Virginia Beach Cuisine Features Mid-Atlantic Fare With a Local Twist
Mid-Atlantic cuisine is a popular feature of most Virginia Beach vacations. For those who love seafood, fresh fruits and vegetables, poultry and pork, Virginia Beach is a culinary playground. A variety of restaurants featuring local catches and home-grown fare line the city's coastline. Like the many restaurant choices available just inland, hotels in Virginia Beach's Oceanfront area often have restaurants on the premises that highlight local dishes.
Brunch
One of the most popular local restaurant features is the Sunday brunch buffet. Scrambled eggs with steak, bacon or ham is a regular offering during the week, but Sundays are something special. Sunday is usually the first full day of vacation for those on Virginia Beach vacations and a day for locals to sleep in, then meet friends for brunch. The meal is standard fare for Virginia Beach hotel restaurants and other establishments. The all-you-can-eat Sunday buffet typically offers Mid-Atlantic cuisine such as an omelet station, Virginia ham, fresh fruit, cheeses, a waffle station, doughnuts and juices. Other popular twists on the Sunday brunch buffet are a raw bar selection and a sushi bar station. Each restaurant has specialties offered with coffee or tea as part of the cost. Adult juice-based beverages are also typically served at an additional cost.
Seafood
The Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean offer a bounty of fresh seafood choices for Virginia Beach restaurants. Fresh fish is usually broiled or pan-fried and served with French fries, hush puppies or coleslaw. Specials vary and are referred to as the catch of the day. Popular choices include Mahi, tuna and flounder. Crab cakes, soft-shell crab sandwiches and steamed shrimp are local favorites.
Since the resort city is located in the center of the Mid-Atlantic region, it also features fresh shellfish that can be prepared quickly. Oysters, clams, mussels and shrimp are served steamed by the dozen and half dozen. Oysters on the half shell is the term for raw oysters that have been opened, or shucked, by the server. The occasional pearl or tiny live crab found in oysters on the half shell attest to their freshness, but are not meant to be eaten.
Fruits and Vegetables
Virginia Beach and the surrounding area of Hampton Roads has a large supply of locally grown produce. Much of it lands on the tables of local restaurants. Strawberries, blueberries, peaches, tomatoes, potatoes, collards and a variety of greens are abundant on menus. Salad or soup is a typical appetizer, although many restaurant will serve the pair together for lunch.
Pork and Poultry
With Smithfield, Virginia just an hour away, ham, bacon and sausage are fresh and readily available from one of the most well-known pork-producing towns in the nation. Chicken is also bountiful on Mid-Atlantic restaurant menus, with nationally branded poultry farmers to the north and south. Chicken and ham are common additions to salads, pastas and soups, or served as a main dish.
Brunch
One of the most popular local restaurant features is the Sunday brunch buffet. Scrambled eggs with steak, bacon or ham is a regular offering during the week, but Sundays are something special. Sunday is usually the first full day of vacation for those on Virginia Beach vacations and a day for locals to sleep in, then meet friends for brunch. The meal is standard fare for Virginia Beach hotel restaurants and other establishments. The all-you-can-eat Sunday buffet typically offers Mid-Atlantic cuisine such as an omelet station, Virginia ham, fresh fruit, cheeses, a waffle station, doughnuts and juices. Other popular twists on the Sunday brunch buffet are a raw bar selection and a sushi bar station. Each restaurant has specialties offered with coffee or tea as part of the cost. Adult juice-based beverages are also typically served at an additional cost.
Seafood
The Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean offer a bounty of fresh seafood choices for Virginia Beach restaurants. Fresh fish is usually broiled or pan-fried and served with French fries, hush puppies or coleslaw. Specials vary and are referred to as the catch of the day. Popular choices include Mahi, tuna and flounder. Crab cakes, soft-shell crab sandwiches and steamed shrimp are local favorites.
Since the resort city is located in the center of the Mid-Atlantic region, it also features fresh shellfish that can be prepared quickly. Oysters, clams, mussels and shrimp are served steamed by the dozen and half dozen. Oysters on the half shell is the term for raw oysters that have been opened, or shucked, by the server. The occasional pearl or tiny live crab found in oysters on the half shell attest to their freshness, but are not meant to be eaten.
Fruits and Vegetables
Virginia Beach and the surrounding area of Hampton Roads has a large supply of locally grown produce. Much of it lands on the tables of local restaurants. Strawberries, blueberries, peaches, tomatoes, potatoes, collards and a variety of greens are abundant on menus. Salad or soup is a typical appetizer, although many restaurant will serve the pair together for lunch.
Pork and Poultry
With Smithfield, Virginia just an hour away, ham, bacon and sausage are fresh and readily available from one of the most well-known pork-producing towns in the nation. Chicken is also bountiful on Mid-Atlantic restaurant menus, with nationally branded poultry farmers to the north and south. Chicken and ham are common additions to salads, pastas and soups, or served as a main dish.
