I saw this on diners and drive ins and had to go even though it not in the area but well worth the drive. Biscuits are beyond amazing must have. Crab cake and shrimp combo tasted really good. You could really taste the crab and the shrimp was cooked to perfection. Macaroni and cheese good for any age. The cheese isn't overpowering. If you don't like your leafy greens that much then try the collard greens it's not like your typical leafy green vegetable.You cannot leave without having the peanut pie it's 2 die for that's why Virginia is famous for peanuts for a reason. Service is really quick and I had no complaints what is ever. Workers are very friendly and welcoming.A moderate noise level. Highly recommend you going not just because it was featured on diners drive ins and dives.
Review Source:I enjoyed my visit at Virginia Diner. The Buffet was awesome and the Service was good once I was seated. My concern is the waiting line for the Diner is in the Country Store, kinda like Cracker Barrel but not near as much room. If you want to browse the Products while waiting you have the move around all the people waiting for their table.
The Fried Chicken and Carolina Barbeque were great, the Sweet Potato Casserole was like a dessert, Green beans had a lot of flavor, and the Banana Pudding...
Yum!
Me and my girlfriend went here after a hot air balloon ride. This place was awesome. It was some real good southern cooking. There was an all you can eat buffet for breakfast and man was it good. They had pancakes, waffles, grits, ham, bacon, sausage, etc. The food was so nostalgic. We couldn't ask for better food in the morning.
The environment was very homey. I wasn't flashy or cheap run down. It was a soothing place. The people were very friendly. I would recommend this place to anyone in the area.
I had such high hopes for this place. Â After all, they serve spoonbread. Â I took my granddaughter with me to try the buffet. Â She is a picky eater and the only thing she saw that she thought she wanted was the ham biscuits. Â I got the buffet. Â Typical "Country Style" buffet. Â Fried chicken, chopped barbecue, greens, beans, livers, fish, cole slaw and some cobblers. Â The ham was country ham. Â Not what my granddaughter is used to. Â Extremely salty and the biscuits were mediocre. Â I was really surprised by how not good the biscuits were. Â I've had frozen biscuits that were better. Â The buffet, pretty much the same as any other. Â The fried chicken was good, as usual, the chopped BBQ was OK. Â The slaw was OK. Â The veggies, to much salt. Â Â Didn't bother with the desserts.
The spoonbread. Â Â I had such high hopes. Â But, it was dry, not hot enough. Â Didn't have that lightness that the spoonbreads of my memory had. Â I'll keep trying.
Before you go into the dining room to eat I strongly suggest trying the different kinds of peanuts. I ordered the Ham and biscuit sliders and 2 piece fried chicken meal. The biscuits were sort of on the dry side. The ham was a little on the salty side for me. The seating inside was close together, so we were able to hear the conversation of the family at the table next to us. In my opinion the peanuts were the best part of Virginia  Diner.
Review Source:I am Kinda surprised at the mediocre reviews here. I think the Triple D visit may have raised expectations to something The Virginia Diner is not. It's definitely not a fru fru, fancy-schmancy kind of place. What it is, is an old school diner with old fashioned country cookin' done right for the most part. I have been there multiple times, most recently an Easter lunch time visit.
They were predictably slammed, but me and family put our name in and only had to wait 30 minutes or so. They have a buffet option, but I decided on an entrée consisting of the fried chicken and pulled pork BBQ with sides of black-eyed peas and mashed potatoes with gravy. The fried chicken was very good and moist. The BBQ I liked slightly less. It was ok, tangy and smoky, but not as good as some I have had living in NC where pulled pork BBQ is king. The side of black-eyed peas was decent, but lacked seasoning while the mashed potatoes were very good. I loved the gravy.  They also bring you biscuits, corn muffins and rolls all which tasted great.
Service was very prompt and efficient despite the Virginia Diner being so crowded. The wait staff looks like they have been working there for years so they definitely know what they are doing! They have a pretty extensive menu consisting of pork, chicken and seafood dishes.
The Virginia Diner is a pretty simple restaurant. It's an old school, blue collar diner with very filling and appetizing Southern comfort food.
We stopped here after driving through Wakefield and seeing a ton of signs advertising Virginia Diner as the best home made food, and (most importantly) the peanut capital of the world. Virginia Diner declares itself as a "legend in a nutshell".
