Good restaurants- been there and now back

Just visited Chincoteague this past week- arrived on Saturday the 6th during Hannah%26#39;s visit to the east coast. I had posted asking for suggestions on good restaurants and have my own suggestions for others. Just my opinion and that of the others in my group- ranging in age from 25 to 59.

The first night we ate at Wrights in Atlantic, VA. Very good service, good food, terrible soda and water (tasted like they scooped the water right out of the bay!) I had the broiled seafood platter and that was good and my BIL had the fried seafood platter and said it was excellent. My father had the crab cakes and said they were good as well. My fiance had the steak and said it was mostly fat and didn%26#39;t taste good at all. There were these huge spiders crawling on the windows (on the inside) so that was a little creepy but the view was nice (restaurant sits on Watts Bay I believe). And the server was the friendliest we encountered the entire trip.

The 2nd night we ate at Bill%26#39;s and while it is expensive and you definately should make reservations (we did, but almost all walk ins were turned away) the food was the best we ate all week. They have this tropical shrimp salad that was interesting and everyone enjoyed their meal and you get decent portions. They have good steak and seafood and chicken. Their veggies were terrible though (green beans, mashed potatoes) but I guess you can%26#39;t be good at everything. The service wasn%26#39;t the best but the food was great. A little pricey though.

We tried Etta%26#39;s and none of us had ever been there (we%26#39;ve been coming to Chincoteague for the last 5 years). The restaurant itself is nice, nice view but the service was lacking (hostess tried to sit six people at a small round table (and my BIL is 6ft4 320lbs so no way we%26#39;d all fit!). I have to say the food was terrible! Maybe it was just a bad night (friday night) but it was horrible. I had a salad with honey mustard dressing and it tasted like they literally opened a bottle of French%26#39;s mustard and poured it on my salad and sprinkled some sugar over it. The only thing that tasted somewhat decent was the crab cake. My fiance had the steak and again he said it was mostly fat. My mother had pasta and it was overcooked. And it was expensive!!! You received tiny portions of bad tasting food and it wasn%26#39;t worth it at all. We will never go back there.

We at lunch at Don%26#39;s and my dad loves their crab cakes. Their food is so-so. Don%26#39;t get the salad bar. Salad dressing is watery and bland and has no taste.

We ate at Bill%26#39;s a 2nd time and it was good.

We tried Woody%26#39;s Beach BBQ for lunch as it was recommended. However, I don%26#39;t know if we tried it on a bad day or what. It was NOT good. Smoked chicken tasted like it was smoked with an old tire. Pulled pork sandwiches not much better. Corn bread sounded so good but we werent given any butter- they just smeared a little butter on the wax paper they wrapped each piece in. Subway was much better than this place.

We ate at Steamers (first time ever) and I guess it is under new management. The all-you-can eat- crab legs were good but when we got home we realized we weren%26#39;t given everything we were suppposed to with the all you can (they never brought out the corn on the cob or clam chowder) but we didn%26#39;t miss it. The crab legs were good but the rest of the party didn%26#39;t wasn%26#39;t overly impressed with their food. Our server kind of grossed us out as he kept scratching his head and wiping his nose and picking his teeth as he walked between tables. It was also pretty expensive (well the all-you-can eat specials were).

We didn%26#39;t get a chance to go to the Village this year and we didn%26#39;t stop at the Sea Shell cafe as there were never any cars there and we were basically just interested in seafood and their menu wasn%26#39;t anything that interested us. Didn%26#39;t go to AJs because we thought it was too expensive (but after all the other places AJs is about in line with everyone else!)

We did want to try Captain Zack%26#39;s carryout but we didn%26#39;t realize they were only open on friday, sat, sun.

The beach wasn%26#39;t as nice as last year (was pretty windy and the waves were rough but that was to be expected because of Hannah. The mosquitoes were horrible at the North end of the island (where we rented a house) even though they spray twice a day. Didn%26#39;t get to see any of those spectacular sunsents either but the trip was wonderful and relaxing and we look forward to returning next year!

Good restaurants- been there and now back

FWIW.

WE%26#39;ve found Etta%26#39;s to be inconsistent. Have had decent food but not always. We usually don%26#39;t go there.

We like AJ%26#39;s and Bill%26#39;s. We frequently have dinner at both.

Too bad about Steamers. Doesn%26#39;t seem they%26#39;re going the right direction.

Never tried Captain Zacks but will check them out next time.

Never tried Woody%26#39;s either. May not after your comments.

Interesting about sea Shell cafe. There%26#39;s a lot of posts on TA recommending them but they don%26#39;t seem to be doing well. Like you, we eat seafood when in Chincoteague.

For lunch, there%26#39;s a small sandwich place just off Main St. Sea Star maybe. We get their sandwiches and go to Memorial Park. You might try that next time too.

Thanks for posting the information. You mentioned the sunsets. I especially like the sunrises on Assateague. I get up to take pictures and enjoy them. Not sure my wife%26#39;s ever seen one, though.

Good restaurants- been there and now back

Bills is consistently good. Though it is small and can get crowded, the food is always pretty good there.

As you noted most of the rest are inconsistent.

The Sea Shell is only open for lunch and dinner and is closed in between. Its getting a growing group of customers, many of who are returns. About 1/2 menu is seafood -- but many other choices.

It is possible they just weren%26#39;t open when we didn%26#39;t see any cars in the parking lot. We did see their menu and just were not interested in anything on it. I%26#39;m sure others do like it though. I forgot to mention the Creamery. It is awesome. We went there every night for dessert. They have amazing homemade ice cream and their fudge is pretty good as well.

We were on the island at the end of July and had a blast for the third year in a row. We always go out to dinner on the first night and cook most of the other nights. This year we tried the Sea Shell Cafe first and they could not accomodate a group of 9, we then tried the Village which we have been to before but the were packed and the wait would have been an hour or more. We ended up at Etta%26#39;s at the recommendation of a friend who grew up on the island and absolutely loved it. We have a group ranging from 5 - 65 and every one of us was very pleased with our meals.

I personally had Woody%26#39;s on our last night. Everyone else had Ledo%26#39;s pizza. I thought their BBQ was great. it did not take long to get my food. There was plenty of it and it had a great taste. I would definietly eat there again, probably twice!

Dear Lexi-30,

We are the owners of Woody%26#39;s Beach BBQ. We are very sorry your experience was not what you had hoped for. We appreciate feedback and also welcome the opportunity to speak to our customers. We strive for everyone that visits us to have a great meal and outstanding service. If you are on the island again please allow us to try to make it right. Thanks!

Larry and Gail Parsons