Joon
In 2023 Northern Virginia Magazine found Joon's kitchen cooking local duck for its fesenjoon, a stew of pomegranate and walnuts, until just before it fell apart.
Why go
Najmieh Batmanglij fled Iran during the revolution of the late 1970s, settled in Washington and became a prolific writer of Persian cookbooks. In June 2023 she opened Joon in Tysons, Virginia, her first restaurant in the U.S., with Chris Morgan, one of the founding chefs of Maydan (Washingtonian). They had met in 2013 at the cooking classes she taught in her Georgetown kitchen. On a kitchen visit in 2026, Morgan told Virginia Living how the two of them work: I'll call her and say, 'OK, Chef, this is in season now, what dishes can I reference that will use this right?'
(Virginia Living). Thomas Rose of The Infatuation wrote in March 2026: Downtown elitists won't like to hear it, but the best Persian restaurant in the DMV is in the burbs
(The Infatuation).
Build the meal on the rice. The kitchen, as at any good Persian kitchen, has a way with rice,
Ann Limpert wrote in Washingtonian in 2023. Limpert's buttery basmati came crowned with tahdig, the coveted and crispy golden layer from the bottom of the pot.
She told readers to order an extra serving of the version with sour cherries, rose water, and lime
(Washingtonian). Every kabob comes with rice and tahdig. Rose's chengheh kabob, a tenderloin cooked to order, glows with earthy flavor and leaks juice like a broken faucet
(The Infatuation).
In 2023 Batmanglij called the duck fesenjoon one of her signature dishes. Alice Levitt of Northern Virginia Magazine wrote that it will connect with people from any culture who had a grandmother presiding over the stove for long hours
(Northern Virginia Magazine). Washingtonian's critics found the lamb and pistachio meatballs and the grilled whole eggplant with crispy onions often flawless
in January 2026 (Washingtonian).
Limpert found one weak spot in 2023: If there's an area that needs work, it's not in the kitchen.
The young staff couldn't always guide her table. Asked about the Persian-style Negroni, one server said, I'm not allowed to try the cocktails!
On the short dessert menu she skipped the sour-cherry sorbet and dry 'love cake'
for the not-too-sweet baklava
(Washingtonian). The restaurant seats 265. Rose found coworkers gossiping over backgammon boards in a hammam-like lounge, and further inside, dining rooms of extended families scarfing down grilled meats alongside pitchers of mint tea
(The Infatuation).
Order this / avoid
- Order: a second serving of the sour-cherry rice (Limpert, 2023).2
- Order: the duck fesenjoon, on Limpert's list in 2023 and Washingtonian's in 2026.4
- Order: the lamb and pistachio meatballs under
bright pomegranate seeds and pistachios
(Rose, 2026).1 - Order: the chengheh kabob (Rose, 2026).1
- Order: the mirza ghasemi, an eggplant dip that Levitt (2023) found
dotted with Sungold tomatoes and finished with a poached egg with a showstopping soft yolk.
3 - Order: the baklava for dessert (Limpert, 2023).2
- Avoid: the sour-cherry sorbet and the love cake (Limpert, 2023).2
- Drink: the gin sharbat,
made with muddled cucumber and agave
(Rose, 2026).1
What locals & experts say
- Vincent Badiee, chef of The Huntōn (Northern Virginia Magazine, March 2026):
I have yet to have a bad meal there. Try the meatballs, whole branzino, fesenjan, and don't forget some rice!
6 - Scott Drewno, co-chef of CHīKO (Northern Virginia Magazine, March 2026):
At Joon, the kabobs and rice are standout dishes.
6
Good to know
- Where: Fairfax Square in Tysons, Virginia, outside the District. Limpert found complimentary valet parking out front in 2023.
- Lunch: Rose got tahdig with a chicken kabob or falafel for $20 in March 2026. The flatbread is bottomless and free.
- Price: Washingtonian put dinner for two at $201 to $299 in January 2026. Levitt paid $12 or $13 for each dip in October 2023.
Verdict
should-visit — Go out to Tysons for Najmieh Batmanglij and Chris Morgan's Persian cooking, and build the meal on the rice and the duck fesenjoon. Dinner for two ran $201 to $299 in January 2026, and lunch of tahdig with a chicken kabob was $20 in March.