Our hope - That we'd walk into a peanut emporium with wall after wall, rack upon rack full of peanuts where we'd learn more about peanuts than we ever wanted to know, and walk out laden with all different types of peanuts and peanut memorabilia.
The reality - There were about 4 stands of peanuts in the gift shop, really nothing spectacular at all with a couple of junky peanut-based souvenirs.
I went through area for work trip and was excited I wouldn't have to eat fast food. Â I hadn't been here in years....They have a buffett for lunch but all the foods look like they are fried and loaded with sugar/grease. Â Nothing even a half healthy person would want to eat. It all looked like it came out of cans, nothing individual. Â I decided to get breakfast for lunch. Â The eggs were a small portion and looked like they had been cooked in grease, and were not even fluffy. I think they filled 3 spoons. Â The biscuits were good. Â THe country h am looked like it came right off the pig w/the bone still in it.
For the little bit of eggs, 2 biscuits, and piece of ham and coffee it was 13.00 w/tax. Â I could have gone to Panera and had 2 lunches for that.
The Peanut Soup Scandal of 2012....
The Virginia Diner used to be one of my favorites restaurants....until they committed the ultimate sin of removing Peanut Soup from their menu.
Let me give you some background. The Virginia Diner is located in Wakefield Va, not too far from the very location where the very first peanuts in North America were grown nearly 400 years ago. As such, it is not surprising that peanuts still play a large role in this community, as witnessed by the peanut packing plants in the area.
There is a dish called Peanut Soup. It is pretty rare, and found only in "peanut country.". Most people have never heard of it, which is understandable.
Peanut Soup, if I can describe it, is basically liqufied peanut butter, with chunks of peanuts sprinkled on top. I know that might sound disgusting...but trust me, if you are a real fan of peanut butter, it is absolutely amazing!
On my last visit, I asked the waitress about Peanut Soup, and why it was no longer featured on their menu. She said "Well, a lot of people come here from out of the area and they don't understand what it is. They order it, and they don't like it...so we removed it from the menu."
So...following her line of logic, perhaps we should just bull doze the Virginia Diner and build a McDonald's? That way, everyone will know exactly what to expect...after all, a Big Mac tastes the same everywhere in the country.
Instead of honoring the long tradition of Peanut Soup, a tradition that dates back hundreds of years, the Virginia Diner choose to simply exclude this dish in a half-hearted attempt of "being all things to all people," For a restaurant that prides itself for being nearly one hundred years old, I find it shameful for them to change their menu based on the "tastes" of out-of-town folks.
For this reason, and this reason alone, I will never eat there again.
My family saw this on Diners Drive-ins and Dives and it looked good, so we made the trip from Williamsburg to Wakefield to check it out. Â Upon walking in we were quickly seated in the far back. Â Our waitress was matter-of-fact, efficient and polite. Â We got our drinks quickly and ordered our meals. Â Within minutes we were all eating. Â The waitress came back several times to be sure we were ok. Â My son had a bacon cheeseburger, which he thought was the best burger ever. Â My daughter had sliders and mashed potatoes with gravy on the side. Â She loved the taters, but didn't love the gravy. Â He sliders we're surprisingly not over cooked and really yummy. Â I had the pulled pork sandwich. Â It was really good, although I didn't eat the bun or chips. Â My meal came with coleslaw which was obviously freshly made and the highlight of my meal. Â My husband had the chops steak with mashed and gravy. Â He said it was good, but not the best he's ever had.
All together I would say the place was clean, the staff was friendly and the food was good. Â I'm not sure if I'd make the 45 minute drive just for it again, but if I was there in Wakefield I would stop back in!
I ordered Fried chicken with mac and cheese and fried apples. I had heard the biscuits were amazing and truthfully that is what I was there for. The fried chicken was on par with a lot of other places you get fried chicken. So nothing special. The mac and cheese was good, but my husband tried it and said that the stuff I make at home is better. Probably because there are no kraft singles involved in my mac and cheese. The fried apples were the best thing I had. My husband had the ham biscuits, he said the ham was good but the biscuits were just not. He also enjoyed the apple waldorf salad and the peanut pie.
