L'Auberge Chez François Has a New Steward. Its First Holiday Season Looks a Lot Like the Old Ones.

L'Auberge Chez François started its first holiday season with Thompson Restaurants by publishing a Thanksgiving built from the same recipe book, under the same chef. For a Great Falls household the ownership news turns out to be the smaller question. The bigger one is which room to book, because on November 26 the building runs two separate Thanksgiving dinners at two different price structures.

What the September announcement actually said

On September 1, 2026, Thompson Restaurants announced that it had become a "steward" of L'Auberge Chez François. The group is led by Warren Thompson and runs more than 70 restaurants across about 15 brands, including Matchbox, Makers Union and Big Buns Damn Good Burgers. The coverage did not describe the deal the same way. FFXnow reported the restaurant as "under new ownership." Nation's Restaurant News wrote that it was not clear whether the arrangement was an acquisition or an investment, and it still identified Jacques Haeringer as owner and executive chef. The restaurant's homepage still carries the line "Family Owned since 1954."

What the announcement did make clear was the intent. The restaurant's release, quoted by FFXnow, put it this way: "The goal isn't reinvention, it's preservation. Same Alsatian menu, same charm, same staff, same sense of occasion." Patch reported the same message: menu, staff and overall experience largely unchanged, with Haeringer still in charge.

Thompson is also not an outsider here. Three days after the announcement, Haeringer posted a personal note on the restaurant's site that described him as "our Great Falls neighbor and friend, Warren." The same note made a promise in plain terms:

"To our long-time and to our new patrons: I am not going anywhere. I remain here in the kitchen, at the table, exactly where I have always been."

The restaurant's history explains the caution. Haeringer's father, François "Papa" Haeringer, opened Chez François in Washington in 1954 and moved it to Great Falls in 1976 as an auberge modeled on the country inns of Alsace. Since then it has made OpenTable's Top 100 Restaurants in America, Washingtonian's 100 Very Best and Northern Virginia Magazine's Best French list. FFXnow readers also voted it one of Fairfax County's best wedding venues. Quoted by FFXnow, Thompson described his role as making sure the restaurant "is here, in the same spirit, for decades to come."

Thanksgiving is the first real test, and it was written to pass

The Thanksgiving page shows that preservation promise in practice. The upstairs dinner on Thursday, November 26, 2026, is the house's traditional seven-course meal. It centers on a Whiffletree Farm organic turkey "straight from Papa's handwritten recipe book from Alsace." The courses are a bread basket, an amuse-bouche, a choice of appetizer, La salade de l'Auberge, house-made sorbet, a choice of main course, dessert, and chocolate truffles to finish.

Prices run from $150 to $162 per person depending on the entrée. The turkey dinner is $150 and the hunter's game plate is $162. The printed menu lists the lamb at $162.50, so the top of the range shifts slightly depending on which page you read. A children's menu for guests under 12 is $95.

Reservations opened Thursday, October 15, at 10 a.m. Every holiday booking requires a credit card. A no-show or a cancellation made less than 48 hours ahead is charged $75 per person. For a party of six, a change of plans the night before would mean a $450 charge.

The downstairs Thanksgiving runs on different math

Jacques' Brasserie and Bar Rouge sit on the back lower level of the same building and serve a casual Alsatian menu. On Thanksgiving the Brasserie publishes its own "Menu Expérience." It is priced à la carte, not as a fixed meal, which makes the two rooms hard to compare at a glance.

The $63.50 turkey looks like it costs less than half the upstairs dinner, but it is one course. Here is a Brasserie meal built to roughly match the upstairs sequence, using the posted Thanksgiving prices:

• La Gratinée des Halles onion soup, $19.50
• La Salade de l'Auberge, $17.50
• Roasted Whiffletree organic turkey with chestnut stuffing, giblet gravy and cranberry relish, $63.50
• A hot soufflé in Grand Marnier, chocolate or raspberry, $20, ordered with the meal
• Julius Meinl coffee service, $7.50

That comes to $128 per person before tax and tip, against $150 upstairs for a meal that also includes bread, an amuse-bouche, sorbet and truffles. The Brasserie menu does open with Chef Jacques' amuse-bouche. So the downstairs savings depend on how many courses a table orders. A family that wants turkey and pie can spend far less downstairs. A family that wants the full ceremony gets the most for its money upstairs.

The Brasserie listing has one quirk. The Thanksgiving page says it will be open for "two seatings" but then lists three time windows, and the latest one starts at 7:30 p.m. If a late dinner matters, confirm that seating directly when booking.

Outside the holiday, the same split applies

On regular weeks the main room serves dinner Wednesday through Sunday. Its dinner prix fixe runs $109.75 to $116.25 and its lunch prix fixe $62 to $68. The Brasserie welcomes walk-ins when space allows. Its regular menu includes Choucroute Royale Garnie with sauerkraut, sausages, pork and duck confit for $41.50, beef bourguignon for $41.95 and a $25.95 burger. Both restaurants close on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

The events calendar continued without a pause through the transition. On October 29 the restaurant hosts a five-course Château Font du Loup Châteauneuf-du-Pape dinner, presented by proprietor and vigneronne Anne-Charlotte Mélia-Bachas. It runs from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at $224, tax and gratuity included. No November or December events are listed yet.

Christmas Eve is the next date to watch

The restaurant's site has not yet posted a 2026 Christmas Eve menu or seating schedule, and the New Year's Eve page has not been updated for this year. Last year's Christmas Eve gives a sense of the format, though nothing has been confirmed for 2026. In 2025 it was a seven-course menu priced from $152 to $170, with three main-room seatings and the same $75-per-person late-cancellation charge. The Brasserie ran two seatings that afternoon and evening.

Thanksgiving reservations opened about six weeks before the holiday. If Christmas Eve follows a similar schedule, the 2026 announcement could appear soon. Gift cards are available now in any amount, can be used at either restaurant, and cover food, beverages, cooking demonstrations and wine dinners. They can be sent instantly by email or mailed.

For a Great Falls household planning November, the September news changed who stands behind the restaurant, while the Thanksgiving it has posted still runs on Papa's recipe book, Chef Jacques in the kitchen and a choice between two rooms.

If a holiday dinner at L'Auberge is part of how your family marks the season here, I'd love to hear which room you choose this year. And if you're hosting relatives from out of town who want to see more of Great Falls than the dining room, Jo & Co is always glad to share the places worth showing them. Let's Connect.