I’ve been having The Most Fun in Virginia – catching up with old friends, hiking, poking around antique stores like a yuppie, enjoying 60 degree weather and – most importantly – eating everything that’s ever been cooked. Here are five things you must eat if you visit Virginia.
5 Things to Eat in Virginia
1. Chicken and waffles
Over the last year, I’ve become something of an ‘opportunarian’ – if I have the opportunity to eat chicken or bacon in a restaurant or prepared by a friend, well, I will happily take that opportunity. I would be remiss in my visit to the south if I didn’t try Thelma’s Chicken and Waffles. Our waitress helpfully instructed us on the protocol (bit of buttered/syruped waffle on your fork, bit of chicken on your fork, dip it in gravy, top it with hot sauce.) Oddly delicious!
2. Fruit cobbler
The world is divided into those who appreciate fruit CRISP and those who appreciate fruit COBBLER. As a third generation Minnesotan, I fall firmly in the camp of crisp (I worship at the altar of strawberry rhubarb crisp.) But I was more than happy to eat my friend’s amazing homemade cherry cobbler. Fruit? Good! Sweet carbs? Good!
3. Moonshine
Does one technically ‘eat’ moonshine? No, one doesn’t, stickler. Regardless, it’s awesome. This hard corn-based liquor isn’t nearly as scary as you’re imagining. Sweet and burn-y, but it (probably) won’t blind you and it’s even better when you drink it out of an awesome ‘hillbilly wineglass’
 I got my moonshine the old-fashioned way (from a friend who made it themselves) but it’s widely available in liquor stores throughout the south or, of course, online. (Look at the cute packaging on this!)
 I got my moonshine the old-fashioned way (from a friend who made it themselves) but it’s widely available in liquor stores throughout the south or, of course, online. (Look at the cute packaging on this!)
4. Cheddar pecan wafers
My life will probably always be divided into Pre-Cheddar Pecan Wafers and Post-Cheddar Pecan Wafers. They’re that good. You know when a little bit of cheese leaks out of your quesadilla onto the frying pan and gets all crispy? Now imagine that, on purpose, with little bits of chopped up pecans. Done. Boom. 25 pound weight gain, right there.
5. Fried green tomatoes
But then you already knew that, right?  Did you know they’re even better if you have them with a little dab of spiced mayonnaise on a butter milk biscuit?  Because they are.
What are the specialties where you live?  Leave recipes and links in the comments!  In Minnesota we love wild rice soup, lemon bars, and I grew up with a lot of broiled walleye for Sunday dinner.
photo one by pointnshoot // photo two by ralph and jenny // photo four via apples artichokes asparagus // photo five girl interrupted eatingÂ
Those cheddar pecan wafers look AMAZING!
I love chicken and waffles. It's actually a big Los Angeles thing too, at restaurants like Roscoes. The other food I miss from my days in LA is bacon wrapped hot dogs, which you buy from street vendors at 2 AM. They saute onions to put on them right there too, so you can smell them all up and down the street. Gahhhh so good.
For a city with a prissy, vegan only reputation, LA knows how to get down and fatty with the food. 🙂
Here in Austin, our big specialty is breakfast tacos. Take some egg, add potatoes, chorizo, and cheese and wrap it in a tortilla. Done. I don't know why they're so much better than breakfast burritos, they just are!
Posts like this make me start yelling 'ROAD TRIP! ROAAAAD TRIIIIIP NOW!'. Too bad I can't drive and live in another continent.
So funny…I've lived in Virginia my whole life and the only one of these I've tried is cobbler. Might be time to play like a tourist 🙂
How delicious! I'm glad you liked moonshine 🙂 Also, now I want apple crisp… at 8:09am– forget the cobbler 😉
My mouth is watering at that Cheddar pecan wafers!!
I grew up in Roanoke & squeed when I saw that mural you posted. I make it back up there about once a year. It's a great town. 😀
Love the hillbilly wineglass. My cousin got a set for Christmas a year or so ago, I thought they were brilliant then also.
This is fantastic. I love food like nothing else and I'm so happy when other gals express food love. As to classics where I'm from… I'm not even sure where I'm from anymore! Chicago? San Francisco? But I just moved to Los Angeles.
Chicago is full of Italian beef, Chicago hot dogs, deep dish pizza and frangoes. There's a lot of meat and a lot of carbs. Steakhouses and barbeque.
In San Francisco everything is super fresh. Fruit, cheese, ect., and sourdough bread is always an option. Everyone talks about Geradelli, but I prefer a company called TCHO, which hand mixes chocolate in their factory on the marina. So good. Garlic fries at the ballpark, sushi and green tea ice cream in japantown, SF is simply the best place for food ever. There's a restaurant that specializes in pie (happy pie day!) in the mission, and cookies shaped like penises and vaginas in the Castro. I'm going to stop myself now.
I'm not really sure yet what's the best food in Los Angeles (I've only been here about 2 weeks). I hear burgers are the thing to do and I keep seeing taco trucks everywhere.
I've lived in VA since I was a month old and have only ever had moonshine, haha! I'll have to try everything else soon! If you're coming towards Richmond and would like some recommendations, let me know! 🙂 Have fun, safe travels!
Chicken and waffles are a Virginia must!! We have the best brunch place in Fredericksburg that serves them!
Coney dogs in Detroit! A hot dog with coney chili sauce, mustard, and onions, and don't you dare try adding ketchup–that's for french fries.
There is a long standing rivalry between Lafayette Coney and American Coney (as evidenced here: http://www.freep.com/section/VideoNetwork?bctid=71478588001#/Coney+Food+Wars/71478588001) and you better know which side of the fence you stand on. *cough* Lafayette *cough* Add a Faygo and a bag of Better Made chips and you've got a classic lunch in the D.
Up North we've got pasties (pronounced with an "ah" not and "ae"…we're not a bunch of strippers) which are savory hand pies. Eh, they're all right. Not my fave, but the tourists seem to like them.
YOU GOT TO RIDE IN A SIDECAR?? Awesome.
It was! But I didn't quite know what to do with my hands! So I just sat with them primly folded in my lap, which I'm fairly sure was not the correct response 😉
Chicken and Waffles hands down is AMAZEBALLS! mMmm mmM!
hey I live in virgnia! but it appears you're in roanoke, not richmond where I am. If you pass through, though, I'd love to host you!
Be sure to try some pimento cheese while you're still in the south!
I had some 'pimento cheese salad' in North Carolina. While delicious, I'm not sure I would categorize it as a 'salad' 😉
OMG the food almost made me forgot about that AWESOME picture of you w/the BMW motorcycle dood<333
hope you rode in that! loveitttttt
I am moving to Virginia this fall and I can not wait to eat all of these tasty morsels!! Love your blog!!
Check me out at: http://www.thezaleinvail.blogspot.com
Yay! Glad you loved Thelma's. It's one of the places I will really miss when I move this summer. Also, did you actually go in to Texas Tavern? You were only a few blocks from my place! I walk down to the market on the regular, and I love it.