Dining in DC: Notes from a Week in the Capital
This unpretentious restaurant in rural Virginia reminded us we were in the South
After several days of enjoying the sights of Washington DC, it was time to explore the surroundings. Most specifically, of visiting Shenandoah National Park. Alas, winter is definitely not the time to do so. The trees were bare, the birds were hiding and the scenery was monolithic and boring – though there was the occasional road side waterfall and family of deer to bring momentary joy.
After hours of driving and sight seeing, we were pretty hungry so when we came about signs for Brookside Restaurant on the road, we headed there for some fuel. The restaurant is located in a resort of sorts, where they rent cabins year round for those wanting to venture into the nearby Luray caverns or visit Shenandoah. It serves standard American cuisine at quite reasonable prices. The restaurant itself is pretty cute, and the lone waitress that day seemed to be an institution – we heard her say she’d been working there fore decades.
I had a cheeseburger with chips ($9.50). I was a bit apprehensive about it because of the price and because they didn’t ask me how I wanted it, though I did ask for it to be medium-rare. As expected, it was served well done and while it wasn’t particularly juicy, it tasted fine. Still, I didn’t really fancy it so I exchanged with Mike for his sandwich.
Mike had a bowl of “Bob’s best chili” ($9) and a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon ($5). The sandwich was just white bread, American cheese and bacon, but the bacon was pretty tasty and while the sandwich was a bit too bready, it was good enough. Mike likes the chili well enough.
My daughter had a basic grilled cheese sandwich ($5). It was a very basic sandwich, bread and American cheese, but she isn’t picky.
While the food was pretty basic, Mike mentioned that, being a country restaurant in the South, it was likely in the desserts that it would shine through – and he was right! They had a variety of pies, cobblers and cakes, but we all decided on the cobblers. I’ve been on a cobbler kick lately, and I much prefer them to pies.
Mike and I ordered the peach cobbler a la móde ($7.25) and it was delicious, though a tad too sweet (which I expected). It was served warm, the portion was generous and the fruit shined through.
Betty still was the berry cobbler a la mode ($7.25) which my daughter ordered. The biscuit was just as good and the berries were less sweet.
In all, we had a fine lunch and really enjoyed the desserts.
Brookside Restaurant
2978 US Highway 211 East
Luray, VA
540-743-5698
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