I've dined at Bloom numerous times now and I must say the food is amazing. It's delicious and…read morecreatively presented. The blueberry waffle ( with fried chicken ) was delish, fluffy on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside. The potatoes with aioli were crispy with just the right amount of spice. My daughter got the burrata toast.. divine! Our waiter, Michael, was attentive, informative and very pleasant. We sat in a nice booth in the main dining room which has cool vibes and a countertop kitchen so we could see the production. Love that Bloom offers Sunday brunch on special occasions. Delightful experience from booking to finish. Looking forward to our next visit!

We got their price fix Japan menu and it was delicious! The salt bread was great, light and airy…read more Other standouts include the shrimp skewers and mushroom onigiri. The broth in the onigiri was perfect and balanced the crispy rice really well. Atmosphere was nice and chill, really great for a date or a group dinner

When we walked in, I witnessed a beautiful sight. A group of people playing some bluegrass music…read morewhile others were dancing and the rest of the people in the room listened, ate their lunch, visited with family at tables that filled the space. This looks like a place that locals gather every weekend with their families and hang out maybe all afternoon. I felt like I had stepped back in time and was maybe in an episode of Andy Griffith. The store itself sold sandwiches and other lunch items. They sold CDs from what appeared to be local artists as well as guitar strings, canned goods and other things you'd expect in a general store. Next door was an ice cream shop that we also visited and partook of some delicious ice cream. This place is worth a visit!

Service was meh. Ice cream was yummy! The shop itself is too cute! The cashier on the store side…read morewas very sweet. Definitely will visit again!

Good beer, good food and friendly people. Lots of locals and visitors. Good for lunch or dinner.read more

I've been coming to Floyd for the past 15 years, and Dogtown used to be a staple. Unfortunately,…read moreit's gone seriously downhill. The vibe just feels off now and what once felt welcoming and authentic feels more exclusive and self-important. :( The service is especially disappointing. You can stand at the counter forever waiting for someone to even acknowledge you. Basic hospitality goes a long way, and it's frustrating when staff can't even acknowledge you with a simple "we will be with you shortly" or even offer a simple smile. There's an attitude from some of the front-of-house staff that comes across like they've "arrived" and are above basic customer service. Floyd has always been about community and authenticity, and it's disappointing to see a place that once embodied that lose sight of what made it special.

Based on noticeably high prices we went expecting a high end dining experience and got just the…read moreopposite! The server was friendly and helpful but that is the only positive comment. 1. The Caesar Salad was really small, over-dressed and croutons, dry, hard and not bite-sized. 2. Fried Oysters were greasy, tasteless, overpriced, mostly breading, overly watery. Not an appropriate way to prepare Oysters. 3. The deep-fried Grits were breaded with Panco, not the right product as they are grease sponges and the Grits were mushy, too few and came with no dipping sauce. 4. The Tuna Tacos were the best item but only average at best. Very little tuna tartar and not chopped, not much flavor, served over tiny, raw, corn tortillas that should have been buttered and crisped in a pan. 5. The live Jazz with Lenny Marcus was great but the PA system was poor and one could not understand the vocals. 6. Seated right under a ceiling fan on high and AC set low and was quite uncomfortable.

Roanoke's Historic Grandin Village has many restaurants of all sizes and types but one that stands…read moreout is Rockfish Food & Wine. Founded in 2005 by Olivia and Rocky Byrd, this family-owned and operated fine-dining restaurant was established to bring a high-end yet relaxed seafood and wine dining experience to this area. It offers a seasonal menu and an extensive wine list of over 270 selections. After being ranked 4th among Yelp's Top 50 Most Prolific Elites of 2025, a distinction recognizing my consistent community engagement and high-quality contributions, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants, businesses, and establishments, and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to go back and write follow-up reviews on those places that impressed me the most during 2025, and Rockfish Food & Wine located in the heart of Grandin Village, one of the most desirable neighborhoods in Roanoke, Virginia, is the perfect example of one of them. After making a 5 o'clock reservation on the Toast platform from the restaurant's website, I did some errands and then proceeded to drive to the restaurant located at 1402 Grandin Road. (This is considered the Main Street of this neighborhood) The restaurant's building is located next to a small 7-Eleven, and doesn't have parking, but I found plenty of on-street parking spaces good for an hour or in some cases two, and free after 5 o'clock. I picked one of them and parked my pearl white Lexus there. When I entered the restaurant, a young, elegant lady greeted and welcomed me behind the Host's station. Soon after she took me to the requested booth, I found out her name was Kayla and she would be my server. While I was reviewing the menu, she brought me a carafe of cold water with a glass, and a small dish with slices of a baguette and butter. She then took my order. To drink, besides the water, I ordered a Strawberry Fields Mocktail. It had just the right taste and was brought to my table by the bartender herself. To dine I started off with a Crispy Oysters appetizer which was delicious. Followed by a Dinner Mixed Green Salad, which was one of the most delicious salads I've ever had at a restaurant. It had many ingredients and tasted amazingly delicious. For my main entrée I had their Ribeye Filet Au Poivre median rare. It came served with roasted mushrooms, green beans, and cheesy mashed potatoes, and was cooked medium-rare just as I ordered it. I invite you to view my photographs accompanying this review to get a better sense of the place and the high-quality food. My server provided exceptional customer service, filling my glass with water, and pointing me out the restaurant's owner who was an elegantly dressed, distinguish looking lady with lots of charm and a great personality, who had moved here with her husband and co-owner from California's central coast with a vision of creating a fine-dining restaurant which they felt the local area needed. I also found out through my server that every Thursday the restaurant had live Jazz music to a full house audience, and I would need to make reservations early. Seated at the table next to mine were a distinguished looking couple which I established conversation with and found out that the lady was Dr. Laura Treanor, the fifth president of Virginia Western Community College, who began her term on July 1, 2025. She had succeeded Dr. Robert "Bobby" Sandel, who retired after over two decades of service, and is leading the college with a focus on institutional effectiveness, instructional quality, and student success. For dessert I had their Vanilla Cheesecake with mixed berry sauce, which had missing the fresh berries described on the menu. I had just had such an extraordinary dining experience that I didn't even mention it. Before leaving and after paying the bill with my Harvard Alumni World Mastercard, I had the opportunity of meeting the founder and co-owner of the restaurant, Olivia, and thanking her and her husband for such a wonderful dining experience I had today and always whenever I dine there.

