Downtown
The downtown renaissance has turned Granby Street from Main to Charlotte streets into Norfolk's Restaurant Row, as hip new dining rooms open all the time (and a few disappear). Here you'll find The Blue Hippo and The 219 plus a wide range of other restaurants and pubs.
You'll get excellent seafood at 456 Fish, 456 Granby St. (tel. 757/625-4444). The fast-paced Empire Little Bar & Bistro, 245 Granby St. (tel. 757/626-3100), specializes in tapas and is open daily until 2am. Sterling's, also at 245 Granby St. (tel. 757/625-3366), has the best steaks. Domo Sushi, 273 Granby St. (tel. 757/628-8282), serves just that, plus other Japanese offerings. Havana, 255 Granby St. (tel. 757/627-5800), serves Cuban-influenced fare. The Louisiana Creole food at Voodoo Rouge, 332 Granby St. (tel. 757/333-3068), includes several tasty vegetarian dishes, and you can dine outside on the patio. You'll get your fill of corned beef and cabbage at Jack Quinn's Irish Pub, 241 Granby St. (tel. 757/274-0024). To catch the games, head to AJ Gators Sports Bar & Grill, 244 Granby St. (tel. 757/622-5544).
The MacArthur Center, on Monticello Avenue at Market Street, has a branch of the elegant but informal Kincaid's Fish, Chop & Steak House (tel. 757/622-8000), offering exactly what its name says, and a very good and inexpensive food court up on the third floor. The Waterside also has a food court plus branches of Joe's Crab Shack, Outback Steakhouse, and Hooters.
My favorite downtown breakfast spot is D'Egg, 404 E. Main St. (tel. 757/626-3447), opposite the Norfolk Marriott, an inexpensive diner where you can get eggs, waffles, pancakes, and other traditional day-starters. It's open daily from 7am to 3pm.
Cones & Carhops -- Some of the wafflelike ice cream cones made at Doumar's, an old-fashioned drive-in with carhops and curb service at 19th Street and Monticello Avenue (tel. 757/627-4163), come from the original cone-making machine invented by Abe Doumar at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904. Abe's ancestors keep his invention oiled and working, and descendents of his barbecue sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, sundaes, and milkshakes round out the extremely inexpensive menu. Doumar's has been around since the 1930s, which makes it a hip historical attraction. Open Monday through Thursday 8am to 11pm, Friday and Saturday 8am to 12:30am.
In Ghent
The neighborhood branch of Baker's Crust, 330 W. 21st St. (tel. 757/625-3600), in the Palace Shops between Llewellyn and DeBree streets, is both the best place in town for breakfast and one of the better values for lunch and dinner. The bakery provides fresh pastries to start your day and bread for a variety of sandwiches at lunch and dinner.
