Floyd is located on a rolling plot of land on a Blue Ridge Mountain plateau at a height of 2,500 feet. You’ll notice this intriguing tidbit when you wander about town discovering the finest Local eateries and find yourself out of breath from the height and climb!
Floyd is strategically positioned, one hour from Roanoke or Martinsville, 40 minutes from Blacksburg (home of Virginia Tech), and less than two hours from Winston-Salem or Greensboro, North Carolina.
Immigrants from England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and Germany were among the first to cultivate this hardscrabble area in the 1700s. The town’s peculiar location, with all rivers flowing outward from Floyd, may have also had a role. Strange, I know, but if you’re like me, you’ll like sipping this pure water. At restaurants, I frequently require additional lemon to mask the artificial flavor of municipal water. Yet, not in Floyd! Glass after tumbler of tap water slipped downhill.
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Interested in seeing these additional Virginia attractions? Check out our gastronomy guides to the cities listed below:
- The 14 Best Restaurants in Richmond
- 9 Must-Try Cape Charles Restaurants
- 7 Best Restaurants in Stafford
- The Best Restaurants in Fredericksburg
Floyd’s Top 7 Restaurants
Floyd’s Country Store
745-4563206 S. Locust St.
My first thought when I got in town was where to eat in downtown Floyd, considering that I was barely in time for lunch.
The Floyd Country Store’s Brunswick Stew and fresh cornbread struck the mark. The menu items are made with as much locally farmed vegetables as possible. The staff at the Country Store do this to support our local farmers and economy, as well as to provide you the greatest cuisine possible.
The menu includes salads, sandwiches, and soups, as well as a vegan staple, Black Bean Chili, quiche, handmade chicken salad, and a grit bowl prepared from locally farmed grits.
There’s also a dish of Pinto Beans with skillet-baked cornbread. But what about that Brunswick Stew with chicken, tomatoes, bacon, corn, and lima beans? Oh, my! Just take my word for it!
Try a genuine fountain-style vanilla cream soda or anything from the iced-down cooler.
Dessert? No worries. Cookies, pies (did someone say Key Lime? ), and even scones are available at the counter. They also have The. Best. Snickerdoodles. I’m not making this up!
A Soda Fountain occupies the store’s front corner. It serves milkshakes, malts, floats, sundaes, ice cream sandwiches (from your choice of cookies and ice creams), and, of course, old-fashioned sodas. The ice cream is manufactured locally from happy cows just down the road. It is devoid of antibiotics and hormones.
The Floyd Country Store, built before 1910, is host to the Friday Night Jamboree. Every Friday night, you may enjoy gospel music, traditional Appalachian music, and dancing at this Floyd institution. Flatfoot dancers and cloggers go to the floor to the music. You may participate or just sit back and marvel.
Saturday afternoon will showcase Americana music, while Sunday will highlight mountain music. On certain Saturday evenings, there are old-time dances or concerts.
During these events, the shop continues to offer food at the lunch counter, so come early to get a spot and enjoy some food while you wait. Several of these events, such as the Floyd Radio Show on the first Saturday of each month, are now virtual.
The Country Store is one of the greatest places to dine in Floyd, whether you come for the cuisine, the fun, the music, the history, or all of the above.
Grab yourself a Snickerdoodle or two. I adore them. Did I mention that was the greatest I’d ever had?
Roadhouse in Dogtown
S Locust St. 540-745-6836302 S Locust St.
Dogs are welcome here, as the name suggests. The Warren G. Lineberry Community Park’s natural amphitheater is visible from Dogtown Roadhouse’s lengthy outside covered eating area. Dogs are welcome to eat with their owners, and everyone can enjoy the scenery and live music every other Thursday during the summer.
Dogtown also has an indoor stage where local bands perform all year.
Dogtown’s wood-fired pizzas are a delight that are as much pleasure to watch as they are to eat.
Their BBQ wings are sweet and spicy, and their hand-tied garlic knots are topped with parmesan cheese; try them dipped in the house marinara sauce.
Both are on the appetizer menu, but the portions are so huge that you could call it a dinner. When local food is available, they utilize it.
Fourteen rotating beers on tap provide diversity, as do wines and options from a full bar. They had some fantastic seasonal drinks on my previous visit. The chocolate peppermint martini was very delicious!
Pro Tip: Dogtown’s website has weekly pizza deals and discounts, so make sure to check it out before you arrive. It’s the place to go in Floyd for pizza.
Diner Blue Ridge
E Main St. (540) 745-3463113 E Main St.
Since 1927, the Blue Ridge Diner has served Floyd residents with Southern country food. The owners and chefs may change, but the outstanding cuisine and service remain constant.
Kristin and Travis Crawford, the diner’s new owners, continue to provide comfort cuisine for breakfast and lunch. Every day except Tuesday, they are open from 6:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. On weekends, they open a little later, at 7 a.m.
Breakfast options include the typical suspects, but the Carolina Breakfast is also available. Now that I am in South Carolina, I had to try the two eggs with pork Barbecue, grits or home potatoes, and toast.
Salads, chefs salads, hamburgers, BBQ Burger, BBQ (regular or moonshine BBQ sauce), grilled or fried chicken sandwich, a hot Club Sandwich made with sliced turkey and ham, bacon, swiss and American cheeses, lettuce, and tomato, and, of course, an all-American Grilled Cheese are all available for lunch.
There are handcrafted pies, cakes, and cobblers to accompany your lunch or as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up after a long day of shopping. (After all, who can resist warm peach cobbler with ice cream?)
