96 Best Restaurants in Virginia, USA

Inside a converted 19th-century general store on the National Register of Historic Places, you can imagine yourself waiting for a steamer to Baltimore. Walk past the vintage display cases into a casual dining area overlooking the wharf, or enjoy crab cakes, steamed clams, and fresh fish on the deck outside. On summer Sundays, there's live music playing.

Brunch lovers unite over this lively Del Ray restaurant, serving French toast, eggs and waffles, and biscuits and gravy all day long. But there are plenty of other menu items as well, including lunchtime salads and sandwiches, and heartier comfort-fare dishes for dinner, including fried chicken and pork chops. Mimosas are de rigeur (though the “brunchy drink” menu has some interesting seasonal alternatives, including spiced pear mule and cassis spritz). Locals know chef Todd Miller as the originator of Ted’s pop tarts, a D.C. phenomenon.

Be prepared to wait in line at Richmond's favorite diner. Locals often bring lawn chairs and games to pass the time while waiting for their chance to try the upscale, contemporary selections at this quirky eatery. This is the place for brunch, serving everything from huevos rancheros to the signature Devil's Mess kitchen-sink omelet. Although the vibe is straight out of the '50s, with personal jukeboxes in every booth, the food is strictly 21st century, and includes contemporary takes on Southern classics as well as global offerings. The dinner menu changes every three weeks, but the most popular lunch and breakfast offerings are always available.

A homey restaurant with plenty of booths, Rowe's has been operated by the same family since 1947, and still maintains a rock-solid reputation for inexpensive and delicious Southern meals. The fried chicken—skillet-cooked to order—is a standout. A local breakfast favorite is oven-hot biscuits topped with gravy (your choice of sausage, tenderloin, or creamy chipped beef). For dessert, try the mince pie in fall, or the rhubarb cobbler in summer.

This combination Irish pub, sports bar, and restaurant has a large central dining room with an open fireplace in the middle, a bar on one side, and a smaller dining room at one end. The menu includes steaks and Irish, Italian, and seafood entrées as well as snacks and sandwiches. The Sunday brunch is reasonable, and so are the weekday dinner specials. A block from the boardwalk, Murphy's has plenty of easy parking.

Autographed photos of U.S. military and political leaders gaze down from the walls at this Vietnamese restaurant just a block off Wilson Boulevard. Soup and pho have a prominent place on the menu (the sweet-and-spicy salmon soup has many fans), as do salads and vermicelli bowls. Dine outside in good weather. Residents tend to fill up street parking; get here early to find a spot, or take the Metro.

A tiny gem, Nasime serves an exquisite seven-course tasting menu of both traditional and contemporary Japanese flavors. The selections change frequently based on the season and availability of products, but it always includes a wonderful blend of raw, grilled, fried, and baked dishes, plus dessert.

The original building, circa 1836, served as a public library and debating hall before becoming a retail space. In the Victorian era it was an ice cream parlor, and today it houses a full-service restaurant with both indoor and alfresco dining. Wood booths line the walls of the plant-filled room; the pressed-metal ceiling is original. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, and the menu features traditional salads, burgers and sandwiches, and steaks and pasta.

Tucked away in a K-Mart–anchored shopping center, this reasonably priced, large Chinese restaurant with a Mongolian grill is a real treat. The daily buffet offers both stick-to-your-ribs Chinese and Mongolian dishes. At the grill, choose the ingredients you want in your entrée, and watch the cooks prepare it in front of you. If your children don't like Chinese food, there is a children's menu that includes pizza. Peking is a great value for money and a favorite with locals. The Greene shopping center location is just outside the historic district.

Drab walls and communal tables may seem cafeteria-style, but that's part of what makes Pho 75 one of the most authentic Vietnamese restaurants in the D.C. area. Customers come from across the region to line up at this no-frills joint for the high-quality traditional noodle soup. Choose your bowl size and then what kind of meat (and how many kinds of meat) you want to cook in the soup, including flank steak, brisket, tendon, tripe, and eye-of-round steak. Pay at the counter as you leave—and don't forget to bring cash as Pho 75 doesn't take credit cards.

This hotel restaurant is known for its elegance, attentive service, and quality cuisine. Among crystal chandeliers, Asian silk-screen prints, and full silver service, you can sample chateaubriand carved table-side, as well as rack of lamb, Dover sole, lobster bisque, and house-smoked and -cured salmon. A jacket and tie are required at dinner, but optional at Sunday brunch. Breakfast or brunch may be good value, but dinner could be budget breaking for a family.

