But having grown up approximately three hours away, visiting Chesapeake, Virginia, for the first time was a better late than never sort of experience. We were expecting historical components of the region, but not outdoor recreational activities, urban art, an emphasis on individuals throughout history, or fantastic food options. I’m looking forward to returning to see other eateries and explore more of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s second-largest city (by population).
Kim and Wendy from Visit Chesapeake, Virginia welcomed us at the Greenbriar Hotel and brought us to The Hive. They’ve been working together for nearly two decades. It demonstrates how much they enjoy living in and promoting the place.
Visiting other places in Virginia? See our other guides:
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- 10 Fun Things To Do In Williamsburg VA
- 7 Best Must Try Stafford Restaurants
- 10 Awesome Things To Do In Fredericksburg VA
- 7 Must-Try Richmond Breweries
- 20 Fun Things To Do In Richmond VA
- 6 Best Mexican Restaurants In Fredericksburg, VA
- 11 Must-Try Pizza Places In Fredericksburg
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- The 8 Best Downtown Fredericksburg Restaurants
Contents
The 7 Chesapeake Restaurants You Must Try
The Hive Farm Bar & Restaurant is a historic Greenbriar Hotel.
(757) 421-2141225 Directions to Pine Road
The Historic Greenbriar Inn is a vast property that contains a home (which was previously used as an Airbnb), a petting zoo, a children’s play area, strawberry fields, room for weddings and other gatherings, and a lake big enough to fish in.
The Hive, a food truck offering farm-to-table meals and a kiosk selling products to eat there or take home, is located on the other side of the house.
Southern-style maters, fried green tomatoes with goat cheese, and peach bacon jam are among the entrees. I’d heard that the peach bacon jam is life-changing. Plan to buy extra to take home with you when you visit. Two of our party members picked this; one had never tasted fried green tomatoes before (think the movie) and found it delicious with or without the cheese.
Hive fries are sweet potato fries with smoked pork and blueberry BBQ sauce, which is a novel taste profile for me. Chef Doug Parsons tells us that he discovered this while working in Florida. He’s been keeping it in his pocket ever since. Another reason to bring a jar home with you.
Pulled pork sandwiches are served on brioche buns with chow-chow slaw (Chef adds a jar of chow-chow to his slaw) and blueberry BBQ sauce. That was excellent and tasty, according to my coworkers who tasted it! Since it is too large to eat all at once, the Pro Tip is to fetch a knife and fork. They like the Blueberry BBQ sauce since it was sweet and tangy. Perfection.
The smoked turkey sandwich is made out of a breast topped with NC Hoop Cheddar, fresh greens, apples, and peach bacon jam.
The Farm Burger is made with ground chuck, fresh greens, tomato, and onions, and served on a brioche bun. They cook the steak to order, so allow for a few minutes. The chef said that they are working toward having table service once the menu has been expanded to full strength. He claims they’re now at approximately 80% since no seafood is involved, and that’s his strength.
The honey sriracha fried chicken sandwich consists of crispy fried chicken breast, fresh greens, tomato, and onion, with the option to add cheese or bacon for a little fee.
Many other visitors suggested the chicken salad, so I tried it. The chicken is blended with mayo, almonds, celery, and a selection of fresh greens before being served with apple and cucumber slices, fresh tomatoes, onions, and your choice of vinaigrette. I went for a strawberry vinaigrette made with strawberries gathered straight from the farm, and it was delicious with the fresh chips as well. As a side dish, I picked sweet potato fries. On their own, they were delicious and properly cooked. There is no need for any condiments.
Fresh greens, tomato, cucumber, apples, blueberries, almonds, goat cheese, and peach vinaigrette top the Farmhouse salad, which may also be topped with grilled chicken or smoked turkey.
Chicken tenders or a cheese quesadilla are among the alternatives for children.
Tortilla chips with salsa roja, hive crazy chips, sweet potato fries, fresh fruit, or chow-chow slaw are available as sides.
You’ll feel satisfied, maybe even ready for a sleep, but do yourself a favor and wander about the grounds or pick strawberries to take with you while they’re in season.
Bread Basket from Bergeys
Mt. Pleasant Road (757) 546-92252207 Mt. Pleasant Road
This company’s handcrafted ice cream has been renowned since they were a dairy farm. Their chicken salad is also delicious.
When you make your own sandwich, you must do a correct permutation or calculation to determine the real number of viable possibilities. To begin, you may choose your meat from turkey, ham, roast beef, bacon, salami, or pepperoni. Next choose your cheese from Colby, provolone, Swiss, pepper jack, or cheddar.
