1974 Picco’s opens across the street from the old courthouse in the City of Fairfax. The Washington Post proclaimed our pizza the best in the D.C. area. 1976 Fantastic Fritzbe’s Flying Food Factory opens in “downtown” Annandale, VA. 1977 Patsy Norton continues making all of Fritzbe’s desserts in her kitchen at home. 1978 Fantastic Fritzbe’s Goodtime Emporium opens on the site that is now Artie’s. 1980 GAR opens Fritzbe’s in Reston. 1981 GAR hires our first professionally trained Chef, Chris Osborn (now VP of Kitchen Operations). 1981 GAR opens Fritzbe’s in Rockville, MD. 1981 Howard Stern waits tables for a day at Fritzbe’s as part of a local radio station promotion. 1985 One of many Fritzbe’s 10K races is attended by over 5,000. We fed everyone brunch in under 45 minutes immediately following the race. 1985 GAR converts Fantastic Fritzbe’s Goodtime Emporium into Artie’s. 1986 Carlyle Grand Cafe opens on New Year’s Eve in Shirlington, VA. 1987 Mike’s “American” Grill, our first free-standing restaurant, opens in Springfield, VA. Early 1990s GAR declares its niche to be high-volume, upper-casual. Picco’s and Fritzbe’s in Reston and Rockville are sold to former GAR general managers. 1993 Carlyle becomes the largest smoke-free restaurant in Metropolitan Washington, D.C. 1993 Carlyle is selected one of the top three restaurants in the entire D.C. area by Washingtonian magazine - the first of many times. 1995 Bill Jackson (then Executive Chef at Carlyle) is named Chef of the Year by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. 1995 Best Buns Bread Co. opens next to Carlyle. 1996 GAR converts Fritzbe’s in Annandale to Silverado. 1996 Sweetwater Tavern in Centreville, our first microbrewery, opens and is named “Best New Restaurant” in Washingtonian magazine. 1997 Sweetwater Tavern in Merrifield opens. 2001 Sweetwater Tavern in Sterling opens with our first outside bar. 2003 Great American Restaurants is named one of the “Best Places to Work” by Washingtonian magazine. 2004 Coastal Flats in Fairfax Corner opens. 2005 Coastal Flats in Tysons Corner Center opens. 2005 Great American Restaurants is named one of the “Best Places to Work” by Washingtonian magazine, again. 2006 Sweetwater Tavern is named “Favorite Restaurant” by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. 2006 GAR wins the 2006 Education Foundation Award: “Future of the Industry” from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. 2007 Sweetwater Centreville adds a covered outside bar and dining area. 2008 Jackson's Mighty Fine Food & Lucky Lounge opens in the expansion phase of Reston Town Center. 2009 Jackson's is named “Best New Restaurant” in Washingtonian magazine. 2009 Artie's is included in Tom Sietsema's Annual Dining Guide 2010 Ozzie's Corner Italian opens in Fairfax Corner