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Girasole Italian Cuisine - The Plains, VA

Girasole

Authentic Regional Italian Cusine

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    • Chef Lou & Lydia
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Girasole entrance

COVID-19 Operations

We are open for curbside pickup and full-service dining on our patio and indoors! We are offering our full dinner menu and featured chef’s specials. Our featured specials, cocktail, and house made desserts change weekly and are posted every Friday morning. View our wine list here, and our cocktail list here.

Take our pantry home with you! Visit the Pantry section of our website to purchase local, imported, and house made specialties for use in your own home. Order items individually or in a gift basket for yourself, a friend, or a loved one.

We also have the license to sell bottles of wine and we are doing so at competitive retail pricing. Receive a 10% discount on pre-ordered cases of 12 bottles or more. Cases can be mixed.

Reservations

Due to a limited number of tables inside and on our patio, reservations are recommended. We will be taking credit card numbers with your reservation. We have a 24-hour cancellation policy, after that time you will be charged $25 per person if we cannot fill your reservation. Reservations can be made by calling the restaurant at 540-253-5501.

We encourage you to look over our menus on our website to familiarize yourself before you arrive. Please remember that the Commonwealth of Virginia now requires that people wear cloth face coverings when spending time in indoor public settings. If you are seated on our patio, you must wear a mask to enter the restaurant for any reason, this includes using the restroom and visiting the host stand when you arrive. No one with a fever or symptoms of COVID-19, or known exposure to a COVID-19 case in the prior 14 days, is permitted on the patio or in the restaurant.

Dining with Us

We take the laws, regulations, and recommendations set forth by the CDC and governor of Virginia very seriously. This means that we will be implementing several new policies in order to serve you safely and confidently. Please respect the guidelines set in place so we can continue to serve you.

  • Guests are required by the Commonwealth of Virginia to wear masks when spending time in indoor public spaces. Masks may be removed indoors “while eating or drinking”. If you do not have a mask when you arrive, we have sunflower masks for purchase for $10.
  • All our staff will be wearing masks at all times, practicing physical distancing, and washing their hands as much as possible.
  • Hand sanitation stations will be setup near the entrance/exits of the restaurant and near the restrooms for your convenience.
  • All tables are spaced out in accordance with physical distance mandates on our patio and indoors. Please do not move the tables. We will try to accommodate any table requests as best we can, but not all requests can be met.
  • Table settings will no longer have wine glasses on them. Glasses will be brought once wine has been ordered.
  • We will no longer be offering refillable water from a pitcher. Still and sparkling water can be purchased by the bottle.
  • Grated parmigiano will no longer be offered tableside. We will bring to the table your own individual bowl from which to serve yourself.

We will be following policies that we set in place right before the shutdown. Tables, booths, chairs, salt and pepper shakers, bread baskets, check books, and anything else that we and you come into contact with will be disinfected thoroughly and often. We only ask your patience, as all these steps will take longer, but we believe they are necessary in maintaining the health of our customers, staff, and their families.

How to Place an Order for Curbside Pick Up

Please call to place an order at 540-253-5501. Have your credit card number ready when you call. When you arrive to pick up your order, park you car in the front of the restaurant (along Loudoun Avenue) and call us to let us know you have arrived and we will bring it out to you. If you are picking up to take your meal home, please have your window down or your trunk open and we will place the order in your car.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and for choosing to dine with us whether it be on our patio, in our dining room, or in your own home. Our aim is to provide as much of the familiarity and comfort of dining with us, while keeping our customers, staff, and their families healthy.

girasoleva

girasoleva
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Mar 3

Open
We think the New York Times put it best when writing about the Tuscan dish ribollita, literally meaning reboiled. “Neither vegetable soup nor stale bread has ever tasted so good. When you serve it, you don't need anything else.” 

Well, a beautiful glass of Avignonesi Cantaloro Bianco wouldn’t be a bad addition. Do not miss our four course, fixed price Tuscan menu with wine pairings by the acclaimed @avignonesi winery, and the opportunity to taste some of their most prestigious wines, including their Sangiovese Grandi Annate, produced only in the best vintages from old vines. And like all of their wines, the grapes for Grandi Annate are grown, harvested, and vinified organically to express the best traits of Sangiovese from Tuscany. Menu and pairings available through Friday.
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#ribollita #organic #biodynamic #avignonesi #vinonobile #grandiannate #vinsanto #cantaloro #igt #tuscany #rustic #cucinapovera #newyorktimes #jamessuckling #vinous #wineenthusiast #winespectator #wineadvocate #nova #finedining #foodblog #dcdining #vafoodie #lacucinaitaliana
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Feb 23

