Preservation Biscuit Company's last week at 102 E. Fairfax Street was so busy that the kitchen ran out of buttermilk and flour. The owners pushed the closing back by one business day to keep up, ARLnow reported on October 5. They wrote that it was one of their busiest weeks since 2021.
Four days before that story ran, a new biscuit menu opened on the city's western edge. Best Buns Bakery & Burgers opened on October 1 at 265 W. Falls Station Blvd. in the West Falls development. Its fried chicken sandwiches come on buttermilk biscuits, and its breakfast menu includes sausage, egg and cheese biscuits. So Falls Church still has a weekend biscuit. It now lives at the city's western edge, under different rules, and those rules change a Saturday morning more than the menu does.
Five and a Half Years at 102 E. Fairfax
Preservation Biscuit served sweet and savory biscuits topped with everything from peach, apple and strawberry to steak, guacamole and slow-roasted pulled pork. On the side were coleslaw, sausage gravy and house-made jams. In her goodbye, owner Tricia Barba named the people who made it work: "our staff, our regulars, our neighbors, the people who brought their families in on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and everyone who told someone, 'You have to try this biscuit place.'" ARLnow quoted that farewell.
The restaurant's farewell, also quoted by ARLnow, described the whole run in two sentences: "We just wanted to make really good biscuits and build something special in Falls Church. Somehow, we got to do exactly that."
The rest of the restaurant community noticed. Ireland's Four Provinces posted, "It always hurts when we see friends lose what they worked so hard to build," according to the same ARLnow story.
The Biscuit's New Address Runs on a Different Clock
Best Buns is the fourth location of a Shirlington bakery whose original shop opened at 4010 Campbell Avenue in 1995. The other two are in Springfield and Tysons. The Falls Church shop is the chain's first with rooftop seating, and the roof has a bar serving cocktails, wine and draft beer. Below it is a grab-and-go counter with pastries, coffee and specialty sandwiches.
Here is how the two biscuit stops compare on the basics a weekend plan depends on:
| Preservation Biscuit Company | Best Buns, West Falls | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 102 E. Fairfax St. | 265 W. Falls Station Blvd. |
| Status | Closed the week before ARLnow's October 5, 2026 report | Opened October 1, 2026 |
| Biscuit menu | Sweet and savory toppings, Southern sides, house jams | Breakfast biscuit sandwiches, fried chicken on a buttermilk biscuit |
| Hours | No longer operating | 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily |
| Drinks | Not covered in the reporting | Cocktails, wine and draft beer on the roof |
The hours matter most. A biscuit that used to be a weekend-morning plan is now on offer from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. every day. Best Buns spokesperson Erica Herrera told ARLnow that everything is made fresh daily, "so pastries, all of our bread, is scratch-made." She recommended the breakfast sandwiches, the turkey club at lunch, and cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for dessert.
The owner has local roots. Jon Norton is CEO of Great American Restaurants, which runs Best Buns. He told ARLnow that he was glad to be "neighbors with Meridian High School, where my own high school basketball coach, Jim Smith, now coaches." Meridian sits right next to West Falls.
A 90-Minute Breakfast in a Garage-Served Block
Moving west also brings a parking clock. ARLnow's opening coverage says parking in West Falls is limited, so Best Buns gives guests 90 minutes of free parking with validation. The development's getting-here page lists Garage B on Cardinal Lane and Garages A and D at 370 Mustang Alley. It describes the West Falls Church Metro station as right nearby.
A coffee, a biscuit sandwich and a slow second cup fit inside 90 minutes. If your morning stretches into a walk around Commons Park, ABM's posted rates for Garage B as of August 2026 are:
- Up to 1 hour: $5
- 1 to 2 hours: $7
- 2 to 3 hours: $10
- 3 to 12 hours: $14
ABM says the garage is open 24 hours a day. Ask at the counter how validation works before you settle in, since the 90 minutes is what covers breakfast.
The Downtown Mornings That Stayed Put
With the biscuit gone from East Fairfax Street, the downtown breakfast places that remain are the ones keeping a weekend morning close to the city center. The week that took Preservation Biscuit could have taken Harvey's too. It didn't.
Thomas Harvey opened Harvey's at 513 W. Broad Street in March 2022, and he sold the business at the end of September. Three new owners now run it. He wrote that "Harvey's will stay Harvey's and my amazing staff will be staying on," ARLnow reported. The shrimp and grits, chicken parmesan and buttermilk pancakes remain on the menu. Harvey had been an active part of the community. He took part in Falls Church Restaurant Week and earlier this year hosted a fundraising fair for the Arlington nonprofit Our Stomping Ground.
A few blocks away, three more weekend mornings hold steady:
- Falls Church Farmers Market. The market runs Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon in the City Hall parking lot, and the city lists it as year-round.
- Cafe Kindred. The cafe is at 450 N. Washington St., Suite F, and its website lists weekend hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Stratford Garden. The restaurant at 300 W. Broad St. serves brunch Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Together they set the order of a downtown Saturday. The market and Cafe Kindred open at 8, Harvey's carries its pancakes on West Broad, and Stratford Garden opens for brunch at 10. Best Buns opens an hour before the market and stays open long after the brunch kitchens close.
Founders Row Got the Sweet Course
The other new arrival this fall is on the dessert side. Lil' Cakes & Creamery opened in September at 120 Founders Avenue on Founders Row, selling homemade ice cream, cupcakes and other sweets, according to ARLnow. That makes Founders Row an easy last stop on a West Broad morning that starts at Harvey's.
The Week This Post Lands
Halloween week fills West Falls and the city calendar alike. If you're testing the new biscuit route, these dates fall right around it:
- Thursday, October 22, 7:30 p.m. West Falls is showing Hocus Pocus outdoors in Commons Park for free, with free popcorn while supplies last.
- Saturday, October 24, 8 a.m. to noon. The Farmers Market is open at City Hall.
- Saturday, October 24, 1 to 3 p.m. and 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. The city's free Halloween Carnival runs in two family time slots at Cherry Hill Park.
- Saturday, October 31, 8 a.m. to noon. The market is open on Halloween morning.
On October 24 you can do all three: biscuits at Best Buns when it opens at 7, the market at City Hall before noon, and the carnival at Cherry Hill Park in the afternoon.
If you'd like to talk through how a new spot like West Falls fits into everyday life on your street, or how changes like these may affect a home you're thinking of buying or selling, Premier Realty Team is glad to help. Contact Us.