Next, choose a roll from the wheat, white, or dill onion varieties (I highly recommend the dill onion). Step four is to choose your condiments, which might include mayonnaise, yellow mustard, deli mustard, oil, vinegar, or horseradish. Step five is to choose your toppings, which include lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, and sweet peppers. More meat, additional cheese, avocado, or red pepper hummus are available for a little fee if desired.
Choose from Black Forest ham, classic roast beef, Italian, turkey bacon club, roast turkey, pork barbecue, vegetable sandwich, or BLT for a half or entire specialty sandwich. The homemade chicken salad I described before is prepared with white flesh chicken, sliced grapes, celery, and a sweet dressing with lettuce, tomato, and onion, and it’s normally served on a wheat bread. I liked the dill onion roll, which was suggested by the person who took our orders.
When you walk into this establishment, the kitchen takes sandwich orders in the back center, the majority of the area is store, and the desserts are either on the far left where the ice cream and cookies are, or in the cooler in the back right which includes pies, limited to one per person, and drinks to the far right.
They do offer family-size meals to go with chicken pot pie, chicken salad, or pork barbecue, which appear like they could comfortably serve a family of four.
When it comes to ice cream, you may choose between a single or double scoop cup or a waffle cone for an extra fee. Milkshakes, floats, and even a brownie sundae are available. You may get a pint or a quart of any of their everyday varieties. Today’s flavors were vanilla, cookies and cream, lemon custard, banana, mint chocolate chip, strawberry (which was gathered fresh from the fields next door), chocolate, Key Lime, and something completely new to me: ice cream for breakfast. Breakfast ice cream featured bacon and shards of waffle cone that resembled a real waffle.
After consulting with the staff, I decided on the strawberry and banana double scoop cup. My first bite of banana tasted just like banana bread. I confess that I ate about half of it before we even had our sandwiches to check out. They provide the food in a paper bag, which you can then carry around the corner with your beverages to inside sitting or sit in front of the building at picnic tables with umbrellas.
Even inside, they offer tic tac toe, Plinko, and other games to keep youngsters and adults entertained while waiting or after the meal while others speak.
After the dinner, go about the grounds, either visiting the petting zoo or heading over to the farm next door to pick your own strawberries.
Brewing Company Wasserhund
Phone: (757) 698-4216510 Bellaire Ave.
As you step inside this Brewery Company, it’s clear that it has a German influence. What you don’t realize until you see the menu is that they adore their pets.
If you’re in the mood for an appetizer, you’re going to be dog-related, with names like kibbles, dog bones, dog park, puppy tails, tail twigs, and a big beer pretzel.
We went to the dog park, hungry as hounds, and wanted to try everything, including a puppy tail, cheesy pepperonis twisted and baked, then diced into snack sizes and served with house-made marinara or ranch sauces, boxer bites, which are their diced pretzel, and a snoot watering serving of kibbles, pepperoni slices baked to a crispy finish, also with ranch or housemaid marinade. Unfortunately, no pretzels of any kind were available, so our dog park plank consisted of a few puppy tails and half a board of pepperoni kibbles.
Our host appreciated the short-haired French fries from the fryer, which were topped with beer cheese, beer chicken, and green onions. Brussels Griffon was served, which consisted of fried Brussels sprouts mixed in Thai chili sauce and garnished with sesame seeds. If you enjoy Brussels sprouts, you’ll love these fried options.
The German influences were notably noticeable in the main courses, which included beer Bratwurst, a vegan brat, Wasserhund brat, with a choice of two Bratwurst and a side of German potato salad. They have four salads that are heavily affected by the sea, including a beach bum, sea coaster, sunbather, and coral wonder.
With possibilities like the Wasserhund, a hefty bulldog, a white shepherd, a Puggle, a Dachsinater, an Italian greyhound, a hellhound, a tiny yapper, a moon doggie, or a rottweiler, their signature pizza rescued the day. They do have a gluten-free crust (cauliflower) and pizzas in small, medium, and party sizes.
The dessert options were traditional. Taste their catnip, as well as their unique dough, which is delicately buttered and coated with cinnamon sugar. When available, the vanilla bean salted pretzel may be drizzled with house-made beer caramel and served with a side of caramel cream cheese for dipping. The carnival tomcat was my favorite. Funnel cake batter fries with powdered sugar and a side of caramel sauce were even better when served before the pizza. I didn’t even have to request that dessert be brought first.
Our varied pizza options were ideal for us. I ordered a basic cheese pizza, a pepperoni pizza, and a pizza with no cheese but both pork and pineapple.
