Whether you are a Virginia Beach local or vacationing at the oceanfront, start your day by heading to a local Virginia Beach restaurant for a delicious breakfast.
When I think of my favorite breakfasts around Virginia Beach, cinnamon rolls, banana nut French toast, creamed chipped beef, crab benedict, and breakfast cocktails come to mind.
There are plenty of places to enjoy an early morning breakfast or a leisurely weekend brunch buffet.
We try to avoid chain restaurants and support local mom-and-pop restaurants around home and on vacation. So, here is our list of some of our friends and family’s favorite Virginia Beach breakfast spots. There will undoubtedly be someplace on the list that will entice you with their breakfast menu.
Table of Contents
Roosters Café and Grill
- Address: 5785 Northampton Blvd., Virginia Beach
Roosters is off most vacationers’ beaten path, but this family-owned restaurant is a local favorite and a good choice for those on a budget and with a hearty appetite.
The strip shopping center restaurant is simple, and you won’t find anything extravagant inside, but their food is delicious, and they have a wide variety of home-cooked breakfast options.
Some of our favorites are the gyro omelet, stuffed French toast, and their breakfast skillets. Try the Crabby Rooster Omelet or the Crabby Benny if you want seafood for breakfast. Be sure to check the sign out front for the daily specials before heading in.
Shelton’s Big Grill
- Address: 309 Aragona Blvd #113, Virginia Beach, VA 23462
Stop at The Big Grill in the Aragona Village Shoppes near Virginia Beach Town Center for a delicious breakfast. This locally owned restaurant is a local favorite for lunch burgers and breakfasts of corned beef hash and eggs.
The Big Grill is definitely not a fancy restaurant, but it is a great diner serving good home-cooked food.
Our favorites here are the Southwest omelet, the corned beef hash with home fries, and the crunchy French toast.
Mary’s Kitchen
- Address: 616 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
When visiting the oceanfront, a visit to Mary’s Kitchen should be on your list of breakfast stops. Just six blocks from the Atlantic Ocean, this local restaurant has been serving visitors and locals for over 60 years.
Begin your day with one of Mary’s Country Southwestern Omelets, sweet cream pancakes, or a giant waffle. They have delicious coffee, traditional Bloody Mary’s, and Mary’s Mimosas if you need a breakfast drink.
If there is a line for a table, try the counter – it is first-come, first-serve.
The Bee and The Biscuit
- Address: 1785 Princess Anne Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23456
Tucked away in 1919 cottage in Pungo Village, you will find Reviews.org’s 2019 top-rated restaurant for Virginia.
Drop your car off at the valet parking area and check in with The Bee and The Biscuit greeter. Since they take no reservations, take advantage of the seating in their beautiful garden as you wait for your table. They have games to play while you wait and an outside bar with coffee, mimosas, and Bloody Marys.
The cherry cottage offers a variety of tiny rooms on the outdoor deck, the sun porch, and in front of the fireplace.
They are known for their fresh homemade biscuits, and the menu showcases berry, orange zest, or their traditional buttermilk in many of the entrees. The all-day breakfast and lunch menu is full of delicious benedicts, omelets, sandwiches, and French toasts.
The orange zest biscuit with country ham and swiss is super popular, along with the scrambled egg whites with cheese grits. If you are looking for some delicious country ham, try the JJ’s Egg Benedict that comes with two poached eggs, grilled asparagus, and a country ham buttermilk biscuit.
If you have a sweet tooth, enjoy a humongous melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon roll for your meal to share or to take home. Your server will even write the heating directions on the box.
Doc Taylor’s Restaurant
- Address: 207 23rd St, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
This list won’t be complete without Doc Taylor’s at the oceanfront. Housed in an old beach cottage/hotel that once was a doctor’s home, the restaurant offers a lovely ambiance making this seaside restaurant a classic.
If you are a grits lover, then be sure to order some at Dock Taylor’s. Their original recipe is famous and perfectly delicious. Other favorites are Grandma Ellen’s Creamed Chipped Beef and The Heart Attach, which comes with eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, as well as a steak or pork chop.
Big Sam’s Inlet Cafe & Raw Bar
- Address: 300 Winston Salem Ave, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Along the Rudee Inlet, you will find a good mixture of locals and tourists eating breakfast at Big Sam’s Inlet Café and Raw Bar.
Even though it is just a 5-10 minute walk from the sandy oceanfront, Big Sam’s is off the beaten path within the local marinas and fishing vessels.
Any morning is an excellent day for breakfast at Big Sam’s, but Saturdays are our favorite even though it is busy and you may have to wait a little longer for your order, but the wait will be well worth it.
Our favorites are the Grandma’s pancakes that are almost as big as your plate and have won the Best Pancakes in Tidewater.
For those who enjoy a breakfast cocktail, mimosa, Bloody Mary, or breakfast shot, Big Sam’s Breakfast Happy Hour will be calling your name.
Get up early and enjoy breakfast and a beautiful sunrise as you sit overlooking the water.
Brick House Diner
- Address: 941 Providence Square Shopping Center, Virginia Beach, VA 23464
Located in the Providence Square Shopping Center, the Brick House Diner is a family-owned and operated restaurant and has a wide variety of freshly made menu options for breakfast.
