Eating Out in Virginia

Front Royal: South Street Grille, 424A South Street, Phone (540) 536-6654 We ate here for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We can recommend their shrimp, hot roast beef sandwich, breakfast, fish sandwich and chicken-fried steak. Very reasonable for a tourist area. (9/2011)

Louisa: Panda Garden Restaurant, 400 East Main St., Phone (540) 967-5988 Standard Chinese with their hot and spicy dishes on the mild side. They must adjust for Southern tastes. Good, plentiful but not exciting. (9/2006)

Mineral: Mineral Restaurant, 42 Davis Highway, Phone (540) 894-4927 Where all the locals go for breakfast on Sunday morning. Small, a little grubby inside and there is NO no-smoking area there. However the food is good, cheap and served hot. Plus it's the only place to eat breakfast on a Sunday for miles. (9/2006)

Orange: The Hornet's Nest, 269 Madison Rd. Phone (540) 672-7040. I really, really wanted to like this place. The walls are decorated with pictures of the local football teams dating back to the 60s, the staff is friendly and we like to patronize local businesses. However, the quality of the food was erratic; the pulled pork was tender but cold, the country-fried steak was tasty but the mashed potatoes were lumpy and the macaroni salad was the strangest concoction of bland macaroni, mayo, green peppers, celery and diced tomatoes. No pickle relish or hard-boiled eggs in it at all. It may be a local thing. I'd pass on this one. (9/2006)

Williamsburg: Rick's Grill, 6380 Richmond Rd, Phone (757) 229-0045 A pleasant surprise tucked away in a strip mall. Rick's has a small bar and several booths and small tables for dining. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. We stopped for dinner, having the grilled vegetables with fettucine tossed with garlic and EVOO and broccoli/spinach/cheddar cheese soup and the chicken/ham/sausage with liguine tossed with garlic and butter. Both were delicious, served with soup or salad and there were four or five specials also listed daily. The food varies from our Italian dishes to liver and onions and burgers. The food was served right off the grill, was steaming hot, well cooked and tasty. Reasonably priced for a tourist area. We would go back. (9/2011)