Open
Like so many dishes in Italy, the origins and ingredients of zuppa inglese are highly disputed. The name zuppa inglese, literally meaning English soup, raises even more questions. The only thing we can tell you with confidence is that it is delicious and light and you will wonder why you never heard of it before.
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Here it is. Chef Lou’s zuppa inglese. Cake soaked in brandy, layered with pastry cream, Belgian chocolate chunks, and amarena cherries, decorated with meringue. Available now on our fixed price Tuscan menu with wine pairings by Avignonesi.
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Feb 20

Open
Chocolate soufflé and vin brûlée (mulled wine) available tonight!
🍴
Start your meal with our featured cocktail, made with cognac, orange curaçao, and dry vermouth, followed by a morel sformato with a rich sheep’s milk fonduta sauce. 
🍷
Or join us tomorrow for a wine tasting at 2:30, featuring wines from Turkey, Hungary, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy.
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Feb 10

Open
Do not hesitate to book your reservation with us for Valentine’s weekend!

View our dine-in and to go options in the ‘News and Events’ section of our website (link in bio). Call to reserve or to place a to go order, 540-253-5501 💕
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Feb 6

Open
We have a very limited amount of raspberry soufflés available tonight! Make sure to reserve yours when you make your reservation, or when you arrive. 

Vin brûlée aka mulled wine available tonight as well!

A reminder that we will be closed tomorrow, Sunday, due to the Super Bowl.
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Feb 3

Open
Persimmons + Panna Cotta
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Native to North America and Asia, the most common types of persimmon are the Fuyu and Hachiya. When ripe, they are soft and almost melt in your mouth. The taste is mild yet sweet and rich, almost honey-like in flavor, making them the perfect accompaniment to our vanilla panna cotta.
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Jan 31

Open
WE ARE OPEN! 4:00 - 7:00, Curbside pickup only. Call to order 540.253.5501. 

📷: Cozy up with veal cannelloni tonight!
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Jan 27

Open
This gnarly looking vegetable is puntarelle, or Catalonian chicory, a specialty of Roman cuisine during the winter months when you can find it in every restaurant, although it’s usually not listed on the menu. The crunchy, curly stalks are tossed in a simple lemony, garlicky vinaigrette. Although many farmers are beginning to grow Catalonia chicory for chefs, it is still quite uncommon in the US. We are fortunate to get our hands on a limited amount, but it is so difficult to share as every bite transports us to Rome. 
🥬 🥬 🥬 
Preparing puntarelle is a whole task in and of itself. The tall, bitter outer leaves are removed to reveal pale, crunchy inner stalks that look almost alien. The puntarelle hearts are separated and sliced thinly (in Italy they push the stalks through a nifty puntarelle cutter, a small grid of wires stretched across a wooden frame that slices the stalks in no time) and soaked in a bath of ice water where they will lose some of their bitterness and begin to curl. After soaking, the puntarelle are ready to be dressed and eaten. We get a little non-traditional when using the leafy stalks. Like in any professional kitchen, nothing can go to waste. We use the leafy stalks in ravioli, or pan sauteed to accompany meats.
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Jan 23

Open
When you love black pepper, you find ways to put it on everything. 

Daiquiri riff made with dark rum, fresh lime, and a Campari float, with a black pepper garnish. Currently our featured (and favorite) cocktail.
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#cocktail #bartender #finedining #daiquiri #campari #washingtonpostdiningguide #blackpepper #cheers #weekend #punchdrink #imbibe #huntcountry #middleburglife #aperitivo #rum #loveloudoun #visitfauquier
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Jan 20

Open
Burrata with peas and shaved 24-month aged Parmigiano Reggiano, with crushed cruschi peppers
🌶 🌶 🌶 
Hailing from Basilicata, a region in southern Italy, cruschi peppers are sun dried and quickly fried sweet Senise peppers that are aromatic, crisp, and nutty. To be enjoyed on winter greens, eggs, seafood and braised meat dishes, or as an aperitivo on their own. Now on our featured specials. 
🌶 🌶 🌶 
Peperone di Senise are an IGP Basilicata sweet pepper variety. They are harvested entirely by hand under the heat of the summer months. The deep red peppers are picked, placed in baskets, and carried to a large shed where they are strung into large wreaths, or serte, and placed into open walled sheds to dry for at least 20 days. After the peppers are dried, the serte are carefully dismantled and the peppers are fried in local olive oil until they turn brick red and crispy. The peppers are then stored for use throughout the winter months.
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Dec 30

Open
Today is the last day to order for curbside pickup for News Year’s Eve. We still have some availability for dine in customers as well. Full menu linked in our bio.
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Dec 27

Open
Diver scallops, shallot buerre blanc, Sicilian pistachio salad. On our specials tonight #buonappetito

#finedining #scallops #vafoodie
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Girasole Italian Cuisine - The Plains, VA

(540) 253-5501
4244 Loudoun Avenue
The Plains, VA 20198
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Hours

Monday: closed

Tuesday – Thursday: 4:30pm – 10:00pm

Friday – Sunday: 4:30pm – 10:30pm

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