Virginia's Best Food and Drink For 2018: Popular Website

ARLINGTON, VA — Virginia is home to fine food and drink lovers, including local delicacies, historic foods, and incredible win. But which restaurant serves it up the best? And what other foods should you explore? The popular food site The Daily Meal has answers for you.

The website has provided what it considers the "complete" guide of the best food and drink in Virginia for 2018. With 2017 coming to a close, the Daily Meal says it rounded up venues in the state that showcase seafood and much more.

From oysters served along the Rappahannock River, to the country's fifth-largest wine industry dating back to the days of Thomas Jefferson, to Virginia country hams, the Commonwealth has a rich food history. "T he delicious Ham and Biscuits sandwich (a version of the state’s original breakfast sandwich) from Early Bird Biscuit Co. and Bakery in Richmond is stuffed full of Crabill’s ham from the Shenandoah Valley. Virginia is equally famous for peanuts, which can be enjoyed in soup form at the King’s Arms Tavern in Williamsburg, which opened for business in 1772," the Daily Meal says.

Here are Virginia's top bars and eateries in each category, and The Daily Meal's justification for distinguishing them:

• Best Chinese Restaurant: A banquet hall in the style of Beijing’s grand eateries, the Peking Gourmet Inn in Falls Church roasts one killer Peking duck — and certainly the best in the D.C. area
• Best Dive Bar: Lynnhaven Pub is a dark, dank hole-in-the-wall in Virginia Beach with a surprisingly incredible craft beer can selection
• Best Hot Dog: The legendary dogs at Ridgeway’s Martinsville Speedway have been served for more than 60 years in the same way: a soft bun, slaw, cheese, hand-chopped onions, and a secret-recipe chili, wrapped in waxed paper.
• Best Steakhouse: At Arlington’s Ray’s The Steaks, steaks are dry-aged for 45 days before being hand-trimmed, seasoned with their signature rub, and grilled over an open flame

Best Bar: PX, Alexandria

"If you’re walking down King Street in Alexandria and you see a blue light outside PX (Person Extraordinaire) or a pirate flag at full mast, that’s your signal that the 1920s-style lounge above Eamonn’s, A Dublin Chipper is open. Sommelier and mixologist Todd Thrasher, a native Virginian, handcrafts memorable cocktails at this intimate, 38-seat place."

Best Beer: Kentucky Christmas Morning

"Hardywood Park Craft Brewery’s Gingerbread Stout is aged in bourbon barrels to make the brewery’s finest beer: Kentucky Christmas Morning. Notes of vanilla, coconut, and coffee come through to this beautiful ginger-spiced beer for a drink that’s perfect for the most wonderful time of year."

Best Doughnuts: Sugar Shack, Arlington

"The imaginative doughnuts from Sugar Shack will thrill every doughnut-lover. These fried pastries are embellished with a range of ingredients such as preserves, maple syrup, bacon, and candies."

Best Pizza: Pupatella Neapolitan Pizza, Arlington

"Their oven’s bricks were built using volcanic ash from Vesuvius — hard to get more authentic than that outside Naples. They offer red and white pies — mostly the former — with accoutrements like ham and mushroom, prosciutto and arugula, chorizo, sausage and onion, eggplant and red pepper on top. But Pupatella’s most popular pie is the Capricciosa (featuring sautéed mushrooms, marinated artichokes, prosciutto cotto, and fresh mozzarella).”

Best Steakhouse: Ray’s The Steaks, Arlington

"Restaurateur Michael Landrum serves the state’s best steaks at Ray’s The Steaks. Steaks here are dry-aged for 45 days before being hand-trimmed, seasoned with their signature rub, and grilled over an open flame. ... The prices are also reasonable; a classic cut strip with aged Roquefort-port wine sauce will only set you back $29.99 (which is why Ray’s also wins for the state’s best inexpensive steakhouse).

Best Restaurant: Inn at Little Washington, Washington

"About an hour’s drive from D.C., the menu at The Inn at Little Washington includes classics like American ossetra caviar with peekytoe crab and cucumber rillettes, napoleon of chilled Maine lobster with pommes Anna, and veal “Shenandoah” (prosciutto-wrapped loin with country ham ravioli and fontina). The Inn has a AAA Five Diamond rating."

Complete List: The Best Food and Drink in Virginia 2018

Read the whole report here.

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