Epicure Cafe

Epicure Café is Fairfax’s best kept secret. The exterior may not be appealing to the eye, but I promise you won’t regret stopping by for a drink. I came on Thursday nights to enjoy the entertainment that the open mic night provides, and I’m never disappointed. Margaret is usually working Thursday nights and she’s always wonderful. She recommended the kabobs and I couldn’t have been more satisfied!
One of the best features of this place is the artwork. Most of the art is up for sale, and adds a homey feel to the bar itself.
Your best bet for a first visit would be a Monday or a Thursday night during the open mic nights. It’s an experience you won’t find anywhere else in the area.

Epicure Café is cute and a lot better than the outside may let on, but there are still some unhewn edges that might make it unpalatable for some.
Epicure Café is a bar/​café/​music joint in Fairfax on the highway. The location is absolute crap on the outside — it’s a glorified strip mall with weird dudes chilling outside, leading one to feel a bit apprehensive — but the interior is much nicer and a bit more homey. There’s food here, but I came here for a drink during their open mic night.
While the beer here is decent (though limited, this seems like much more of a wine sort of joint), the ambiance is maybe a bit odd. Open mic nights invite some weirdness no matter where you are, and there was no exception here. Lots of loudness to make up for blandness, lots of off-​tune singing, and the night quickly devolved into drunken renditions of «the wave» done by a bunch of slightly hipster dudes. Weird stuff.
All the same, Fairfax isn’t exactly booming with nice places to drink, so this isn’t an awful choice… just maybe an odd one.

Came here with my friend for some dinner. We were pleasantly surprised with what we came across. The interesting décor and general vibe of the restaurant is very relaxed. Here are the 3 things that we ordered, along with my personal review:
— Loaded cheese fries: Overall it was delicious. It may have been because my friend & I were super hungry, but we finished the entire thing within 10 minutes or so. Although, the fries did seem like they were frozen & just reheated in the oven.
— Working class gyro pizza: This pizza is awesome. It’s super flavorful & i’d recommend it to anyone that goes to this establishment.
— Ring of Fire pizza: This one is a NO GO. There’s hot sauce on it, which I wouldn’t mind since I love all things hot + spicy. But this pizza… was moist (?) from all the hot sauce poured on it. Imagine a pizza with a ton of Tabasco poured all over it. Personally, this was the worst of the 3 things that we tried that night.
Overall, this place is nice. I’d love to come here when they have performances too! I’d suggest that anyone who does come here have an open mind.

So, we came here on a total whim. How did we end up at a college hipster bar in the middle of fairfax? Beats me.
Our bartender, maya, was amazing and friendly. She saw that I’m a fan of wine and gave me some great suggestions and steered me towards a wine from Spain that I just loved.
The vibe was laid back and they had some live music playing which was different from the scenes we usually frequent so that was cool.
The food though… Ugh. The food! We ordered about 5 or 6 dishes that night to share. It was weird that They all seemed microwaved or canned. I did not know places that actually serve microwaved food existed. Apparently it’s not just something that happens on «restaurant impossible. «they do not offer liquor but it may have been pretty cool if they offered craft cocktails that are as unique as the venue.
This place has potential, I can see how itd be a cool place to chill and hear some local music or comedy.
I would NOT recommend coming hungry though. Heed my warning and Arrive with a full stomach!

******Please reconsider coming here. The owner told me that all the food here is frozen& he sees no issues with that*****Tonight I came and enjoyed a wonderful night of music by awesome performers. Stand up mic night at epicure is so much fun! I am however extremely hungry. I never got to eat dinner. I ordered a cheesesteak which came to me with 70% spicy peppers 20% steak 10% cheese. I was really hungry but this was totally inedible. The menu item didn’t even say it had spicy peppers and I assumed it would be bell peppers. Then I ordered a cheese burger bc who can mess that up? Epicure can. They clearly microwaved a frozen patty. Not even a good quality patty. It was this thin grey tongue looking thing. The manager fought with me about it asking me how I knew it was frozen what expertise did I have? He told me it wasn’t frozen he had thawed it first! News: this is why your food tastes horrible.

Came here for a concert. Great ambience, wonderful staff and very good service. Cannot ask for more.

Not your typical fairfax bar and eatery. Interesting décor, unique menu, and good live music. Good selection of craft beers. Will go back.

Been here a few times, reminds me of the old Dharma Café in downtown Fairfax. This place is for all ages; young and older adults. Has a hipsterish vibe to it. The rooftop deck is really nice. This is also a great place for checking out indie bands and artists.
The food here is good, but not perfection. Looking forward to coming back here soon and trying their pizza.

I have only ordered food to go from Epicure. We usually get the BBQ pizza and it is amazing! Epicure is our go to place to get a BBQ pizza.

Went here on a rainy Tuesday night with a girlfriend to catch up, there wasn’t any band playing that night but the atmosphere was really warm and cozy.
Our bartender was super sweet and the pizza was good.
Definitely recommended!

