As I am a beach person, I love the beachy colors and and vibe of Big Lick. I have eaten there…read morebefore but not for a long time and I can tell you that the fried shrimp was outstanding. I rarely say anything is outstanding but the shrimp were perfectly fried, not overly breaded or tough. And the portion size was more than generous! Their fries were the perfect texture of crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Sooo good! My husband ordered chicken quesadilla and said that they were the best he's ever had. Our waitress was very friendly and attentive. If I had to say anything negative, it would be that the silverware was on the cheap side but the food was so good, it didn't really detract from the dining experience. So glad we decided to go there. It is definitely my new go to place for shrimp. The only thing missing was the ocean.

Hi I was just in town for my rockstar metal punk tour and I stopped here after performing at the…read moreAmphitheater. Ever since my experience at zipps I have had a rough time adjusting to the grill setting and sometimes panic a bit when eating at various restaurants. I walked into this grill fully expecting a rough time on my end and all of the trauma rushing back like a water stream on a windy day; but the second I stepped into the grill I felt a overwhelming yet relaxing weight get lifted off of my shoulder as if I had been drowned my whole life and just got a moment to breathe at the Big Lick Tropical Grill. As I venture through my life I see more and more I do not fit in many places and often have a rough time; for the system society has built is only a cookie cutter for what a man should to be. I walked into the Big Lick Tropical Grill with an expectation, an expectation that I would have a good dining experience and tasty food. but the more and more I look back at my time from Big Lick Tropical Grill the more it seems that there is something truly special about that place, something I have never felt before such as a second of peace or a genuine human. I would like to say this is the best grill I have been to and ever will go to, if only i could move to the small town of Lynchburg but my rockstar lifestyle prevents me. Big Lick Tropical Grill has changed the way I view the world and perceive human interaction, from the bottom of my heart I love this place and highly recommend

Nice waterfront restaurant nestled in with an RV park, rental cabins and a very large marina. You…read morecan sit inside or outside, it was 90plus and humid so we ate inside. The place is clean and bright with great views of the lake and boats. We arrived at 5:15 and were immediately seated. The waitress was very friendly and knowledgeable. She made a dinner recommendation that my wife took and enjoyed. She had the fish and chips and I had a NY strip steak. Both meals were served hot and were delicious. We had peel and eat shrimp appetizer with house margaritas which were also delicious. For dessert we had what they advertised as a "deconstructed pie", basically a nice slice of key lime pie served in a mason jar. It was very good and served so uniquely. Overall we enjoyed the experience and the meal.

They made my party of Church ladies wait a half an hour for a table and we had a woman who was over…read more90 with us. When we finally got a table, there was literally no one in the restaurant at all.

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.

Our new favorite seafood restaurant for the Roanoke Valley. The ambiance inside has the Old Salem…read morefeel with exposed brick walls, painted metal ceilings and restored original wood floor. Staff including Samantha was very friendly and had the southern charm. Unlike the menu online at yelp they had the choose your two favorite seafoods broiled or fried. Leslie had shrimp bowl with rice, which had many amazing flavors including pickled onion, pineapple salsa, sautéed shrimp with sweet chillis sauce. The hush puppies came with hot honey butter. Delicious and reasonably priced for the area.