The food is good, its just not amazing. My main problem was the biscuits. I can plainly say I have had better biscuits out of a can from the grocery store. The ones I had a the diner were too dense and had no taste what so ever. I spread butter on one, after the first bite of it(something I NEVER do), and even that didn't help them. It was a let down really. Food network hype lets me down again.
The wait staff were attentive and always right on time with refills. I'd say though its not really worth the price. My husband said after we left, "Meh, We could have gone to Cracker Barrel and it would have been just as good if not better." I have to agree with him and he isn't usually a food snob.
It's all hype nothing to write home about. I've eaten here a couple of times it like home cookin, usually I get the fried chicken. I think why people like it so much is because of their peanut sales, by the way those peanuts are to dang hard. I think it's more like a novelty stop and shop. Anyway it's a ok place to eat and it looks attractive on the outside but when you enter the luster is lost.
Review Source:Neat, clean, old-fashioned. Â Has a "gift shop" in the entrance area if you are in the mood for peanuts, etc.
The food is good, old, southern, American style. Â Staff is quite pleasant. Â Open, airy, lots of windows, white decor makes it bright.
Off the beaten path for most, but if you happen to be out in peanut country and want a decent home-style breakfast or lunch, stop in.
My wife has been taking me to the Virginia Diner for a few years now, and she will go out of her way to plan trips from Richmond to VA Beach just so we have a reason to stop there.
The food is ok, it is better than most, but I find it to be a little too greasy for me. The buffet is something I avoid, because everything tends to be fried. My favorite thing here is the chili-lime peanuts. I will take a giant tin of those and do dirty, dirty things to them (like make chili peanut brittle... or just eat the whole tin).
It is worth checking out for the peanuts, but I think you can order them online now. The food side of things is just ok.
Stopped for dinner-dining room was freezing; we complained to hostess and they did adjust the temp. Â On to the food-biscuits were great, some of the best I've ever had, spoonbread was very good, Â and barbeque was some of the best I've had outside of North Carolina. Â Chocolate chess pie was very tasty. Â We drove about an hour total out of our way to get here and it was worth it.
Review Source:Being on my honeymoon and taking a road trip to the south. Â We remembered an episode of Diners drive-ins and dives on food network. Â I looked up the name again and found this diner. Â We purposely went to wakefield on our way to myrtle beach just to go here. Â I'm giving it three stars because I feel like you can't trust the tv shows opinions a lot. Â Don't get me wrong, the food was definately southern cooking that was delicious. Â I got the fried chicken and ham platter with yams and black eyed peas (in stewed tomatoes). Â The chicken was good, but I feel that I like royal farms better, the ham was very salty. Â The sides were good, I haven't had black eyed peas before and in the stewed tomatoes were actually delicious. Â My wife had the same entree with mac and cheese and collard greens. Â Both were good as well but living in Baltimore we do have a lot of soul food places that were head to head with this place. Â We did meet a very nice older couple in the diner, which made it worth the extra hour drive. Â We also got some DELICIOUS peanuts on the way out which we enjoyed on the rest of the roadtrip.
Review Source:My wife and I have seen this place on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives a couple years ago, and I remember at the time thinking I really wanted to try it. Â Now looking back at the video, I am not sure what made me want to try it (probably the pie) but anyways...
We specifically went out of our way to eat here on our way back from a Williamsburg trip. Â What a waste of time. Â We got here for breakfast, I had a plate that had a couple eggs, the country ham, hash browns and their biscuits. Â My wife had similar, but pancakes instead of the ham. Â The only thing from the entire meal worth eating (other than the eggs, hard to screw that up) was the pancakes. Â The hash browns were awful, worst I have ever had. Â Cold, not crispy, and managed to taste (somehow) like powdered mashed potatoes. Â Maybe they came frozen, I don't know, I ate 2 bites and pushed them away. Â The ham was tough. Â I know country ham is going to be salty, and have some fat so I have no issue there. Â But this was tough, and hard to eat, like it had been sitting out awhile. Â The pancakes were good, nothing great, and nothing you couldn't get elsewhere. Â The biscuits were sort of half biscuit, half dinner roll. Â They were okay, but nothing great, and pretty dry.
We got a piece of peanut butter pie to go, and I am happy to tell you it was pretty good, not overly sweet.