My wife and I had a reasonably good experience earlier this month (Feb 2015), when we went to hear the band Jin. It seemed like a good atmosphere, so we went back for the open mike comedy night on Wednesday, Feb 18. I had done open mike stand up at other locations in the past, and this seemed like it might be an interesting venue to try. I put together a 3-​minute routine, because I didn’t know how much time we’d be given. I was delighted to find out that we had 5-​minute sets. It’s a mostly very young crowd, and I’m 61, but variety is the spice, right?
It was advertised as an 8:00 show, so we got there at 7:30 to have a bite to eat. I was somewhere within the first 3 sign-​ups. The show actually began close to 9:00. I realized that some of the regulars might get in ahead of me, but after a while, I realized that some of the comedians were first-​timers also. While some of the comedians were good, it seemed to me that the ones that rambled incoherently were given much more than 5 minutes. Among the incoherent, favorite topics seemed to be misogyny, pedophilia, rape, racism (espousing it, not criticising it), and other topics of the sort.
When I finally got my time, it was close to midnight.
If you are looking for an open mike venue as a performer or a consumer, I strongly recommend you go elsewhere!

Great food and great atmosphere! Talented local musicians play and very original art is up. Highly recommend checking this place out!

One of my favorite spots in Northern Virginia! Very artsy! Awesome pizza and cool comedy open mic

Very cool place!
How is it that I’ve lived 2 miles from this place and not come here before? I randomly stopped here on my way home last night for a quick bite to go. Instead, I stayed and enjoyed a really tasty pizza. Nearly eat the entire thing.
My first impression from the door is that Epicure Café is not a normal bar that serves food. The place felt warm and familiar, where the people there are weekly regulars and friends. It reminds me of some cool places I used to frequent back home in Philly. For a Fairfax local, this place has a bit of real soul based on the art on the walls and music choices.
The music included sounds like Jamiroquai, Bjork and others I wasn’t familiar with yet. I really did enjoy the art work on the walls there. Some of which was for sale. Buying art from local artist is fun. I’m actually interested in a piece or two… Let’s see if I can get them.
Epicure reminded me of several Philly favs like Silk City (which was a regular playing spots for The Roots, Jill Scott, and many other artist back in the day), The Last Drop Coffee House and several places on South Street. This place even has that Bus Boys & Poets feel too.
This place gets major cool points… I totally forgot that I was in Fairfax until I walked out of the place. I will certainly be back since it’s so close to my house.

Chill bar, live music, draft beers. Menu of appetizers and dishes but we only grabbed a beer. Additional parking around back, open late on weeknights. Nice friendly bartenders!

Accidentally discovered gem; Great food, drinks and live music. In the middle of Fairfax City which is full dull place thanks to this place.
Despite having a relatively dark and eclectic ambiance, it is a welcoming place to everyone including folks with kids. Great beer and wine selection, but no hard liquor…
Dishes are diversified: Persian, pizzas and Italian
Looks like kitchen stays open late. 7 days a week.
Definitely worth trying.

Every time i have been here they have been extremely attentive and the food has been fantastic. A great hideaway that supports local artists and musicians :)

Wow the prices though… Stopped in to see a friends band perform. They were great but the food and drink were a let down. The Humus and Pita costs $ 7. You get a small solo cup of Hummus and one — ONE — slice of Pita cut into triangles. The Bakalava looked good but the bottom layer told the real story: overcooked. So bad that we bent forks on that last layer. At first we thought it was a wrapper, but no. Discarding that piece of vinyl and it was ok, although lacking clove and sweetness. The Persian tea, a specialty, starts off good but turns very bitter halfway through. We tried but the gag reflex got to be to much.
Total damage was $ 16 for what we felt was $ 5 worth of food. The service was polite, the space is nice although acoustically very loud. There’s ample parking in rear.
I give them 3 stars because the prices are obnoxious, even for Fairfax, and not worth it on taste. Go for a beer or three, stay for the bands, but save your money for some place less of a rip off.

A friend of mine was performing for open mic night (Mondays & Thursdays) and invited me to come along. It doesn’t look so big on the outside, but the high ceilings and large rooms make it appear bigger on the inside. There are cozy little places along the front windows with a lower ceiling where I had sat. Plenty of tchotchkes along the walls make it feel like a hip location.
The pizza is to die for. First, the pizza menu I received was an old re-​purposed 78 (Sheila E). A circle was drawn around the record to visually see the various sizes that the pizzas were available in. Lines were also drawn to divide the record into eight slices and indicated what ingredients were on each type of pizza. Each type of pizza is named after a song. I went with the «Hey There Delilah» pizza full of cheese such as Cheddar, Jack, Mozzarella & Ricotta Goat Cheese. The pizza was served on a dish that was elevated above the table. I found myself looking for a pizza server/​spatula, but I made due with my fork.
I had not checked out the bathrooms myself, but from what I understand, the men’s restroom is much larger and better than the women’s restroom. It was explained that the location was previously a bikers bar and was predominately occupied by men, which explains the reversed expectations here.
As for the music, the majority of people are very good. Everyone has various taste and so the mix of different styles of music always had someone clapping. As for artists that are looking forward to an open mic night, it runs late. My friend who had invited me was put towards the end of the line-​up. Although we left after 10pm without her being able to play, she was still able to put on a show for a few of us in the back parking lot.
We loved the place so much that the three of us agreed to make it a bi-​weekly event to enjoy the sounds and food on open mic nights.

I went here to check out an art event that my coworker was displaying some of his works at. My husband and I ordered the Sweet Home Alabama which consists of seasonned chicken breast, red onions, sweet-​smokey bbq sauce, cheddar and jack cheese and it was realllllyyyyy good! We also tried the Old Mcdonald Had A Farm which consists of fresh italian sausage, pepperoni, soft salami, bacon, and fresh mozzarella. We had some of the house wine and enjoyed this ambiance. Its a neat spot and I want to check it out more often.

relaxed atmosphere. I entered right at opening so not much going on. I just had coffee and baklava. $ 10. A little pricey by my standards.
Staff was nice