There are baked pies and cakes for lunch and supper, as well as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up after a long day of shopping.
Pro Tip: The Barbecue is available in either normal or moonshine. Trust me, get the one fried in moonshine! The Blue Ridge Café is a good option for southern food in Floyd.
Pham House Cafe
Floyd (540) 745-3366311 E Main St
This renowned neighborhood drugstore also serves breakfast and lunch. Do you understand how to spell the name now? Most mornings, when it opens at 6 a.m., you’ll find residents popping in for breakfast or coffee on their way to work.
Pancakes, waffles, biscuits & gravy, and breakfast tacos are available at the Pham House Caf.
They are accommodating and open to try new things. When given the option of strawberries or cherries for a topping, I chose the cherries, but fried in the batter. So I replied, and if you have any chocolate chips, put a couple of them in there too. They accomplished it despite my skepticism. That was delectable. Before I completed my meal, I heard at least two other customers being pushed to try it.
Burgers are available for lunch, and sandwich ingredients include chicken, Philadelphia cheesesteaks, and chopped brisket. I’m not sure whether this is a pharmacy first and a restaurant second, or vice versa, but I’m sure it’s a nice location to dine in Floyd.
Don’t be alarmed by the size of your sausage patty. Please keep in mind that I warned you.
Cocoa Ma’am
540-695-0224109 E. Main St.
Cocoa Mia is the place to go for your afternoon chocolate fix. The small-batch chocolate firm is run by a family. Hot chocolate, handcrafted chocolate confections, and baked delicacies such as coconut macaroons, croissants, and scones are available.
Do you dislike hot chocolate? They have you covered with coffee, tea, latte, Mocha Java, and even lemonade.
The flavors of the truffles may vary annually, but the sea salt caramel is always accessible. There’s Dark in Dark (delicious! ), Pomegranate, and Lavender Earl Grey. Cocoa Mia must be revisited.
Tip: Are you lactose intolerant like me? Yes, lactose-free hot chocolate is available!
The Lush Lounge (aka Blind Pig)
East Main St. 540-745-5874317 East Main St.
The Blind Pigon East Main will be clearly marked. They provide Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Korean take-out, all prepared to order. Even the salmon is delivered fresh and cured on-site.
Everything is excellent, but all you really want is a drink and a tiny meal. Where do you look for it in Floyd? I’ll tell you, but mum’s the word! Blind Pig is a century-old speakeasy code!
I’m willing to bet you believed Prohibition had ended on December 5, 1933, to be precise. Here I am, 87 years later, receiving a tip on how to sneak into the town’s speakeasy.
So assume nobody notified this restaurateur about Prohibition’s repeal, so if you want a drink, you’ll have to ask for a coin for the coke machine at the take-out counter. After you insert the coin, the mechanism swings open, granting admission to the 100-year-old house’s speakeasy, Lush Lounge.
Lush beverages are delicious! Well, pun intended, but here’s the reality.
Lush’s bartenders design drinks such as Makin Me Blush, Met a Guy About a Chihuahua, Old Leather & New Lace, Calm Before the Storm, and Jack Rose. The Jack Rose, as you can see from my picture, found its it onto my table after considerable deliberation and multiple patron suggestions. This rose glass is filled with velvet falernum, lime, pomegranate syrup, and Lairds Applejack Brandy (which I adore in my eggnog).
The Queen Bee, a play on the term “Bees Knees,” comes with the Lush logo and a lavender sprig on top. Another cocktail, the Call Me Old Fashioned, arrives in a smoke-filled dome.
Try the Lobster Poutine, shoestring fries covered with lobster in a rich Old Bay sauce, for a small serving.
The next time I return, there will be an Appalachian Pot Pie waiting for me. Well, I’m three states away, but I’ll be back. I have a cent in my pocket already!
If you’re looking for a drink and a trip back in time, consider this Floyd, Virginia eatery.
Pro Tip: On Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., there is a brunch menu available. Mimosas and Bloody Marys are, of course, the prominent cocktails.
The Pine Tavern is a local hangout.
745-448-2611 Floyd Highway North
Since 1927, the Pine Tavern has served dinner family-style or individually to the wonderful people of Floyd and tourists.
You will savor down-home family cooking in the friendly ambiance. For one fee, you’ll receive every veggie on the menu, your choice of meat, including their fried chicken, as well as your beverage and cobbler for dessert. We are not fine dining, but we are very fine dining, as they say.
If you overeat (what am I saying, if!) and can’t move another mile, check the Pine Tavern Lodge next door for a vacancy. Please notify David that I referred you!
Don’t miss the fried chicken; it’s legendary! Another fantastic place to try in Floyd.
Plan one extra stop for lunch as you return home from your Floyd escape. Riner lies about midway between Roanoke and Blacksburg. Swing by Buffalo and More for a buffalo burger or a buffalo dog topped with buffalo chili.
Tuggles Gap Restaurant is directly on your way home if your route takes you along Road 8 toward Martinsville. The Château Morrisette Restaurant and Winery is a short diversion along the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. Both are now closed, so check websites before making preparations.
Pro Hints:
- Plan your visit to include a Saturday.
- Shop the local farmers’ market, held inside during winter months.
- Visit the potters’ market for a great selection of handmade pottery.
or every Tuesday. Additionally, as is customary in tiny southern towns, some are closed on Sundays and Wednesdays. When you plan your visit, click on the links to these establishments to double-check their hours. Yet, no matter when you visit, you will have no trouble finding wonderful restaurants and places to dine in Floyd. Floyd is a tiny town with many businesses closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.