{"id":492,"date":"2015-03-09T19:17:03","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T19:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.browncoatball.com\/2015\/?page_id=492"},"modified":"2025-03-31T01:13:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T01:13:58","slug":"local-verse","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.browncoatball.com\/2015\/guides\/local-verse\/","title":{"rendered":"Local ’Verse – Fun Before & After The Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Virginia<\/a>
Virginia Beach Oceanfront<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You need to know from a local where to go to find the best.\u00a0 And we want to save a tree.\u00a0 So here’s some advice on where to go and what to do.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Quick Address Codes:<\/em>
\n# St\/O – Street number and Oceanfront (sand)
\n# St\/A – Street number and Atlantic Ave
\n# St\/P – Street number and Pacific Ave<\/p>\n

** – has free parking, * – has valet parking<\/p>\n

Where to Eat –\u00a0<\/strong>Oceanfront <\/em><\/p>\n

If you want to dine like a Tam ($$$$) then head over to Catch 31<\/a><\/strong> or Salacia<\/strong>.<\/a>\u00a0 (31 St\/O*)<\/p>\n

If you want to dine like a Tam on a budget then we suggest Big Italy<\/a><\/strong> (pizza and Italian – 33rd St\/A**) or Captain George<\/a><\/strong> (all you can eat seafood – 1956 Laskin Rd**).<\/p>\n

If you’re regular crew, check out Abbey Road Pub<\/a><\/strong> (sandwiches and seafood – 22nd St\/A**), Waterman’s<\/a><\/strong> (oceanfront seating, seafood and entrees – 5th St\/O*), Pocahontas<\/a><\/strong> (tourist breakfast place but yum – 35th\/A**), Doc Taylor’s <\/a><\/strong>(foodie breakfast\/lunch – 23rd\/P), or Murphy’s<\/a><\/strong> (Irish – 30th St\/P**) are all great choices.\u00a0 Chances are you’ll see us there.<\/p>\n

Dinner and a movie?\u00a0 Beach Movie Bistro<\/a><\/strong> – 941 Laskin Rd.** \u00a0 View?\u00a0 Ocean Eddies <\/a><\/strong>on the Pier (14th St\/O), eat outside.<\/p>\n

**If it’s a buffet and not on this list above… let’s just say that it’s not on the list for a reason.\u00a0 Other than warning you off of tourist trap buffets, all the other local places that we’ve tried have been good.\u00a0 But we frequent (or wish we could frequent) the establishments above!<\/em><\/p>\n

Where to Eat<\/strong>\u00a0– Inland
\nAll inland restaurants have free parking.\u00a0 Most are located in Hilltop or on the way there.\u00a0 Turn right on Laskin and Hilltop is the shopping plaza 3.5 miles from the hotel.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Hilltop is where Laskin and 1st Colonial meet.\u00a0 This creates 4 shopping centers.\u00a0 NE is the first square on your right coming from the hotel.\u00a0 NW 2nd square on right after you cross 1st Colonial.\u00a0 Likewise SE is the first on left, cross the street and SW is the second center.\u00a0 Addresses are for your GPS.<\/em><\/p>\n

Why eat good when you can eat extraordinary for the same price (or less), here are our top picks by genre. Topping the list is the “If I could only send you to one place”<\/em> then Bread Box Cafe<\/a> wins.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Bread<\/a>
Bread Box Cafe -Meatball Sub<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

#1 Winner<\/em> – Bread Box Cafe<\/strong><\/a> – 2372 Virginia Beach Blvd.\u00a0 No website.\u00a0 It’s a small, single-owner, family, European cafe.\u00a0 Read: European.\u00a0 This is not your AppPanFriWaysHut Americanized fare.\u00a0 Different, very good, and you’re supporting a nice lady not a corporation.<\/p>\n

Chinese<\/em> – MeiZhen<\/a><\/strong> – NE Hilltop Square – 742 Hilltop West Shopping Center<\/p>\n

Japanese<\/em> – Blue Fin<\/a><\/strong> – NE Hilltop Square – 1625 Hilltop West Shopping Center<\/p>\n

Thai<\/em> – Bangkok Garden<\/a><\/strong>– NW Hilltop Square – 737 First Colonial Road #307<\/p>\n

Pizza<\/em> – Brothers Pizza <\/a><\/strong>or Ynot<\/a><\/strong> – 401 N. Great Neck Rd or\u00a0 2102 Great Neck Square Shopping Center respectively.\u00a0 There’s a lot of pizza on the oceanfront and it’s fine – but trust us – Brothers or Ynot are worth the small drive.\u00a0 Sadly neither deliver to hotels.\u00a0 Now you have me wanting pizza.<\/p>\n

Indian<\/em> – Nawab<\/a><\/strong> – NE Hilltop Square – 756 First Colonial Road<\/p>\n

Mexican<\/em> – All equal.\u00a0 We’ve liked all the Mexican places fairly equally.\u00a0 Our favorite is the furthest out – Senor Fox<\/a><\/strong> – 1080 Nimmo Pkwy, but all local spots are good.<\/p>\n

Steak<\/em> – There’s a lot of over-priced steak on the oceanfront.\u00a0 We tend to go to Outback – SW Hilltop Square – 1757 Laskin Rd.\u00a0 But I can see the logic to eating somewhere you can only do here.\u00a0 If you want a local treat and you’re willing to pay a bit more – Black Angus<\/a><\/strong> (7th St\/A)<\/p>\n

Things to Do<\/strong><\/p>\n

The local tourism board has a fairly extensive site on things to do in Virginia Beach.<\/a>\u00a0 We won’t recreate that here, but we will list some of the highlights.\u00a0 For the most part we have limited ourselves to the oceanfront itself.\u00a0 Look to the other tracks for other places to go as well.<\/p>\n

Not mentioned are of course the myriad of shops, ice cream places, miles of sand and common beach activities like bike riding, swimming, fishing, surfing etc.\u00a0 If you’re an artist or photographer you can’t go more than a block without stumbling across art, sculpture or memorial.<\/p>\n

Virginia Beach is very bike friendly with a “Bike Highway” running the length of the Boardwalk.\u00a0 Please do not bike on the Boardwalk during on-season (you risk a ticket) and please don’t walk along the bike path!\u00a0 Don’t be that person.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em>It’s not safe, it’s for bikers; walkers have the whole boardwalk to roam freely.<\/p>\n

Amusement Parks<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is an amusement park at the oceanfront and 14th St.\u00a0 The pier is there as well.<\/p>\n

There is another amusement park – OceanBreeze<\/a> – on General Booth (Pacific becomes General Booth when you drive South) that is about 2 miles away.<\/p>\n

Busch Gardens<\/a> is internationally award winning and is about 45 minutes away.\u00a0 If you’ve never been to Busch Gardens and you have the time, it is a MUST DO.<\/p>\n

Mini Golf<\/strong><\/p>\n