This family-owned restaurant, decorated with lace curtains, red carpeting, and walls covered with paintings, specializes in traditional northern and southern Italian cuisine, including veal, chicken, pasta, and seafood. Standouts include veal Florentine, fettuccine Alfredo, eggplant parmigiana, steamed mussels, and lasagna. The 260-seat restaurant is also open for lunch on weekdays. Save room for the Italian desserts such as cannoli, spumoni, and tiramisu.

Whether you dine indoors or out, enjoy the view of the York River, the Coleman Bridge, and Gloucester on the opposite shore. Nick's Riverwalk offers casual meals of soups, salads, and sandwiches at the Rivah Café and outdoor courtyard; the Riverwalk Dining Room is more formal, with a menu featuring baked crabmeat imperial, sautéed fillets, and local oysters. Right outside of the café are a boardwalk and a sandy beach. Parking is available across the street. There are many shops just outside the Riverwalk's door.

The Down East architecture of this local favorite with double-deck porches hints at the seafood that's available. The restaurant has a bar, a raw bar, and alfresco dining in good weather (in cool weather, the large window wall still gives you a view of the water). Seafood, pasta, chicken, and beef share the menu with salads and sandwiches. Rockafeller's (and several others) are on Rudee Inlet. Go on a Thursday night for the lobster special, the best their menu has to offer. To get here, go south on Pacific Avenue and turn right on Winston-Salem immediately before the Rudee Inlet bridge. The street ends at Mediterranean Avenue.

Locals love this family Italian restaurant and pizzeria that serves up pasta, fish, chicken, and veal dinners as well as subs and pizzas. It's a good choice for families who want to please the kids: parents can get quality "adult food" while their children graze on pizza and subs. The restaurant delivers free to nearby hotels. Families rave about Sal's, especially its family feast.

Known for locally sourced seafood in a chic historic setting, Saltine offers a primo dining experience in Downtown Norfolk. Go for the Mon.-Fri. happy hour: James River oysters and peel ‘n’ eat shrimp plus beer, wine, and craft cocktail specials

Here in one of the area's few places for "fine dining," the waiters are tuxedo-clad, the tablecloths crisp linen. The menu's offerings resemble those available on a luxury cruise ship. Rum buns begin the meal, where the highlights include enormous crab cakes and filet mignon topped with crabmeat and rich béarnaise sauce. Order one of the showy flambé desserts, which are prepared table-side. They also have an extensive children's menu.

Proprietor James Shields served the lesser gentry and upper middling ranks of locals and travelers in the 1740s. Today, the largest of the colonial taverns now serves more than just light fare, though soup, salads, wrap sandwiches, and pie are still popular. This tavern closes at 9 pm.

This elegant steak-and-seafood house is in the converted tobacco warehouse district known as the Bluffwalk. With warm exposed brick walls and an urban sensibility, the restaurant offers a wide variety of steaks, chops, and classic seafood dishes. Think traditional, with a variety of cuts and preparations, in addition to seafood standards from surf and turf to shrimp cocktail and lobster bisque.

A popular choice for locals, this barbecue joint is known for brisket, daily specials, and some of the best happy hour deals in town. If you're visiting for lunch, get there either on the earlier or later side to avoid the business crowds. When the weather is fine, enjoy a cocktail on their pup-friendly sidewalk patio.

Whitewashed stucco walls and colorful macramé tapestries bring a bit of the Mediterranean to the center of Old Town. The menu takes diners on a trip around Greece—each dish identifies its region of origin, and the whole country is represented. Favorites include exohikon (lamb baked in a pastry shell) and fish sautéed with artichokes. Thursday evenings bring live music, and if you are so moved, plates for breaking are free for the asking—opa! A buffet brunch is served on Sunday.

This popular neighborhood restaurant with funky decor is known for its weekend brunches and freshly squeezed margaritas. Tacos are a mix of traditional like carnitas and al pastor, as well as fun, such as fried chicken and cauliflower. The complimentary chips and salsa are surprisingly delightful.

The Vintage Kitchen focuses on local foods, artisanal cheeses, and microbrews. It's a place where you can order five-spice duck breast and also a superb cheeseburger. All the spices and sauces come from an outdoor herb garden. A special seven-course tasting meal is available by appointment Monday through Wednesday. Huge windows with tables facing the Elizabeth River make for great ambience.

Homemade pasta—about 20 different kinds—fills the menu in this cheery, yellow-stucco restaurant in the city's Old Town. Owners Franco and Marcella Stocco and their son Riccardo serve up their native northern Italian cuisine, including lobster pansotti (lobster-filled ravioli in a sauce of white wine and lemon). Try the Trio Violino, an antipasto platter with duck breast prosciutto, homemade venison bresaola, and duck salami with a raspberry vinaigrette. A strolling violinist entertains diners on weekends. The outdoor patio, enclosed by potted plants, is a quiet spot in the midst of street bustle.