5 Best Restaurants in Virginia Beach, Williamsburg and Hampton Roads

The last freestanding restaurant on the beach not inside a hotel, this aqua-painted clapboard building houses a family-owned seafood grill. Inside, the ocher walls heighten the sun rays penetrating the ceiling-to-floor windows. Awnings shade the outdoor patio where live musicians perform in season. A local menu favorite is the Crab Ripper, a crab-cake sandwich topped with mozzarella and crisp bacon. A fried seafood sampler, fish and steak platters, steamed fish, appetizers, salads, burgers, and other sandwiches fill out the menu. Banquet facilities are available, and the Beach Nut Gift Shop is also on the premises. It is home to the original "Orange Crush," an alcoholic drink made with fresh-squeezed oranges, vodka, Triple Sec, and Sprite—the drink of locals. The website also has a webcam, great for people-watching and checking out the weather. Valet parking saves the hassle of difficult-to-find parking.

Located at the Hilton Resort, Catch 31 is one of the nicest restaurants on the strip. Order the signature seafood towers that include lobster, crab legs, mussels, and shrimp, made for sharing. Sit outside for atmosphere; the setting is terrific, next to Neptune's statue, with fire pits, palm trees, and great people-watching. In summer it gets even better with live music at lunch and in the evenings.

Not a grill in name only, this restaurant has an open-grill kitchen in the dining room. It can be noisy on the bar side when live bands play in the evening. Locals get comfortable in padded chairs and booths as they relax with happy-hour specials nightly or order from the extensive wine vault. The California-inspired fusion menu offers a variety of price ranges, with excellent homemade pizza from wood-burning ovens, sandwiches, pasta, chicken, steaks, and seafood, followed by sinful desserts such as homemade bourbon chocolate-chip pecan pie. Try the yellowfin tostada rare, with black-bean-and-corn salsa, guacamole, and goat cheese, a manager's favorite.

This combination Irish pub, sports bar, and restaurant has a large central dining room with an open fireplace in the middle, a bar on one side, and a smaller dining room at one end. The menu includes steaks and Irish, Italian, and seafood entrées as well as snacks and sandwiches. The Sunday brunch is reasonable, and so are the weekday dinner specials. A block from the boardwalk, Murphy's has plenty of easy parking.

The Down East architecture of this local favorite with double-deck porches hints at the seafood that's available. The restaurant has a bar, a raw bar, and alfresco dining in good weather (in cool weather, the large window wall still gives you a view of the water). Seafood, pasta, chicken, and beef share the menu with salads and sandwiches. Rockafeller's (and several others) are on Rudee Inlet. Go on a Thursday night for the lobster special, the best their menu has to offer. To get here, go south on Pacific Avenue and turn right on Winston-Salem immediately before the Rudee Inlet bridge. The street ends at Mediterranean Avenue.