Their house-made brewery options and numerous liquors are also available. One got a flight of mimosas, while the other had a flight of primarily fruity pale ales. They both had a good time with what was left of them. Together with the puppy paw-shaped tray, they set a shortlist of flight options. It soon becomes wet, so snap a picture of the list beforehand so you can remember your favorites.
H.E. Williams Candy Company
545-93111230 Perry Avenue (757) 545-93111
Although not a restaurant, I would be negligent if I did not include the Williams Candy Factory on my list. We were allowed to remain from the moment the sweet mixture was dumped onto the grass cool table and the first color, flavorings, and citric acid were added.
We witnessed brothers David and Joe stack, toss, fold, and knead the exquisite ribbon candy. Nobody has been able to duplicate the addition of coconut to the inside of this ribbon candy. You’ll have to trust me on this one: it tastes much better fresh and warm.
From Dave and Joe’s grandfather’s time, the plant has existed, although in a different location. After their parents have both died, Ann has taken over as president of the corporation. Both brothers have the position of vice president.
It is not air conditioned and is only warmed by heat from the rear of the room where the sugar is cooked. Costs have risen so dramatically due to supply chain issues that it now costs $20,000 to fill the syrup tanks, up from $12,000. Their candy is really cheap, particularly when you consider the quality and flavor. They have no website and do not accept credit cards. They take checks or cash and continue to sell out often.
If you arrive while they are creating the candy, they will be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
Wicker Crab Pot
201 Indian River Road (757) 351-27244
Wickers Crab Pot has been run by the same family for four generations. They specialize on catching Virginia blue crab, oysters, and other fresh seafood. Their grouper was already sold out the night we attended. A huge crab dip, chicken planks, Kent crab bowls, oyster rock, Haley seafood Mac and cheese, Wickers tuna bites, Buffalo BBQ shrimp, and Big Mothers deviled crabs are among the appetizers on the menu.
They provide a house or Caesar salad, as well as three soups, including she-crab soup. Female crabs are smaller and sweeter than male crabs, we discovered. Hatteras clam chowder with clam broth, clams, bacon, potatoes, carrots, and celery is also available, as is jambalaya with shrimp, chicken, Andouille sausage, onions, peppers, and Cajun stewed tomatoes served with rice.
Claw-held sandwiches are served with hush puppies and a choice of chips, salsa, or potato salad. There are many options, including a lump crab cake, flounder, fried soft shell crab, and a pork barbecue sandwich. Po boys are either oysters or shrimp served on a toasted sub bun with lettuce, tomato, and the handmade Chipotle ranch dressing. Wickers chicken sandwiches, either fried or grilled, a blackened tuna sandwich or blackened mahi steak, cheeseburgers, and crab burgers are also offered.
Two of our party ordered the shrimp and snow crab steam pot after hearing about it from the couple next to us. A half-pound of steamed giant shrimp and a half-pound of snow crab were served with corn on the cob and seasoned red potatoes. We were delighted to discover that it was delicious white maize, which is no longer widely grown in the upper middle West of the United States.
A half-dozen oysters, clams, a half-pound of snow crab, a half-pound of huge shrimp, corn, and seasoned red potatoes were split by the pair in an even larger steam pot. The seasoned red potatoes were spicy and salty, and they were an excellent accompaniment to the dinner.
Wickers also offered the option of creating your own steam pot for a solitary dinner or a communal feast. You may start with seasoned red potatoes or steamed broccoli, seasoned fresh corn on the cob or andouille sausage, and then season it with simple, Old Bay, lemon pepper, garlic crab, Cajun, or Indian River crab dust.
If you want, you can even purchase the crab by the bushel. The big raised local flounder dinner, Captain Wicker seafood platter (shrimp, scallops, oyster, local flounder, and lump crab meat), oyster dinner, crab stuffed shrimp, scallop dinner, shrimp dinner, crab and butter, soft shell dinner, Carolines crab cakes, crab stuffed flounder, or Wicker seafood delight (she-crab soup, Tampa scallops, shrimp, hush puppies, and bacon).
Crab meat, chicken fried, grilled, or blackened, chicken breast, chicken dinner, or pig barbecue are available as entrees with a side salad. Cajun filthy rice wraps are available with your choice of protein. I chose the blackened tuna tacos wrapped on flour tortillas and garnished with shredded cabbage, tomato, and their nicely flavored Chipotle sauce. As a side dish, I picked seasoned potatoes. These were an excellent accompaniment to my dinner, and I could have easily had them for dessert.
