Best Dining Bets

You can dine on all types of cuisine in Virginia, but the highlights are produced from recipes handed down since colonial times -- dishes such as peanut soup and Sally Lunn bread -- or that put a modern spin on local ingredients. Here are some of the best places to sample Virginia's unique and very historic cuisine.

Gadsby's Tavern (Alexandria): George Washington said good-bye to his troops from the door of Gadsby's Tavern in Alexandria's Old Town. This former rooming house and the tavern next door look much as they did then, and a waitstaff in colonial garb still serve chicken roasted on an open fire, buttermilk pie, and other dishes from that period.

Inn at Little Washington (Washington): Chef Patrick O'Connell constantly changes his menu to take advantage of trout, Chesapeake Bay seafood, Virginia hams, and other local delicacies in his romantic dining room. The service at Virginia's finest restaurant is wonderfully attentive and unobtrusive.

Mrs. Rowe's Restaurant and Bakery (Staunton): Every town has its favorite "local" restaurant, where you can clog your arteries with plain old Southern favorites like pan-fried chicken, sausage gravy over biscuits, and fresh vegetables seasoned with smoked pork and cooked to smithereens. In business since 1947, Mrs. Rowe's somehow manages to cook great veggies without all that lard.

Roanoker Restaurant (Roanoke): Another local, favorite the Roanoker regularly changes its menu to take advantage of the freshest vegetables available. And every day it serves the best biscuits in Virginia, hot from the oven.

King's Barbecue (Petersburg): Like all southerners, Virginians love their barbecue, and it doesn't get any better than at the two branches of King's. Pork, beef, ribs, and chicken roast constantly over an open pit right in the dining rooms, and the sauce is served on the side, not soaking the succulent meat and overpowering its smoked flavor.

Old Chickahominy House (Williamsburg): Named for a nearby river, this reconstructed, antiques-filled, 18th-century house is one of the best places to sample traditional Virginia fare, such as Brunswick stew and Virginia ham on hot biscuits.

Todd Jurich's Bistro (Norfolk): Donald Sutherland and other famous folk frequent this bistro, where chef Todd Jurich uses produce from local farms that practice "ecologically sound agriculture."

Cora (Norfolk): Chef Nancy Cobb blends grits, okra, and other local products with more fancy items in her "creative Southern" cuisine. She even offers a version of her father's hearty "fishmuddle" seafood stew.

Virginia's Gourmet Contributions

Author William Styron, a native of Newport News, once said that the French consider salt-cured Virginia hams to be America's only gourmet contribution to the world's cuisine. Virginians love their ham (especially stuffed into hot biscuits), and they are crazy about rockfish (sea bass) and crabs from the Chesapeake Bay and shad and trout from the rivers. Virginia's farms produce a plethora of vegetables, and its orchards are famous for apples. And let's not forget the peanut, one of Virginia's major crops, which has been used in soup since colonial times!