BY THE SEA
Our time share
apartment at the Oceanaire in Virginia Beach was on the 5th floor
with a very uninspiring view of Atlantic Avenue and the Pocahontas Pancake
House just across the street. Catering to the families who come to Virginia
Beach, there were many such places to drag the clan for a cheaper meal. Armed
with coupons cut from the ubiquitous tourist booklets found everywhere we
watched lines of families with kids impatiently kicking the walls while waiting
to get seated.
We had laid in supplies
from the local high-end market, Harris Teeter, in order to avoid such crowds
and took our breakfasts in our kitchenette. From our balcony we would see the
ocean, if we craned our necks out over the abyss, and so our meals were just
for fueling our days in preparation for long walks along the promenade and for
lounging at the beach or the pool.
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| VIRGINIA BEACH EATERY? |
Late lunches or early
dinners are when we like to take our main meal of the day, preferably at the
bar, often lured by happy hour or day of specials.
Here is the chronological
order of our meals while in Virginia Beach.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING…
Pelon’s Baja Grill 3619 Pacific Avenue, just
two short blocks from the Oceanaire, Pelon’s is in a strip mall.
The day got away from
us, including Pelon’s generous 3 pm to 6pm, Happy Hour specials which includes
3 Tacos for $6.00 and $6.00 Jumbo margaritas and a dollar off all draft beer.
Rockafella’s 308 Mediterranean
Avenue (Rudee’s Inlet)
Our concierge also told us about this bright airy
seafood restaurant overlooking the picturesque Rudee’s Inlet. There is outdoor
seating on the top deck, but we chose to sit at the bar. Again, Timing Is
Everything, and for their equally lengthy (3-6 pm) Happy Hour, they offer
Oysters Rockefeller for $.99 each, half dozen minimum. On Thursday that deal is
good all day and not just during their happy hour. They also have early bird 3
course specials from 3-5:30 pm, but after a dozen Oyster Rockefellers we
ordered off the regular menu. Janet had a blackened Mahi “Catch of the Day”
while I had the charred-Mahi.
Their beer list was
abysmal and nonexistent. They had a I had a few local beers, but nothing
exciting, and then usual suspects (Bud, etc.)
Waterman’s 415 Atlantic Avenue
A
rainy day had us fleeing the beach and heading over to the Military Aviation
Museum to see some WWII and WWI vintage aircraft. Especially fascinating was
the B-25 on display. Janet’s Grandfather was a tail gunner stationed in Italy
during WWII!
The volunteer guides
cautioned all guests that no one was to climb on the planes as they were all
active flyers and many were scheduled to fly in an air show at the museum the
next weekend.
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| TAIL GUN POSITION |
We were going to take
an evening meal at Waterman’s. They didn’t take reservations but had some cockamamie
rules about having to pay $25 to “reserve” an ocean view table. For lunch there
was no such “fee”, although there was a valet parking.
We walked past the large,
empty bar and asked for and received a ground floor table overlooking the bike
path and promenade, the ocean in the distance. With the windows open wide and
colorful Mandevilla edging the frames it was a pleasant seating.
Waterman’s claims to
have invited the Orange Crush alcoholic drink. Janet had two. I had a beer and
we both had seared tuna sandwiches. Fresh and worth the valet parking.
The Bunker Brew Pub /
Young Veterans Brewing Co. 211 21St Street
There are a number of
craft breweries in the Virginia Beach area, but mostly they are a short drive
from Oceanside. There are two within walking distance from our Oceanaire
apartment though.
Smartmouth Brewing Company has some pretty good beers, but they only
had a food truck on site. Not what we were looking for on this rainy day. Young
Veterans Brewing Company’s taproom is a drive from Oceanside, but their Bunker
Brew Pub was an easy walk, a block inland from the promenade.
I’m guessing because it
was a rainy day the Bunker Brew Pub’s bar was filled and there was a wait for
tables. Janet though has an uncanny radar for bar stools opening up and within
a few minutes we were going over the lengthy beer and food menu on our own personal real estate at the bar.
They have 20 rotating
taps featuring their beers that range from IPAs to Lagers, from Dark beers to Sours.
Liberal with the tasting and befitting the Shock and Awe military connection,
we were hard-pressed to pick out a couple of beers for our lunch. 
A word of
caution though, DON’T ORDER APPETIZERS, on top of your lunch. The potions are
as massive as the flavors. Janet had She Crab soup and fish tacos. I had their fried
oyster appetizer and a “VB Hot Chicken Sammich” that I could barely finish
because it was so large.
There were enough interesting
items on the menu to warrant a return, but we were running out of days in VB
and we wanted to try Coastal Grill.
If interested here's a "beer trail" you can follow.
Coastal Grill 1440 North Great Neck Road
This was to be our meal
highlight for our stay in Virginia Beach. Reservations are recommended at this expensive,
elegant place favored by the local residents of the area.
The rain finally abated
after two days of dreariness and we spent the morning and early afternoon on
the beach before getting ready for our 6 pm reservations. Janet had asked for a
seating on their patio, which was basically a strip of cement set aside in their
parking lot. It was not a good start, but we worked the problem and found seats at their bar and
settled in with all of Virginia Beach society, whom we learned frequented the
Coastal Grill several times a week. The bar was casual and friendly and we
talked with several of our neighbors. From our perch at the bar, we could see
the valets pulling up Maseratis and Land Rovers for departing patrons.
It was our most
expensive meal and we started out properly with a couple of martinis, followed
by a Languedoc Rose to go with our meals. Janet had mussels and Halibut. I had
black bean soup and catch of the day Swordfish. (They had run out of the shrimp
and grits and were very apologetic.)
COASTAL GRILL, VIRGINIA BEACH
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| RAY RAY AND ME |
Ray Ray’s at the
Mayflower Hotel 209
34th Street
Again, the concierge at
Oceanaire helped us with this great breakfast and brunch place across the
street from our parking garage. Even though it was his father’s place, he raved
about the Bacon Bloody Marys and they did not disappoint!
The day was awash with a
brilliant sun, but as it was a Monday all those poor working people were gone
after the weekend and we walked the entire length of the promenade pretty much
to ourselves.
Sweating and hungry we fell
into the air conditioned cool of Ray Ray’s, thankful there wasn’t a wait.
Earlier in the weekend we had seen a long line of hungry impatient tourists,
but we just walked right up to the counter of this funky establishment.
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| JANET AND HER BACON BLOODY MARY |
With a nearly
life-sized Ray Ray cut out presiding over us from the corner we had a very satisfying
brunch that started with the Bloody Marys, then beignets and strong coffee. Janet had a “Benzo”, a fancy
eggs benedict and I had a Filipino sausage with eggs and rice. It was a filling
meal that kept us going for the rest of the day, although later we had some margaritas
and loaded fries at the dreary Lager Heads Bar just across 34th
Street from the Oceanaire.
Ray Ray's is open only for breakfast and brunch. They close at 2 pm.
This is just a sampling
of the available eateries in Virginia Beach. Once, we did take advantage of the
coupons available to tourists in one of those magazines to get a free ice cream
cone at the Ben and Jerry’s stand on Atlantic Avenue. It still cost us $12.00!
Thanks for reading.
Love,
Janet and greg
© 2021 by Greg Dunaj
CORRECTION: In a
previous article I had mentioned that I had it on good authority that buying a
sailor a beer garners good luck. Turns out he was scamming me, the lush. You know who you are Dave.......
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