The platters were about $9 each, which I wouldn't call pricey but is too much for what it was. Â If I got this food for $3.50 at the greasy spoon on the corner, I probably would write a 4 star review, but as it was, skip this place, it is in the middle of nowhere and NOT worth driving for.
We always make the trip over the ferry to come when were visiting Williamsburg. The food here is simple delicious down-home goodness. The fried chicken is great the vinegar based pulled pork makes my NC heart smile. Can't figure out why people are hatin. Great food plenty of it and decent price. The setting is, well, a diner, what did you expect? Plenty of peanuts in the gift shop but they're not that great, honestly.
Review Source:So on a trip out to Suffolk we passed a joint that we remembered seeing on triple D... the Virginia Diner. We stopped and walked in the door and noticed that there were large parties of people waiting, so with just two of us we were seated immediately. Unfortunately we were seated right next to the door so everyone waiting is just staring at you eating and listening to your conversation. Awkward. Usually in situations like that that's usually when I discuss where I buried the body. Anyway, the TV's on the wall played a constant loop of their segment on Diners Drive in's and Dives all day long. If you watched the show they made their "famous" collard greens. I love collards so made sure that they were included with the order. I also ordered some fried chicken and the biscuits. The breading on the chicken was alittle salty and came right off on the first bite. What was left after that was like salted boiled chicken. I was hoping for great chicken and was going to get some honey but I was pretty disappointed. The biscuits were OK but nothing special. I have a love for greens and can eat them by the bowl full... I'm not sure what the deal was but they weren't good at all. Kind of bland and more bitter than ever. They should have used some of the salt from the chicken and used it on the greens. Ordered the peanut pie also and while it was good, you can probably pee on about  20 places all around that make the same thing... it's the peanut capital!  While I can understand the Food Network showcasing this joint on TV because everyone needs their 15 minutes of fame.... but it's not worth the hype and I think by now they all their minutes are gone. Grubs ~
Review Source:What's with the bad reviews??? Seriously, the peanut pie is one of the best things I ever ate. Sometimes my girlfriend and I pass this place and we may stop in from time to time on our way to Chesapeake. A year later when we went Guy featured it on Diner's Drive ins and Dives. They showed guy how they made the Kale, I luckily got the Kale with my delicious Ham and Biscuits. The Kale was the bomb, this is down home southern food for meager prices but it is delicious. I can't wait to drive by again!
Review Source:I totally agree with Nate J.
My wife is from rural Missouri and she never heard about spoonable bread. We were taking a road trip and traveled along the road which paralleled I64. We drove into the "peanut capital of the world" and found the VA Diner. Black eyed peas were great, collard greens not my taste.
Clean, good food, and friendly service. What more can you ask for?
I have no idea how this place is getting 4 and 5 stars or ended up on Food Network.
Our food took over an our to come out and they were not busy (we had 9 in our party, so we were willing to over look that AND the fact that 3 people's food was cold) -- what we couldn't overlook was the fly found (which had clearly been fried) in one our entrees. We quietly pointed it out to the server and the manager came out. She made no apology, said this person wouldn't be charged (um, thanks), and to "get something off the buffet". Our problem was that all but two people at the table paid an up charge for fries (rather than chips) and they were not removed from the check -- despite the fact that nobody ate their fries. 7 plates of fries just sat on the table. I must stress that it was clear the fly was in the cooking oil -- it was a large fly with crisp wings.
But now onto the food we did eat. My husband and I spend thirty dollars -- we had two fountain drinks, a club with onion rings (a whooping 4 to an order - that I paid an extra for), and a crab cake sandwich and fly fries. The sandwiches were both acceptable - my club had home-cooked ham and turkey. The crab cake sandwich was nothing spectacular or special, but not a disappointment. The onion rings were completely cold, but the batter was very good. My husband is not eat his fries. So while it's not overpriced -- it's not cheap either.
Judging the food we ate alone, I'd give it 3 stars.
All and all, we were disappointed - and confused. Maybe they were having a horrible day -- but really paying for food which was was likely cooked with a bug and not eaten is extremely poor business --- as is not apologizing for something like that and directing somebody to your buffet  after.
I want to stress that we did not think all the food should be given free -- we just didn't think that anybody should have been up charged for the fries that NOBODY ate. Which basically would have broke down to be 1.50 per person.
We'd never stop here again.
