After a day of hiking at Windsor Castle park, we decided to stick around Main street and find a place for lunch with our 2 year old. We're glad we did, because Taste of Smithfield turned out being a really cute cafe with a children's menu. It's kind of a shop/cafe in one; lots of opportunities to buy Virginia wine, peanuts, sweets, sauces, hams, you name it! Everything was from local vendors. My husband wanted to investigate their cured hams, so we ordered the Taste of Smithfield platter as an app that came with Smithfield's famous cured hams, blue cheese crumbles, local peanuts, dried fruit, and toasted pita bread along with a spicy, honey mustard that I was obsessing over. This was really yummy and offered a sample of what they really do here.
Their children's menu was decent too, we went with the pork slider with a side of sweet potato chips and lemonade. My daughter was happy with it so I was too. I ordered the veggie goat cheese flat bread and my husband got the pulled pork sandwich, carolina style. I will say, for a big meats and bbq place, they really need to have a bunch of different sauces at the table to put on the sandwiches. They have a peach "hot sauce", but that wasnt really cutting it. Overall, everything was so fresh and tasty. I'm glad local yelpers steered us to this spot!
OMG, THIS IS HAM TOWN USA. This is the cutest ham boutique and restaurant that you could stumble on. We had pork poppers (Filipino version of cicarones) and even 86 year old Aunt Marian kept sneaking them because they are sinful and addicting, but who cares...We ate East Carolina baby back ribs, tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwich, and a salad. We were looking for a place to rest and this was a true oasis for the weary. The decor is adorable and a tourist's delight. The place is spotlessly clean, and our young waitress was a doll. Everyone was super friendly and welcoming. Too bad, we couldn't put a ham in our suitcases.
Review Source:Love this little store and restaurant! The staff are very personable and friendly. We ended going in there three times. Of course we stocked on peanuts, ham and lemon honey made in a monastery! Â We tried the pork poppers....something you will not get anywhere else. They were light and crunchy with a tasty seasoning; not something I would eat regularly but when in Smithfield you gotta have ham any which way you can!
Review Source:I would have given it five stars if they hadn't lost my order.
I went in expecting the food to cost more than normal because of what the business is. I ordered the ham and cheese sandwich with cole slaw and a drink. It cost me $12.47 with tax. The food was good and the ambiance was quaint and interesting. Â I would recommend one go at least one time to experience the Smithfield ham.
The only problem I had was that they lost my order. I noticed that 30 minutes had past since I ordered my food and that many others who came after me had gotten their food. However, when I brought it to the attention of a waiter I had my food in five minutes.
They do have a room for large groups so ignore the part about "not good for groups".
Taste of Smithfield (TOS) is a newly opened restaurant fully funded by Smithfield Foods (the largest industry in Smithfield). TOS is a limited menu restaurant with a large gift shop running the length of the restaurant. The interior is tastefully done with a modern and retro-20's look down to the 1920 style lighting and tin type ceiling. TOS is something Smithfield really needed and offers a tourist a place eat and stop.
We started with an appetizer of a cream cheese dip with bacon and pita chips ($8). It was very tasty, but what isn't when cream cheese is involved!
I had a BLT ($9) that comes with one side dish, which was Mac-n-Cheese with bacon. Thankfully, the Mac wasn't Kraft! TOS didn't skimp on my BLT, which came with copious amounts of bacon, lettuce and tomato on whole wheat (or white, if you like). The BLT was very good and the Mac was okay.
My wife got Zuppa Toscana ($7), which was the special for that day. The soup as the same look and taste to the similarly named soup you can get at Olive Garden. However, it does taste better than the Olive Garden.
Overall, TOS is well worth the stop for a Smithfield souvenir and some good eats, but I can't fully recommend it due to the price. A BLT for $9 is way over the top expensive! The tourists will buy it, but once the tourists leave, the locals will need coupons to get them in there.
Some friends and I had dinner here tonight and before I had the pleasure of enjoying my quiche lorraine, I was already super impressed by the customer service that everyone we spoke to had given us. The store part was so neat and country and very cute. We took our buzzer and seats outside and waited for our food. We were all so happy with our meals. My vegetarian friend had the goat cheese flat bread, another friend had the black and blue burger which was pork, Â and we shared the meat platter with different hams, peanuts ,cheeses, and sort of a trail mix it was a nice sweet and salty mixture. Everything was delicious. Â Over all it was a great experience. In the shop they have little treats for your pets too. I highly recommend this place it's great and the service is wonderful.
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