Our host managed to get the final tuna steak in the restaurant. In this eatery, it’s her go-to dish.
As if that wasn’t enough, the captain’s catch service includes hush puppies as well as plain, branch, or Old Bay potato chips, slaw, or potato salad. They also provide cold-water Atlantic cod and fish and chips, as well as a quarter-pound or half-pound boat of flounder, shrimp, oysters, or scallops. Flounder, lump crab cake, oyster, scallops, tuna steak, shrimp, soft shell crab, chicken, a dozen hush puppies, and battered fish are among the items on their a la carte menu.
Desserts included banana pudding, carrot cake, Key Lime Pie, and white chocolate chip bread pudding. The two that shared the steam pot had enough stamina for dessert and chose the banana pudding and white chocolate chip bread pudding, respectively. It was reported to be tasty. You’ll hear that term a lot as you munch your way through this metropolis.
The restaurant’s atmosphere is nautical, as one would anticipate, and highly family orientated. They have entertaining signage and areas outdoors where you may make your own fun with photos (stick your head in to become part of the crab). Tonya, our waiter, was attentive to our desire for quiet time and alert to when our drinks needed to be replenished. She took excellent care of us.
Lockside Restaurant and Bar
Suite 1 (757) 410-5999200 North Battlefield Blvd.
Our morning began in the museum, so it was a short walk to Lockside Bar & Grill. We’d previously visited there since the Lock Great Bridge park is so close, and we’d enjoyed the blue heron statues earlier in our journey.
We were given the option of inside or outside sitting and opted for the gliders in the back yard along the coastline. This enables you to enjoy the sun protection of the cover as well as the beauty of the outdoors on a beautiful day (ours at 84 degrees with a light breeze).
There are lots of games in the backyard to keep you amused, like Connect 4, corn hole, and additional activities inside near the bar.
Breakfast is served everyday until 3:00 PM and includes favorites such as the American, the hungry man, steak and eggs, country ham, a petite, country fried steak, or shrimp and grits. Breakfast favorites include creamed chip beef or sausage gravy, eggs Benedict (which one of our group picked), and two poached eggs on an English muffin with country ham and hollandaise sauce. As a side dish, she picked home fries, which are cubed potatoes. The Lockside Benedict adds crab cake to the mix.
There’s also a kale Benedict, an eye opener with a fried egg on brioche, and the Charlottesville, which comes with bacon, lettuce, tomato, fried egg, and pesto mayo on white, wheat, or rye toast and is served with hash browns, grits, or home fries.
Their omelets come in cheese, ham and cheese, western, spinach, and seafood varieties.
Classic French toast, banana French breakfast, filled French toast, and pancakes or banana pancakes are available.
The rest of us went to get lunch. Meatloaf, shrimp scampi (which one writer had without the tomatoes and really appreciated), Lockside ribs, fish and chips, fried shrimp, and chicken tenders are among the entrees available. Both one of the tourist Bureau employees and I had the mahi tacos. Shrimp tacos, avocado tacos, and Lockside big burritos were also offered.
I ate my first mahi taco rapidly, paired with chips and salsa, thinking I’d be done before everyone else. However, something extremely hard got between my two teeth as I bit into the second taco, and the snap could be heard around the table. An emergency dental appointment, made possible in large part by the Visitors Bureau, showed a loose tooth and a strained TMJ ligament. I doubt I’ll be enjoying tacos for a long time, but they were tasty while they lasted.
Crab and corn chowder, Caesar salad, Greek salad, and stuffed avocado are among the soups and salads served.
The Yardbird, Cubano, Reuben, fried flounder, classic burger, Patty melt, beyond burger, grilled cheese, BLT, club sandwich, and chicken Caesar wrap are among the handhelds. The fried flounder was chosen by our final writer. I was hesitant to order it after having such a positive experience at Kill Devil Grill on the Outer Banks. She was unconcerned about it, and they were correct when they claimed it was too large for the bun.
It was at least double the size with lettuce and tomato, and it was usually served with red onion and remoulade, but she didn’t mind. She folded the fish on itself and sliced it in half, finishing the sandwich swiftly and still having space for dessert, which she finally opted against.
Today’s desserts comprised a New York cheesecake, Key Lime Pie, brownie a la mode, vanilla bean creme brulee, bread pudding, and the chefs’ favorite, a coconut dish. The Key Lime Pie is a popular dessert in this area. If you like Key Lime Pie, I urge you sample a slice at each restaurant and let us know which ones you like most.
Jamaican Jerk Barbeque at Cutlass Grill
Eden Way N. Ste. 700 (757) 382-0015725 Eden Way N.
