L'Auberge Chez Francois

François Haeringer, the founder of L’Auberge Chez François in Great Falls, Virginia, was a pioneer when he opened the original Chez François in the heart of Washington DC in 1954. Haeringer’s goal was to operate a restaurant with “a nice ambiance and good honest food at affordable prices.” The restaurant’s enduring popularity is a testimony to its success with this approach. In 1975, the Claridge Hotel, which housed Chez François, was sold to make room for an office building. Instead of retiring at age 57, Haeringer decided to fulfill his dream of opening an “auberge” – a family inn prevalent in his native Alsatian countryside. After finding the perfect six acres of rolling green hills in Great Falls, L’Auberge Chez François opened in 1976 and became a family business. Their eldest son Jacques, by then a chef in his own right, became Chef de Cuisine. The dining rooms are filled with Haeringer family heirlooms and murals depicting scenes of Haeringer’s place of birth, Obernai, France.