Follow That Guy #3
We followed Guy Fieri and his show, "Diners Drive-ins, and Dives" to the Virginia Diner before hitting Virginia Beach. Â Normally, we wouldn't stop somewhere that's obviously a tourist trap but Guy's never steered us wrong. Â It's a quaint roadside stop featuring Virginia's famed peanuts and a restaurant full of southern hospitality. Â But the real reason why anybody should come to Virginia Diner is the AYCE weekend buffets filled with fried chicken, pulled pork, collards, cole slaw, candied yams, and more. Â While its certainly not the best that southern cooking has to offer, VA Diner's bountiful selection will keep you happy nevertheless. Â Besides, where else do you find an AYCE southern buffet? Â If memory served me correctly, the buffet was only $13.95. Â If you ever find yourself traveling along HIghway 460 on a weekend, don't forget to drop by Virginia Diner. Â [Original Visit: September 2009]
If it wasn't good, they wouldn't have been in business as long as they have.
We stopped based on a friend's recommendation - glad we did!
I had a chicken fried steak the size of my face! Â No one is going to get thin on a meal from this place, but if you were looking for a meal blessed by Weight Watchers, you shouldn't be here. Â This is the kind of food that soothes a broken heart! Â (Or, ironically, could clog the arteries of same said heart!)
The menu is full of "down home" choices, sandwiches and sides are a great deal of the menu, however, there are a lot of fried foods too. Â They also have about seven different desserts including pies.
Before you leave, you've gotta hit the gift shop and buy a tin of peanuts - they have some seasoned peanuts that are really spicy too. Â Plus, you could take perverse double-entendre pleasure in asking the clerk to "put your nuts in a sack".
Bottom line: the food is worth stopping for if you're in the area or passing through.
If you watch the Food Network you may remember this place. It was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
This little diner has been around for 80 years and in the middle of nowhere no less, but don't let that scare you. The building is new or certainly has been remodeled to give that appearance. Things are very clean and bright and not one bit scary to eat at.
Once you enter this little restaurant, the first thing you see is an area that resembles a candy store where they sell nuts of all kinds, chocolates and some other little trinkets. The dining room is to the left and is very large, not overcrowded with tables. Everything is very white, floors, walls, furniture and definitely clean. However, it seems almost kind of sterile, in the sense that it is missing that quaint diner feel one would expect.
The menu is pretty standard for a diner menu with breakfast options, lunch and dinner items and a selection of pies. The prices are low, to be expected since it is located in BFE, and portions are plenty. I tried the meatloaf. It came with 2 sides and bread. The quality was good, certainly fresh. They make a lot from scratch there, but maybe not necessarily  fresh. I believe the mash potato are the instant kind and the gravy was definitely powdered. As my bread, I chose what they call Spoonable Bread. Never had it or heard of it, but it sure was tasty. Made from grits, and a texture that was closer to that of pudding.
Lots of staff was on and everyone was very friendly. I went for lunch on Friday, but from what I hear the lines are long, with waits, on weekends or in the evening.
If you are around that way for a trip to the beach, stop in. You will not be disappointed.
This place is WONDERFUL!
Granted, it is out in the middle of nowhere, but they also have a wonderful and thriving catalog business to meet your needs!
They are an old fashioned diner known for their country ham and biscuits, and their pies, and a ton of other wonderful 'down home' cooking!
If you are not lucky enough to be driving by there, then you can check them out at <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.virginiadiner.com%2F%3Fr%3D1&s=c12fa5ff7bebb7180b877e919bdb93daa50e104c3988891f0192cb249b4f0c65" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.virginiadiner…</a>.
They sell the BIGGEST PEANUTS i have ever seen (as well as the best tasting!) and the most amazing peanut brittle (they call it buttery, and they are NOT kidding, it's DIVINE!), as well as other candies, pies, hams, goodies.....
We love to get their decorative tins to give to people, to introduce them to the wonderful nuts this place grows!
Anyway, whether you eat there in person, or deal with them over the phone, the people are wonderful, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
You have never tasted a better tasting NUT in your life! Â :oP Â whether you like your nuts salty, or unsalted, or dipped in chocolate....they have whatever you need!
ps.......There was no place for me to put their 800 number, and I did not want to erase their local number....so here it is!
1.800.642.NUTS
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