Owner and Head Chef Bill Hamrock
Bill Hamrock’s interest in the restaurant business began when he was just 13-years-old, when he took his first job working at the Three Pigs Barbecue in McLean, Virginia.
He attended the Culinary Institute of America, worked in a hotel in Switzerland, and in restaurants throughout greater Washington, DC, including the Ritz-Carlton in Tyson’s Corner and the Carlyle Grande Café.
Bill opened his first restaurant, Portobellos, in Arlington, VA, then moved the location and re-opened as Pasha’s Café. He also owned Billy’s Cheesesteaks next door to Pasha’s Café.
But most of all, Bill dreamed of owning a small, family-friendly neighborhood restaurant in his hometown of Fairfax, and Hamrock’s Restaurant fulfills this dream.
As owners of a neighborhood business located in downtown Fairfax, Bill and Susie Hamrock, a teacher in Fairfax County, love being a part of the community where they’ve raised their own kids.
The Moore-McCandlish House (Built 1840)
Built in 1842, the Moore-McCandlish House has seen a great deal of history pass through its hallowed halls, including two Presidents and a war.
In 1855, the property was purchased by Thomas Murray, whose alleged role in housing confederate Colonel Mosby as he plotted to capture Union General Stoughton landed him in prison. Murray died during his stay in prison and was temporarily buried on the property.
Moore House’s subsequent owner and namesake Thomas Moore had a son who went on to become the Assistant Secretary of State for the Roosevelt Administration, later warranting the home a visit from the nation’s beloved 32nd President. This, however, was not the house’s first Presidential visit. William Howard Taft is rumored to have attended a garden party on the premises sometime after his Presidency.