Trip Report: WIlliamsburg, Part III, Restaurants

In mid-May, we spent at week at Wyndham Kingsgate Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia as part of a special promotion by RCI, the timeshare trading company. Our Trip Report on that trip is divided into three segments: travel and activities, accommodations, and restaurants. This is the segment on restaurants.

Thanks to responses to a pre-trip Travel Advisor post asking for suggestions for restaurants in the Williamsburg area, we tried several restaurants we’d never visited before, plus a few chosen simply because of “timing and convenience” considerations. In our post, we asked for suggestions for “non-fancy, reasonably-priced” places that “the locals” liked to visit for breakfast, lunch and “supper” (as opposed to “dinner”).

For BREAKFAST, we tried:

The Gazebo, US 60 Bypass We visited twice because it was convenient to our timeshare

unit. We thought the food was okay, but the service was inconsistent.

Five Forks Café, John Tyler Highway A cozy, unpretentious, family-run place that reminded us of our favorite local breakfast place at home. A simple, fully adequate menu provided a good breakfast at a very reasonable price.

International House of Pancakes, Richmond Road Yes, it is a chain….but we wanted a late breakfast and it was convenient. The food was better than expected, the dining area was clean and pleasant, and the service was among the best we encountered all week. Don’t write this one off too quickly.

The Old Chickahominy House, Jamestown Road After some rather strong TA recommendations, we had fairly high hopes for this one and found ourselves quite disappointed. The “Old South” décor is cute, but the tables in the smallish dining area are so close together the staff and guests have trouble getting past one another, servers are continually brushing against whoever is seated closest to the narrow aisle, and our table for two was barely big enough for juice glasses, coffee cups and two breakfast plates. It just felt cramped. And while the food was adequate, it didn’t seem to quite measure up to the cost. The eclectic gift shop attached to the restaurant did provide a bit of post-breakfast entertainment. We’d probably skip this one on another trip to the area.

Manhattan Bagel Shop, US 60/Richmond Road Good, quick, order-at-the-counter kind of place for a quick, simple, affordable breakfast. Good bagels and a wide variety of cream cheeses. We liked it for what it was,

LUNCHES

Aroma’s, Merchant’s Square Area Generous sandwiches on hearty, flavorful breads and rolls. A funky, interesting atmosphere if you can find an empty table among all the college students working on their laptop computers.

Surrey House Restaurant, Rt 31, Surry Well worth the 20 minute Jamestown-Scotland Ferry Ride, especially in nice weather. We found it to be an exceptionally neat, clean, family-run restaurant with generous, flavorful soups, sandwiches and luncheon plates at very reasonable prices. It’s about four miles down Rt 31 from the ferry terminal, on the right just beyond the traffic light where Routes 31 and 10 cross one another. We liked it a lot.

The King’s Arms Tavern, Williamsburg Colonial District Good food in a truly historic setting. We loved their ginger ale! The sandwiches were large and good, but seemed slightly over-priced (we’re not used to paying $13.00 for a sandwich!).

Charly’s, Williamsburg Airport Terminal The staff seemed a bit over-whelmed the day we were there, but it’s an interesting setting for anyone with an interest in airplanes. The dining room and outside dining patio are immediately adjacent to the aircraft parking ramp, with the runway just beyond that….a great spot for anyone with an interest in small planes. The crab cake sandwich special-of-the-day brought out lots of :”locals” and they’d run out of several items by the time we arrived about 1:15, but the bread/roll around our sandwiches was spectacular and the fruit on the sandwich plates was obviously freshly cut. They were having a tough day the day we were there, but we’d definitely give them another chance when we’re in the area again.

SUPPERS

Food for Thought, Richmond Road Voted “Williamsburg’s Best New Restaurant” a couple of years ago, it features a classy but straightforward décor of thought-provoking quotes from numerous authors stenciled onto the walls in large print. It offers a diverse menu with full-meal prices ranging from $12-24.00. Their dishes are creative, well-prepared and well-served. The staff readily discusses the ingredients and preparation of menu items and seems to genuinely enjoy doing so. We enjoyed our first visit of the week with them so much we went back again later in the week.

Blue Talon Bistro, Merchant’s Square Area A strong TA recommendation from a previous patron prompted our visit. But we found this a place definitely better suited to a special-occasion dinner than a casual mid-week vacation supper. The food was good, but somehow didn’t seem to quite live up to the expectation created by the TA review, the atmosphere or the menu. It also turned out to be our most expensive meal of the week.

Season’s Restaurant, Merchant Square Area Two of the best seasoned, best prepared and best served meals we had all week. Our steaks were absolutely outstanding and more than worth the price. The service was attentive without being obtrusive. It was definitely worth a second visit, but we ran out of days-in-town before getting back there.

The Surrey House, Rt 31, Surrey (See also our comments under “Lunches”. A simple, straightforward supper, followed by a just-pre-sunset ferry ride back to Jamestown. Their chicken-fried-chicken was crisp and juicy and the grilled pork chops were tender and flavorful. Their house salad dressing is described as “an interesting cross between Thousand Island and French” and that’s just what it tastes like – we liked it a lot! Exceptionally clean and neat, attentive service, easy on the pocketbook, and a nice break from the hustle-and-bustle of in-town Williamsburg eating-places. It’s well worth the short drive and ferry ride to get there.

In summary, we’d probably go back to:

Five Fork Café on the John Tyler Highway

Manhatten Bagel Shop on Richmond Road/US 60.

Surrey House Restaurant in Surry

Food for Thought, Richmond Road, and

Seasons, Merchant’s Square

We’d likely go back to:

The Gazebo, US 60 Bypass

International House of Pancakes, Richmond Road

Aroma’s, Merchant’s Square

The King’s Arms Tavern, Colonial District

Charly’s, Williamsburg Airport

And we’d probably skip another visit to:

Old Chickahominy House Restaurant, Jamestown Road

Blue Talon Bistro, Merchant’s Square

…..especially with so m any other Williamsburg restaurants we still haven’t visited yet.

Trip Report: WIlliamsburg, Part III, Restaurants

Thank you so much for your three-part report! It contains lots of valuable info. I%26#39;m glad you enjoyed most of the suggestions for your dining, and thanks again for coming back to share your experiences with us!

Trip Report: WIlliamsburg, Part III, Restaurants

My pleasure..... Mainer