A Foodie's Guide to Norfolk/Virginia Beach Eating

When my parents came to visit earlier this summer, my dad quickly dubbed the trip a "foodie vacation". No complaining here! Parker and I have a bad habit of eating at the same place every weekend (shout out to the Chili's 2 for $20 menu), so being forced to try out some cool, local restaurants was much appreciated. 

Norfolk and Virginia Beach have some really unique and neat restaurants, and we thought it would be fun to take pictures each place we went and do a little "Foodie's Guide to Eating" here. We elicited help from Diners, Drive ins, and Dives and old faithful (Google) and became foodies for the week!

So, if you're ever in Norfolk or Virginia Beach, here are some restaurants to visit to satisfy the foodie in you. 

Citrus $$

Citrus is the perfect place for breakfast, lunch or, better yet, brunch. It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Our waitress was super friendly and knowledgeable, and the menu was diverse, ranging from your standard scrambled eggs and toast to Smoked Salmon Benedict. I really liked that they had a "Healthy Choices" section for both breakfast and lunch. The winning entree from our trip was definitely the Smoked Salmon Benedict, and I highly recommend giving this place a go!

The Leaping Lizard Cafe $

The Leaping Lizard Cafe is very similar to Citrus with a great brunch menu and friendly staff, and it was also featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. I had the chicken salad, which was absolutely delicious. I think we decided my dad's fish tacos took the cake in the entree department, but the sweet potato biscuits we ordered as an appetizer were something to write home about. A sweet potato biscuit, sliced ham, and apricot jelly were meant to go together forever. And if you go, please order the chocolate chip cookie for dessert. This is no ordinary cookie and could feed a small army. Loved this place!

Chartreuse Bistro $$$

We visited Chartreuse Bistro for a nice dinner after a friend's recommendation. It's best described as farm to table. The menu changes nightly, and I highly recommend making a reservation vice just showing up. This restaurant is intimate and pricey, so I would recommend it for an anniversary dinner or special occasion. The winning entree the evening we went was the steak!

Doumar's $

If you can only go one place, go to Doumar's. This diner was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives and is famous for their BBQ sandwiches and ice cream. They still use the original four iron waffle machine built in 1904 to make their waffle cones. Let me tell you, they were delish. Their pork BBQ sandwich is only $2.60. $2.60 people! A guy may need to order 2 of them as they are a little small, but 1 sandwich and an ice cream cone for dessert was the perfect amount for me!

So there you have it! We are looking forward to trying more of the local eats, although I am sure Chili's will still be dinner from time to time. Old habits die hard, ya know?

Celebrating Parker's Birthday and Discovering That There Is Life Outside of Kingsville

I apologize for that excessively long title. That might be a record for this little blog. Anyway, Wednesday we had the privilege of celebrating Parker's birthday! We still don't know much about our area, but we decided to get in the car and drive until we found a restaurant that looked promising. We left Kingsville and headed about 45 minutes away to Corpus Christi, and good grief, it's a real city! We have been in Kingsville for a month, where the only two chain restaurants are a Chilis and an IHOP, so venturing outside of our little town and back into civilization was a treat for our bellies. We drove all the way out to the water and found a restaurant right on the water that looked perfect. Of course we had to take pictures like the cheesy tourists that we are.

We ate a Harrison's Landing, and I just can't say enough good things about that place. Our table was overlooking the water, everyone was super friendly, and the food...oh my gosh, the food. It. was. good. It took a little time for our food to arrive, but we were in no hurry and loved looking out over the water and chit-chatting. Check out the view!

Parker had a steak that was good (I'm kinda of the opinion that if you've eaten one steak, you've eaten them all, but maybe I'm just a girl and steak is man food), and I had fish tacos that were out of this world. Exhibit A:

And it's fish, so it's healthy right? I realize it's on a tortilla, but hey, it's not pasta. Anyway, they were delicious and Parker was more than willing to help me finish what I couldn't eat. We went home to open presents and have birthday pie, but Parker said that little outing was the highlight of his birthday. We were both so excited to see that there is life outside of Kingsville, and dinner date nights over looking the water are hard to beat.

Linking up with Lindsey and Amy for Friday Favorites.