Perfect warm, sunny day to stop by for a pint! We saw online they had a Belgian Tripel on so off we…read morewent! We also had an IPA that was delicious. Service was fairly slow, only one person behind the bar and for sure they needed two on a busy Saturday. Fortunately we had plenty of time so it was no big deal. Cousins Maine Lobster food truck was on site and lots of folks were taking advantage.

Impressive views! This is one of the few local craft breweries in the area. I had a couple IPAs and…read moreenjoyed them enough to snag some to go. Very nice people

Not a fan of big families for any number of reasons. I prefer the way plants reproduce, like by…read moregerminating seeds or even better by grafting. Seriously, or nearly so, think how much better, as compared to standard issue childbearing, grafting would work for humans, like first of all no more Lamaze breathing classes for dads (after all of which are done, many moms go for the drugs anyway). then as one generation runs out of things to do in life, rather than uproot the whole parent just insert the next generation into the trunk, thereby hopefully eliminating adolescence when most of the body develops. Fungi and molds are even better as they mature in hours, are much more resilient and easier to distribute plus they're totally anonymous: parents don't have to see how their best intentions didn't bear fruit, and their offspring have no one else to blame. the spores of these life forms are quite durable, even tolerate the conditions found in outer space. Future myco-human lifeforms could be launched by the billions from earth unceremoniously, hoping a few might land somewhere favorable to germinate rather than being sucked into and incinerated by a star. And no alphabet or arithmetic to learn in grammar school. Being a family mammal on the other hand has major downsides. an example being that if you're known to be ever-ready to venture wherever someone will buy your plane ticket, they call upon you to go see how cousin Luke or uncle Amos or whoever is doing. The boring relatives stay put back home but the black sheep migrate over the years to places you would likely not otherwise go. So it is that I was driving through central Virginia on a moonless night, on just such a family mission and frankly need a roadie, a restorative for my lagging spirits, which is why I turned off the state highway and onto a county road to see where it went, and came to this town which is how I happened onto rocky mount's finest establishment, The Alley Cat Bar. It's great to find places like this and is the reason I prefer to drive in unknown territories using old outdated AAA maps instead of gps. Not every side road exit brings you to an historic and quaintly cool town like Rocky Mount, but it's the occasional one that ends in Rocky Mount that keeps you in the wanderlust game. It' was just what I was looking for at this moment, a break from driving the dark rural Virginia roads, local music and a friendly beer crowd. I was ready. Most small towns, not much to do, so can't be too choosey but lucky here to have this place, among others by the way but none so much my kind, live music potentially a little rough around the edges crowd but, after all, it's central va. Incredible selection of beer. I missed the Tuesday nite trivia contest as well as a visit to the moonshine distillery but I had miles to go before I slept.

They are connected with the Old Town Social House which is upstairs. The Alley Cat is a dark,…read moregrungy, bar with loud music, sometimes live loud music and a very good beer selection. The food is just ok, I haven't been super thrilled by anything I've ordered from either them or the social house (same menu, same kitchen). There is a lot of seating and I can see this is popular with the locals. The chairs and tables are like cafeteria chairs and it feels very open and not like a cozy bar but like someone's basement. It's ok. If you want to listen to music while drinking some good beers it's probably not a bad place to hang out.

New owners...great food and quick service for takeout. Portions seem to be larger. Same quality. 5read more

Everything is always delicious here, from the comfort of the decor to the fantastic mango martini…read moreto the always friendly service. Their food selection and preparation are always beautifully served and yummy!!