While Founding Farmers waits on Fairfax County permits for a small-scale distillery at Reston Station, a full-production spirit operation has been pouring house-made bourbon, rye, vodka and gin at Reston Town Center since at least 2023.

Open Road Distilling Co., at 1871 Fountain Drive, runs an operational distillery inside the Open Road Restaurant & Bar space. The business produces and sells its own spirits line, including Independence Bourbon, Eagle Eye Rye, American Vodka and American Gin, according to the distillery's website. Guests can buy bottles at an on-site bonded store or sample them in the tasting room.

The venue doubles as a full-service restaurant with a mid-sized music venue, open-concept seating, an indoor/outdoor patio, a game room and private dining, according to the Reston Town Center directory. Happy hour runs Monday through Friday, 3 to 6 p.m.

A separate concept operates inside the same space.

Heirloom, a cocktail-focused restaurant with a chef-driven menu, is nestled within Open Road's premises. The Reston Town Center listing describes it as serving American cuisine with Mediterranean influences. Heirloom is open Monday through Saturday starting at 4 p.m. and closed Sundays.

A Reston Letter review published Aug. 6 described the restaurant as "a big, loud, fun American restaurant with good food, strong bones and a distillery waiting to be explored." The reviewer noted complimentary popcorn on arrival and a sports-bar energy level, adding that non-alcoholic drink options were harder to spot on the menu.

A second distillery in the pipeline

Separately, Founding Farmers filed Fairfax County zoning applications to add on-site distilleries at its Reston and Tysons locations, FFXnow reported Aug. 3. Both applications were still pending county approval as of that report, with no confirmed opening timeline.

The Reston restaurant, at 1904 Reston Metro Plaza Drive near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, would dedicate 12 square feet to distilling equipment and produce up to 5,000 gallons of spirits per year for its own patrons, according to a Foxes Sell Faster analysis of the zoning filings. The plans call for no separate advertising for the distillery component.

Founding Farmers already operates Founding Spirits, a standalone distillery in Washington, D.C., producing vodka, gin, bourbon, rye, rum and whiskey.

Open Road Distilling Co. is open Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to midnight and Saturday from 10 a.m. to midnight. The restaurant line is 703-481-2070; the distillery number is 703-481-2350.