If your travel decisions hinge on the best places to find a specific dish, you can easily consider yourself a food tourist. Allow us to introduce you to some of our favorite Shenandoah Valley eats and treats. Add these stops to your current plans or make them your primary destinations. Let’s eat!
Delectable Treats
Why not put the sweet stuff front and center? Life is short; plan a trip around dessert!
Home of Virginia’s famous apple butter donuts, The Apple House in Linden is often a pre-Skyline Drive fill-up or the first stop for those exiting Skyline Drive. The donuts alone are worth the stop, but there’s much more there you’re probably going to love.
Everything is top-notch at Pollock Dining Room at Skyland Resort in Shenandoah National Park. Everything. But you must, must, must save room for a healthy slice of the signature blackberry ice cream pie. It’s gigantic and drool-worthy. Share if you must, but don’t if you don’t have to.
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Tasty Eats
Rolling it out, cutting it out … homemade pasta is a labor of love and Chef Jose Arevalos of Woodstock Café serves it up daily. From cavatelli and gnocchi to rigatoni and tagliatelle, each day offers something new and exciting. Plus, you can take Chef’s dried pasta home!
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New Market’s Southern Kitchen is known for a variety of things, with Lloyd’s famous fried chicken topping the list. It’s the perfect balance of crispy and juicy. A close second are the homemade meringue pies; save room!
Virginia peanut soup is older than the Commonwealth itself with several sources pointing to similar soups from other countries as inspiration. It’s not often that you see it on a menu these days, but one place serving it and serving it well is the Spottswood Dining Room at Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah National Park.
Food so beautifully plated that it’s a work of art is what you can expect at La Table Provencale at L’Auberge Provencale in Boyce. Chef’s French menu rotates with the seasons to best utilize homegrown herbs, vegetables, and fruits. Expect small plates packing flavor-filled punches, and maybe a little of the unexpected, too. Take the video below, for example.
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Seafood lovers can enjoy fresh Chesapeake Bay oysters in the Shenandoah Valley at Edinburg Mill Restaurant in Edinburg. Fried and served with tarragon aioli and signature hot sauce, this platter always receives rave reviews. Fresh fish and prime rib are close seconds on diners’ choice entrée.
Upgrade your Italian expectations with a visit to Violino Ristorante Italiano in Winchester. You’ll drool over the house-made meals using local ingredients. Perhaps start with a beautiful Capriccio Violino and see where your tastebuds lead you; there are so many dishes to choose from!
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Now that we’re hungry, where will you begin your foodie adventure through the Shenandoah Valley? These are but a few suggestions and many more amazing places await your arrival. Don’t overlook notable destinations like Staunton for The Shack, Aioli, and Zynodoa, and Lexington for Haywood’s, The Red Hen, and Southern Inn Restaurant. Eat your way through the Valley and tag us as you go.
Header image by Chantal Bannayan IG account: @cookwithchan; courtesy of Virginia Tourism Corporation.