Story and photos by Patricia Apelt (unless otherwise indicated)
Eat Along The Wilderness Road
There is never an excuse for going hungry while traveling this route. Be it a quick burger at a fast food place or a Five-star multi-course dinner, there are many sites to cater to your appetite and budget.
Abingdon
At The Martha Washington Inn and Spa there is a fabulous restaurant called The Sisters. Their Sunday champagne brunch is not to be missed, and all breakfasts, lunches, and dinners follow the old Southern tradition of good, healthy food and plenty of it. The elegant atmosphere is wonderful and prices are reasonable.
Just down the street is The Tavern, the oldest bar West of the Blue Ridge. Built in 1779, it was a tavern and overnight stop for stagecoach travelers for many years, catering to such famous guest as Henry Clay, President Andrew Jackson, and Pierre Charles L’Enfant, designer of Washington, D.C. After going through periods of being a post office, an antique shop, bank, bakery, and even a hospital for both sides during the Civil War, it is again a fabulous restaurant. While there are no rooms set aside for overnight guest, there are several banquet spaces available, either inside on the second floor or in the lovely large courtyard, weather permitting. The current manager tries to create a feeling of home with the menu but serves international foods as well.
Our “Starter” was Stuffed Mushrooms. When I ordered this Baked Brie wrapped in Puff Pastry with walnuts and honey glaze, I had no idea it would be so large!
Jack’s in Abingdon
On Pecan Street in Abingdon is Jack’s. Jack’s is about as far, atmosphere wise, from The Sisters or The Tavern as you can get without going to a fast food chain. Postcards tacked to the ceiling, children’s art on the walls, paper plates, and tables crowed into several rooms of the old house that is now a restaurant. In spite of the ‘funkiness’ of the place, it is very popular with both locals and tourist alike. The food is good and plentiful and there are several framed awards on the walls for “Best Restaurant of the Year”. Jack’s also has a catering business and Jack’s Food Trucks, seen at all the outdoor festivals in the Abingdon area.
Jack’s Door, proclaiming that you must be wearing a shirt and shoes to enter. (Visibly Complete!) The Ceiling in the entrance/bar shows off postcards sent from satisfied customers from all over the world.
Fish and Chips at Jack’s is a big production. They want you to know they use only fresh-harvested local fish, not frozen.
As of this writing, Abingdon is ranked Number One in the USA Today’s Best Small Town Food Scene in the country. The final winner will be published sometime in July 2020. This little town has more places to eat per person (permanent residents) than Manhattan!
Blacksburg
Our first night in Blacksburg, we ate dinner at O’Charlies at the Mall. An upscale full-service restaurant, they have everything from a large variety of Starters and soups to Burgers and sandwiches to Prime Rib and Filet Mignon. Prices vary, of course, depending on your choice, but range from $5.99 Starters up to a 16-oz. Prime Rib for $23.79. One really nice thing about O’Charlies is the fact they have the caloric count for each choice listed right there on the menu. A separate dessert menu also has the caloric count, which can be a shocker!
Breakfast the next morning was a treat! My cousin used the kitchen in our Airbnb unit to fix us a home-cooked meal. Using eggs from a neighbor’s Free-range chickens and honey from another neighbor, we were served pancakes made with locally ground whole-wheat flour, eggs, bacon, and hot biscuits with lots of local butter to go with the honey. While our meal was a personal family gathering, this sort of breakfast can be found in many of the local diners or “Mom & Pop” small restaurants throughout Southwest Virginia. They tend to “eat local” a lot in this part of the South.
Radford
Lunch in Radford was at Macado’s. While this is a chain, the decor tries to highlight the local area. Here, there were pictures of the casts from stage performances at Radford University, city historical events, celebrities in town to give lectures at the University, framed shirts from high school football stars, props hanging from the ceiling from various plays and local citizens. You can spend a couple of hours just looking at all the decorations. And the food is pretty good too! They also put out a yearly water glass so you can collect a whole series.
Big Stone Gap
Here, we only ate dinner at the Hardee’s across the street from our Motel, then the breakfast buffet provided the next day. There are a few small restaurants in town, but all were closed for the day by the time we got out of the theater after seeing the play.
Bristol
We were in town only long enough to need lunch, but I think we made a good choice when it was time to take that break. Bloom is a long, narrow, re-cycled shoe store that has very good food and pleasant servers. Broken up into several eating areas, we were made to feel welcome even at our picnic table in the main room. Bloom has live music every night, a quilting club on first Tuesdays, poetry readings, and several other groups meeting there regularly. A fun place to be. It is on the Tennessee side of the street, but we don’t hold that against them.
Below is one of the ‘private’ areas, even if it is right in the front window. If you don’t want to eat, just have a cup of tea and chat with your friends.
