5 Virginia food halls you’ll want to visit

What’s for dinner? Italian? Mexican? Thai? Or maybe something completely different? Head to one of Virginia’s many food halls, where you can find it all.

These casual dining hubs are sprouting up across the state, and they’ve become destinations in themselves. Food halls are a place to hang out, sample new tastes, and try unfamiliar cuisines. At some, you’ll find top chefs offering new menus. Food truck owners also like food halls because they allow them to move into a brick-and-mortar location without the expense of opening a full restaurant.

Whether you want lunch, dinner, dessert, coffee, or a cocktail or a glass of wine, these halls have it all—including comfy seats for lounging and people watching. Here are 5 of Virginia’s best.

A few steps away, Buttermilk and Honey does amazing things with fried chicken. No surprise, as it and adjacent Bully Burger are owned by the couple behind popular Richmond eatery Lillie Pearl.

Choosing is tough, with options like the spicy Dirty Bird sandwich, and chicken tenders layered with French toast bread pudding. But you can’t go wrong with Buttermilk and Honey’s specialty: a sandwich built around a crunchy chicken patty that’s hand-breaded with a honey-laced coating. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and savory.

Across the courtyard, the options go global. Sincero offers tacos and other Mexican cuisine, and Royal Pig serves a taste of Cambodia. Its tender chicken skewers served with rice and papaya salad may soon become a city legend.

Food hall hours: Wednesday–Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Coffee Bar Wednesday–Sunday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Beet Box Wednesday–Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.)

Start at Bold Dumpling, which lives up to its name. While you have a lot of choices, from teriyaki tofu to scallion pancakes, the dumpling platter is a great choice. You get savory bites of beef, chicken, and kimchi with dipping sauces.

Next door, Balo Kitchen promises Asian comfort food with selections like fried chicken tacos wrapped in Malaysian flatbread and a pork belly rice bowl. Or head to Pokeworks, which offers a half-dozen varieties of the Hawaiian raw fish dish.

While some may want to watch sports and sip mango beer at the bar after a meal, this is a place to save room for dessert.

The Block’s highlight is SnoCream Company, a Taiwanese-style iced sweets shop that specializes in a dessert that’s a cross between shave ice and ice cream. You can build your own combo of flavored ices and mix-ins. Play it safe with cookies and cream or go crazy with the black sesame topped with red beans and drizzled with condensed milk. It’s a delicious choice, tasting like a frozen version of the Middle Eastern candy halvah.

Food hall hours: Vary by restaurant.

Just as exciting are the new additions. Angelic’s Kitchen serves up soulful specialties like fried whiting fish filets. Manila Street offers hearty Filipino dishes like chicken curry and rice noodles. And for a sit-down meal, South and Central Latin Grill offers a chic take on a Latin/South American steak house: Be sure to order Provoleta, the grilled provolone cheese appetizer.

And for sitting back and people watching, head to The Milkman’s Bar, an adult version of a classic drugstore soda fountain serving sweet, creamy cocktails.

Food hall hours: Sunday–Thursday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 8 a.m. to
10 p.m.

A few miles off Interstate 95 in Woodbridge, EpiQ Food Hall offers a world of surprises in the center of a strip mall. Step inside and you’re greeted by a global buffet of Japanese, Mexican, and Southern cuisine. Even on a weekday afternoon, it buzzes with folks sitting on leather couches or at the bar, which has a dozen beers
on tap.

The food is impressive: Little Miner Taco, which started as a D.C. food truck, serves south-of-the-border bites like birria tacos: tortillas overflowing with beef, onion, cilantro, salsa, and jack cheese served with a cup of consommé for dipping.

Don’t be fooled by the barbecue ribs, crab cakes, and steak on the menu at NuVegan Café: Everything here is plant-based. Its most popular dish, the chick’n drummies, are crispy pieces of fried soy protein that taste like fried chicken.

Of course, you could head the other direction at Southern Flare, with its menu of fried green tomatoes, steak and cheese egg rolls, or shrimp and grits.

Some of the best eats come from Maizal, which serves a range of South American street food. Build your own burritos, tacos, and bowls with fillings like mini shrimp cakes, steak, grilled pork, and spicy green sauce. For a small burst of savory flavor, order an arepa. The Vegetariana—with quinoa bites, black beans, plantains, grilled vegetables, street corn, and pickled beets—hits all the highlights.

Finish your visit at Ice Cream Jubilee, which Food & Wine magazine called one of the country’s best ice cream spots. It offers unexpected flavors that will become your new favorites, like Thai iced tea or apple-butter oatmeal cookie.

Food hall hours: Vary by restaurant.

Charlottesville-based writer Larry Bleiberg is immediate past president of the Society of American Travel Writers. He loves food halls because he can order 2 desserts without anyone noticing.