utm_source=share&amp;utm_term=10\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">final top five<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><\/p>\n<p>1. Celebrity Delly (Falls Church) 5 stars<br \/>\n2. Capo Deli (Tysons, Alexandria) 4.9 stars<br \/>\n3. Grazie Grazie (Ballston) 4.8 stars<br \/>\n4. Solo NY Pizza (Leesburg) 4.7 stars<br \/>\n5. Giovanni&#8217;s (Leesburg) 4.6 stars<\/p>\n<p>Celebrity Delly, according to Chris&#8217;s review: &#8220;The roll was far &amp; away the best I&#8217;ve had in NOVA. Rumor has it, the bread was inspired by John\u2019s Roast Pork on the south side of Philly. The taste was excellent, and that drip was perfection. I was literally dipping the drip. So much meat it was hard to pick up at first. Rested the bottom of it on the plate &amp; got to work.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He said he went back and forth between the top two, and despite listing Celebrity Delly as the top pick, he could have had Capo Deli at the top. &#8220;It was really hard,&#8221; he said.&nbsp; \u201cTypically, I\u2019d only eat half of the sandwich at the restaurant and then the rest later, but Capo had two sandwiches, and I ate both of them in their entirety. They were too good. I kept going back and forth between the two sandwiches. One is called Steak me Home Tonight that comes on a sesame roll and has caramelized onions, and the other is the original cheesesteak.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DNGIQcbx8FH\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DNGIQcbx8FH\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by Capo Deli Tysons (@capodelitysons)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All in all, Chris said that it was fun and exhausting to try all the cheesesteaks. \u201cIt took up a lot of time on the weekends,\u201d he said. His friends have joked that he should do a similar ranking for some of his other favorite foods, such as meatball subs or crab rangoons. Chris said that despite now having a top-rated spot to go to for a cheesesteak, he is still excited to try new recommendations. &#8220;I still love cheesesteaks,&#8221; he said.&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Follow @thefairfaxgirl on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thefairfaxgirl\/\"><span class=\"s2\">Instagram <\/span><\/a>+&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@thefairfaxgirl\"><span class=\"s2\">TikTok<\/span><\/a> for the latest Northern Virginia updates, and check out our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/events\/\"><span class=\"s2\">events calendar<\/span><\/a>, which has over 100+ events weekly to peruse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/category\/food-drink\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-228402\" src=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/17.png\" alt=\"more food and drink\" width=\"450\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/17.png 1200w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/17-800x267.png 800w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/17-1024x341.png 1024w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/17-768x256.png 768w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/17-1170x390.png 1170w, https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/01\/17-585x195.png 585w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>try them all Something we love to do in Northern Virginia is talk about what is the best, or worst, in a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":362,"featured_media":229023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[9709,764,7997],"tags":[9761,9822,9770,9845,9731],"class_list":["post-229015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fairfax-county","category-food-drink","category-lifestyle","tag-food","tag-food-and-drinks","tag-nova","tag-tlg","tag-virginia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>One Man, 36 Cheesesteaks: Ranking Northern Virginia\u2019s Best - The Fairfax Girl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From Falls Church to Leesburg, one cheesesteak superfan ranked 36 Northern Virginia spots. See his top five picks.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thelocalgirl.com\/fairfax\/one-man-36-cheesesteaks-ranking-northern-virginias-best\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"One Man, 36 Cheesesteaks: Ranking Northern Virginia\u2019s Best\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From Falls Church to Leesburg, one cheesesteak superfan ranked 36 Northern Virginia spots. 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