Chicken Panini,
Pressed to Order
Grilled halal chicken breast, melted mozzarella, and roasted peppers on ciabatta, pressed until the crust crackles. Two ways: classic Chicken & Cheese, or the house Pesto Chicken.
The Oven
800 degrees changes everything.
A regular oven tops out around 500. Ours hits 800. At that temperature, the crust blisters in minutes — leopard-spotted char on the outside, soft and airy inside. The cheese bubbles and caramelizes. The toppings roast instead of steam.
Each pizza goes into the stone oven by hand, gets rotated by hand, and comes out when it's right. That's what wood-fired means.
The Dough
48 hours of slow fermentation
Our dough ferments for two full days before it touches the oven. The long, cold rise develops a complex, slightly tangy flavor with an open crumb structure you can't get from a shortcut. Hand-stretched to order — never rolled, never frozen.
Fired at 800 degrees
Intense heat blisters the crust in minutes. Leopard-spotted char outside, soft and airy inside. No conveyor belt — each pie is rotated by hand.
halal chicken panini
Every single item at Forni is 100% Halal. Not a section. Not a special request. The entire kitchen — every protein, every sauce, every topping — meets strict Halal standards.
Order the All Meat pizza, the Gyro Panini, or any specialty pie with complete confidence. Families, mosques, and communities across Northern Virginia trust Forni because there is never a question about what's in the food.
The Panini Board
Every Panini, Pressed Fresh
PopularGyro Panini
Slow-roasted gyro meat, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber, house tzatziki on pressed ciabatta.
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Pesto Chicken Panini
Grilled chicken breast, house pesto, fresh basil, melted mozzarella on pressed ciabatta.
Order NowChicken & Cheese Panini
Grilled chicken, melted mozzarella, roasted peppers on pressed ciabatta.
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Steak & Cheese Panini
Shaved steak, caramelized onions, roasted peppers, melted provolone on ciabatta.
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Lunch, Solved
A Pizzeria's
Second Craft
A kitchen with great bread and a hot press has no excuse for a bad sandwich. Forni's paninis start with fresh ciabatta and halal chicken breast grilled in-house — not deli slices — then get pressed to order so the cheese melts fully and the bread crisps without drying.
The Chicken & Cheese keeps it classic with roasted peppers and mozzarella. The Pesto Chicken layers house-made pesto and fresh basil under the cheese for something greener and sharper. Both come in under eleven dollars, which makes them the workhorse lunch order for the offices and job sites around Seminary Road.
Our Story
Frequently Asked
Two: the Chicken & Cheese Panini (grilled chicken, melted mozzarella, roasted peppers, $10.95) and the Pesto Chicken Panini (grilled chicken, house pesto, fresh basil, mozzarella, $10.95) — both on pressed ciabatta.
Yes — all chicken at Forni is certified halal, like every meat in the kitchen. The restaurant is 100% halal with no non-halal ingredients on site.
The press is the difference: heat and pressure crisp the bread, melt the cheese into every layer, and fuse the sandwich so it eats cleanly. We press each panini to order — it takes a few extra minutes and is worth every one.
Ideal — they hold heat and structure far better than pizza slices. Order online and pick up at 5800 Seminary Rd, Unit B; most lunch orders are ready in under 15 minutes.
Seasoned fries and a fresh-squeezed juice make it a full lunch. The Caesar salad is the lighter route. For groups, panini platters are part of our halal catering menu.
Chicken Panini Near Me: What Makes Forni's Different
The chicken sandwich is the most ordered lunch item in America, and most versions come from a fryer or a deli counter. A proper panini — grilled chicken, real cheese, fresh bread, a hot press — is surprisingly hard to find around Falls Church. Forni fills that gap from the same kitchen that runs the stone oven.
Grilled In-House, Not Sliced from a Bag
Our chicken breast is marinated and grilled in the restaurant, then sliced for the press. The difference against pre-cooked deli chicken shows in texture and in flavor — the grill adds char the press then reinforces.
Ciabatta, Pressed Right
Ciabatta's open crumb makes it the ideal panini bread: the press compresses the airy interior into distinct layers while the crust shatters like a cracker. Pressed too early and held, any panini goes leathery — ours never sits; the press is the last step before the box.
Halal Without Compromise
Every panini — chicken, steak and cheese, gyro, tuna — is fully halal. For families and colleagues with mixed dietary needs, that means one order covers everyone without a second menu.
Find Us
5800 Seminary Rd, Unit B, Falls Church, VA 22041 — minutes from Bailey's Crossroads, Seven Corners, and the Arlington line. Open mon-thu: 2 pm - 12 am, fri-sat: 2 pm - 1 am, sunday: 2 pm - 11 pm. Order online for lunch pickup or delivery.
Visit Forni
Lunch is a pressed
chicken panini.
Grilled halal chicken, melted mozzarella, fresh ciabatta — order online for fast pickup.