11th Street Taphouse Bar & Grill

We ate at the 11th Street Taphouse in Virgnia Beach on a beautiful evening and sat out on the patio. The patio is located alongside a busy sidewalk that many pedestrians and bicyclists used to access the beach, boardwalk and bike path. There is also another restaurant and bar on the other side of the sidewalk that, at least the night we dined, has a live band that you could enjoy from 11th Street Taphouse's Patio.

We ordered the Mahi Mahi, and the Swordfish, which was one of the catches of the day. They were both served with potatoes and green beans.

Both of the fishes were good, but the sides were strange to me. The potatoes definitely had an under cooked and overcooked taste and texture to them - the inside being under cooked and the outside on the overcooked side. They were also not well seasoned.

The green beans were overcooked for my taste, I prefer them to still have a bite to them and not be completely be softened from cooking. I couldn't identify the seasoning on them, nor the added ingredient (garlic? almonds?) that was served with them. 

That said, the patio, with large tables as well as comfy wicker chairs and small tables, is a nice place to sit out and watch the sunset.

Rockfish

Across the street from our hotel, The Breakers Resort, was Rockfish. This was the second Beatles themed restaurant we ate at during our visit to Virginia Beach. 

We ordered the fish and chips and the fried fish sandwich; both are made with rockfish, a white flaky fish. The fish and chips platter is two large fillets of fish, while the sandwich is two much, much smaller fillets. In fact, the pieces of fish we had, while being the same fish, tasted very different. The smaller pieces had a "fishy" taste, while the fish and chips fillets were much more mild.

The interior of the restaurant has a very subtle Beatles theme. There are posters and memorabilia, including guitars on the walls, but done tastefully. There are also two patios, one for the bar, which is seat yourself, and one for the restaurant, which can fill up pretty quickly on a nice evening. The bar patio the night we ate here was next to empty and we were able to get a seat against the railing overlooking the boardwalk without a wait.

However, the one negative we did encounter sitting on the bar side of the restaurant was, the 2 bartenders that night were also the wait staff for the bar area, so the service was a little slow. Also, I ordered a margarita and it never showed up. The bartender did offer to make it after we informed him of not receiving it, but we had already finished our meal and were ready to head back to our hotel room.

eat: An American Bistro

Eat, which is located at the very north end of the boardwalk, was a great find for a very nice dining option. We were seated in the dining room, but from all of the tables, diners get a beautiful view of unfettered ocean. Being on the end of the boardwalk, there are fewer crowds, and fewer people for that matter, spoiling the view.

We ordered the "Spaghetti la Mamma", a huge plate of perfectly al dente spaghetti, coated in a decadent tomato sauce with huge chunks of seasoned beef and topped with melted mozzarella cheese. It is also served with a mozzarella stuffed meatball - a meatball, stuffed with mozzarella cheese and basil, rolled in bread crumbs and then fried. The dish as delicious all around.

We also ordered a fish dish off the specials menu - which was light and lemony and lovely.

On the side, we ordered a deviled egg - you can order them individually. The egg is large, overstuffed and sitting on a bed of the tangy, creamy yolk mixture.

This is definitely a must-dine in Virginia Beach.