Roanoke is one of Virginia's more interesting dining scenes. While you can still get good country cooking here (including my favorite biscuits), young chefs are using flavors their Southern ancestors never imagined, much less tasted.
Downtown Restaurants -- Market Square is Roanoke's dining center, with the 3 blocks of Campbell Avenue between Williamson Road and Jefferson Street, and the contiguous block of Jefferson Street, offering a host of restaurants catering to many tastes and all pocketbooks. Take a stroll and see what's happening (most post their menus outside).
Behind the stalls on Market Street, Wertz's Country Restaurant & Wine Bar (tel. 540/342-5133) uses gourmet produce in sandwiches and salads at lunch, while tender, 21-day-aged steaks appear along with seafood and pasta dishes at dinner. Its wine cellar is one of the city's best. 202 Market, 2 Market Square (tel. 540/343-6644), a très cool bistro and wine bar, competes head-to-head with Metro! as coolest downtown restaurant. Billy's Ritz, 102 Salem Ave. (tel. 540/342-3937), specializes in steaks and grilled seafood, and it's open on Sunday evening. The Market Square branch of Awful Arthur's Seafood Company, 108 Campbell St. (tel. 540/344-2997), also is open on Sunday, and it has sidewalk tables during warm weather. For a bite to your tongue, Tong's Thai, 19 Salem Ave. (tel. 540/344-7732), serves spicy Siamese cuisine. A block to the west, Frankie Rowland's Steakhouse, 104 S. Jefferson St. (tel. 540/527-2333), is Roanoke's swankiest purveyor of tender beef. It's across the street from Alexander's .
I check my e-mail and get my caffeine fix at Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea Co., 112 Campbell Ave. (tel. 540/342-9404), and order my cooked breakfasts at Ernie's, 210 Market St. (tel. 540/342-7100), which opens at 6am Monday through Saturday.