Shawn and Rachel Dawkins launch their third Cutlass Grill location, named after the Jamaican machete. The Chesapeake Visitors Center highly recommends the cuisine, which is diversified and offers a wide range of culinary options to satisfy practically any hunger.
The specialities for tonight were double fried lobster tails and beef ribs. They frequently offer a deal on pork ribs. Nonetheless, at a whole rack, it is a pretty substantial quantity, so bring your appetite, particularly since it includes two sides. The ribs are not only smoked with a delicious barbecue sauce, but they are also rubbed with a spice combination before they reach the BBQ sauce.
The restaurant room is large and airy, with pleasant talk and excellent music filling the air, while the Jamaican flag and various banners with Jamaican sayings are visible from every vantage point.
Mini-beef patties, jerk lamb chops, chargrilled oysters, jerk shrimp tacos, fried grouper tacos, and hot wings are among the appetizers.
I was reluctant to attempt the tacos after a tooth difficulty earlier in the day, and I don’t normally eat meat off bones, so I decided with the jerk chicken salad. It’s a grilled chicken breast with tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, cheese, and a boiled egg, and it’s as hot as they said. I was able to eat the jerk chicken without burning my palate because to the egg white and the cucumbers and carrots. That was amazing.
I opted to supplement my meal with fresh green beans and fried plantains. All of the side dishes were amazing. The plantains might have easily been served as a dessert.
A grilled salmon salad and a grilled chicken and avocado salad were also available.
They provide plantain tacos, a coconut curry mixed veggie dish, and a vegetarian pizza for vegetarians.
The island favorites often take the longest to sift through. The jerk chicken is still on the bone and comes in either white or black flesh. Oxtails, browned and simmered with a variety of herbs and spices, are served with one or two sides and were gobbled by the guy at the adjacent table. The brown stew chicken is remarkably similar to the meals I saw in Belize, with browned and stewed chicken leg pieces in a house-made sauce. Brown sugar, I suppose, is involved, and it smells great.
Their jerk pork is marinated for 24 hours, and their curry goat is delicious and paired with potatoes and carrots. The curry shrimp is sautéed with onions, red and green peppers, and carrots, and is served with rice and peas or white rice if desired.
I was dismayed that the full red snapper genuinely arrived intact, with bones and eyeballs. It is available in four distinct preparations: brown stew, escovitch, steaming, or roasted. I would have liked a snapper fillet, but they were so busy that it would have been tough to meet that request.
The rasta pasta has a coconut milk base, onions, red and green peppers, and is mixed with spaghetti noodles and Parmesan cheese. It, too, comes in four varieties, with the option of no meat, chicken, shrimp, or salmon. Jerk lamb chops are gently marinated, grilled, and accompanied with garlic and aioli sauce.
Jerk rib eye, rum glazed pork chop, and baby back pig ribs were among the chef’s specialities. One of the authors who came with me ordered the complete rack of ribs and two sides: Mac & cheese and French fries, which she couldn’t eat.
The Whiting fish is wonderful, with a buttermilk Whiting filet that has been cooked golden brown. To make it a combination, add shrimp. Fried shrimp, grouper sandwiches, and the most popular item, rum-glazed salmon, are served with one or two sides. Two of our party had the rum-glazed fish, one with macaroni and cheese and a mixed veggie side that she had to take home, and the other with steamed cabbage and collard greens that she deemed amazing. She tried the baby back pig ribs after starting a rum glaze salmon and believed there could be some rum in the pork ribs, but the proprietor assures that they are two separate sauces.
Jamaican rice and peas, white rice, macaroni and cheese, steaming cabbage, fresh green beans, fried plantains, collard greens, mixed vegetables, and French fries are among the side dishes. These were all fantastic and highly recommended.
When it came to desserts, I thought I was safe since I don’t like coconut or carrot cake, but they also had a peanut butter mousse chocolate cake this evening that all three of us ended up devouring (one piece each). They had run out of toasted coconut cream cake. Carrot cake, mango coconut bread pudding, plantains foster, and banana pudding will have to wait.
The chocolate peanut butter mousse cake was luscious, dark, wonderful, and full.
Coke products, Minute Maid lemonade, freshly made sweet or unsweet tea, coffee, and water are available. Our service was great, which we did not anticipate given a notice on the front stating that they were having difficulty finding adequate support employees. She surpassed everyone’s expectations.
We would return. Time and time again.
Which of these Chesapeake eateries are you most excited to try? Please share your thoughts in the comments box below!