Heeding “two is better than one,” several popular restaurants recently opened seconds … Siblings Stefanie Osfolk Brown and Kevin Osfolk, offspring of the founders of Portsmouth’s Bier Garden, perpetuate Oktoberfest at The Bier Garden Festhaus in Virginia Beach. While its progenitor’s warren of low-ceilinged rooms exudes old-world gemütlichkeit, this Bavarian house where Shore Drive meets W. Great Neck Road is airier, more modern. It plumps up sausage selections (even vegan) and counts 22 taps bolstered by an über-roster of bottled beers. Honoring tradition, they’re creating another place where “people start as customers, become regulars, become friends, become family,” says Kevin, who met his wife at the original.
Five-year-old Five Boroughs in Olde Towne Portsmouth has branched out to Five Boroughs in Ghent. Ramallah native Ali Bazzar embodies I ♥ NY, freshly making Middle Eastern and American fare (shawarma, falafel, burgers, veggie subs) with wife Rana. “New York is the only place that has all types of food at all times,” he says, preparing to toss thin-crust pizza and calzones into Ghent’s mix as in P-town.
Ghent’s Off The Hook is on. Established in Chesapeake in 2014, this new spot emphasizes fresh local seafood too but skews more fine dining with a chophouse bent, 1,500-bottle wine wall and cocktails crafted beneath snazzy neon.
Doubling down inversely, Norfolk’s Lamia’s Crêpes launched numéro deux in Virginia Beach’s Town Center, and Virginia Beach’s Stockpot now simmers at Norfolk’s Selden Arcade.
Marisa Marsey
Marisa Marsey is a food, beverage and travel writer whose awards include 1st place Food Writing from the Virginia Press Association. A Johnson & Wales University representative, she has sipped Château d'Yquem '75 with Jean-Louis Palladin, sherpa-ed for Edna Lewis and savored interviews with Wolfgang Puck and Patrick O’Connell.