Today was my first time eating at this restaurant and although I love their Downtown Roanoke…read morelocation one, and have giving it 5 Star reviews, this one I feel deserves only 2 Stars at best and that's giving it too many because I feel it's one of the worst Seafood restaurants I've ever eaten at. From the time I arrived at their parking lot that where I parked was not even paved but full of rocks and dirt, I started questioning in my mind, how would it be inside. When I entered through their back door, it was their bar area and some high tables and chairs for people to eat in that area, but I didn't see anyone to greet you nor a sign to say "Seat Yourself." So I kept walking forward. There were a couple of pool tables along the way with customers playing pool. When I reached up front, the Host wasn't at the Host station but as I waited there standing up, one of the servers came by, greeted me, and took me to one of the booths. She handed me a copy of the menu which you could tell were run down around the edges. Only the Summer Food Specials one was in good condition. To drink I ordered a Sweet Iced Tea. It tasted watered down and had no lemon slice in it. Yet the server was so nice that I felt sorry for her because she had nothing to do with the quality of the drinks nor the food prepared there. The ambiance of the place was Ok, but not as nice as the one in Downtown Roanoke. I didn't like that other than the booths all their tables and chairs were the high kind. Another thing, my favorite item in their Downtown Roanoke restaurant menu was not even in their menu here. I invite you to read and view my photographs and video of their Downtown Roanoke restaurant to see the difference. For food I ended up ordering the Piggyback Scallops (bacon wrapped Scallops) and as the main course, their Seafood Platter with fried Jumbo Golf Shrimps and Cod Fillet, with rice pilaf and onion rings as side, and it also came with two Hushpuppies. My server goes back to put the order and next time I see her she is bringing me my main course and forgetting about my appetizer. When I mentioned it to her she tells me she'll go put the order in now. To be brief the Cod Fish was the only item that looked and tasted fresh. The shrimps where somewhat soggy, the onion rings looked awful, the rice pilaf was lukewarm and the Hushpuppies were burnt outside and raw inside. The scallops didn't taste fresh wrapped in mostly raw bacon. I asked for tater tots as a replacement for the onion rings, and even them were not cooked well. And if this wasn't enough, my Keylime Pie I ordered was not fresh. It was mushy like if it had been left out for a while. I invite you to view my photographs because a picture is work a thousand words. After I paid and was leaving and walked by the kitchen I glanced in and it didn't look that clean to put it nicely. Then when I went to the restroom to wash my hands it was also not very clean. I felt I wasted my money there and wouldn't recommend this restaurant nor plan to return.

The pastrami sandwiches are delicious!!! Tuna salad was ok, it's made with sweet dill…read more There is also a small section on the deck outback that was pet friendly (very small, 3 tables). Good service. Casual atmosphere. Location on the most deck/level in the shopping center.

The food was ok. This place gets pretty busy. We tried yesterday, but there was a line out the…read moredoor. We managed to get in for lunch today. The Ruben was ok. The seating and waitstaff were good.

Great setting with a variety of seating (high tops, low tops & picnic tables) outside. Dogs are…read moreclearly welcome. And ours appreciated the pets from our server. It's next to a small playground and new amphitheater, so I'm sure this place gets quite busy on weekends. We all enjoyed our lunches; just unfortunate that it took well over a half hour to receive them. Since we were traveling home to OH, we weren't too keen for a laid back lunch.

So there were a few good things and a few things that to be improved…read more Pros - It's in a great location. Terrific ambiance. We got seated much more quickly than we thought. One person in our party said her salad had the best dressing she's ever had. The fried pickles were good. The shrimp was good. One bartender was good. Cons - We walked in and basically weren't sure what to do. There was a woman at we thought was a hostess stand, but she never said anything to us. We finally asked if we needed to check in with her to get seated. We did. But it was kind of weird. One bartender was awful. Never made eye contact. Wouldn't take any orders. Acted like she wanted to be anywhere else. I thought the Caesar salad was ok. It came with lacquered salmon. I would have loved the salmon, but not lacquered. It couldn't be made to order. Ok fine. I ordered it the way it was described. There was nothing lacquered about that salmon. It also was shredded on top of the salad and was maybe two ounces. That's ridiculous. Our server wasn't very helpful and not very attentive. I'm sure many people have had great experiences there, but I'm not sure I would take the time to go back.

Best mix of easy boat access, live music, cold beverages, and grilled food on the lake. Love the…read morefrozen drinks with a rum topper!

Wings are amazing, drinks are cold and on time and staff are friendly. We love this place!read more

Food was great and service too Chili burger was big and…read moredelicious Fries had good seasoning Chicken wings were good also

We were seated outside with 28 people. The manager gave us one server. The sender was great, but…read morealone. Meanwhile inside they had many more servers. It took over 45 minute to get drinks and 90+ minutes for food. The manager should be fired for not distributing servers for a larger group. Do NOT come here with a group and do not come here if you have less than 90 minutes to eat. I had to give a1 star, wanted to give a zero.