Some of our favorites are the BHD Crab Benedict, with home fries, the Hash ‘n Egg Skillet, and the Brick House Big Boy Waffle Combo that includes a choice of meat, two eggs, and a choice of grits, fries, or fruit. Order one of their pancake plates and choose between blueberries, apple, or strawberry topping.
Add a delicious mimosa to your breakfast. Choose from pineapple, mango, strawberry, orange, and sunset mimosas.
They also have a second location at 580 E Main St #101, Norfolk, VA 23510.
Citrus
- Address:
- 357 North Great Neck Road, Virginia Beach
- 2265 West Great Neck Road, Virginia Beach
Just two blocks from the Chesapeake Bay, Citrus is a breakfast and lunch café that offers a large selection of delicious breakfast treats.
Some of our favorites are the citrus-glazed and pumpkin pancakes, the seafood omelet, and the soft-shelled crab Benedict. Pair your breakfast with their signature Old Bay rimmed Bloody Mary for the perfect combination.
Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives featured Citrus as one of Virginia Beach’s top places to eat. It was also named the best place for brunch in 2012 and still holds that award a decade later.
Be sure to bring your dog to this dog-friendly restaurant. As you all sit down, a water bowl, dog biscuit, and dog menu will greet your dog. Choose a meal fit for a king or queen for your dog, served on a souvenir frisbee.
The Commune
- Address: 501 Virginia Beach Blvd., Suite B, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
The Commune is a terrific option for a delicious breakfast out in Virginia Beach. This farmer-owned establishment makes all its food with fresh ingredients and care.
The restaurant features a chick-modern décor where you can enjoy enormous breakfast sandwiches, tasty organic buckwheat crepes, grit bowls, homemade Sorghum pancakes, and German Spaetzle. Whether you are a meat-eater, vegan, or vegetarian, there is plenty to choose from at this farm-to-table restaurant.
There is also a Norfolk restaurant at 759 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23510
Anchor Allie’s
- Address:
- 4701 Shore Drive, Suite 117, Virginia Beach, VA 23455
- 357 Independence Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA 23462
Anchor Allie’s is a vintage naval-themed bistro in Town Center and the Chesapeake Bay District. This tiny restaurant offers breakfast tacos, steak and eggs, and crepe-style omelets for breakfast. If heading there for brunch, you may want to go with the shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, or the tasty Monte Cristo.
They also serve breakfast cocktails that include manmosas, mimosas, and even a flight set of four different mimosas.
Java Surf
- Address: 1807 Mediterranean Ave, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Since opening its doors in 2005, Java Surf Cafe & Espresso Bar has become a local go-to place not only for a tasty breakfast, weekend brunch, or lunch out with friends.
Some of our favorite breakfasts begin with one of the open-faced bagel melts. The Lighthouse featuring Sriracha over the meat and Nirvana cheese is magnificent if you like a little kick in the morning. The fresh-squeezed orange juice is excellent if you are not a coffee drinker.
When you need to start your day off with a spiked coffee, bloody mary, mimosas, or just a regular cup of coffee, then stop in at the surf-themed coffee shop at the corner of 19th Street and Mediterranean Avenue, just blocks off the resort strip.
The Java Surf Café is the perfect place to enjoy a cup of coffee and a sandwich either inside the coffee shop or at the outdoor seating area. However, if you can’t get over to the café, call for all your provisions to be delivered.
Hair of the Dog Eatery
- Address: 4000 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 2345
The Hair of the Dog Eatery in Virginia Beach’s Loehmann’s Plaza features a variety of breakfast entires named after the area.
Our favorites are the Chesapeake Benedict, which features crab meat and old bay, The Pungo offers guests fried chicken and scrambled eggs, and a shrimp and crab omelet.
What kid wouldn’t want to eat breakfast here when they can enjoy a plate of cookie dough pancakes?
The Hair of the Dog does offer a variety of Bloody Marys, mimosas, and brunch shooters.
The Hair of the Dog also has two locations in Norfolk at 250 Granby Street, Norfolk, VA 23510, and near Old Dominion University at 4820 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk, VA 23508.
Pocahontas Pancake House
- Address: 3420 Atlantic Ave, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Since 1974 both locals and vacationers have been eating short stacks at the Oceanfront’s Pocahontas Pancake House.
One of our favorite meals here is the Pecan Pancakes. However, the menu features so many options, including 12 kinds of pancakes, ten different Belgian waffles, more than two dozen omelets, and five French toast varieties. They also have a great selection of tasty breakfast sandwiches and wraps.
During the summer, be prepared for a line along the sidewalk waiting for a table to open up. The food is worth the wait that you will find yourself waiting in it day after day.
Other Tasty Breakfast Spots in Virginia Beach
Egg Bistro
- Address:
- 2129 General Booth Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA 23454
- 1033 Independence Blvd., Virginia Beach, VA 23455
Rick’s Cafe
- Address: 1612 Virginia Beach Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23454
Tupelo Honey
- Address: 4501 Main St, Virginia Beach, VA 23462
Rudee’s
- Address: 227 Mediterranean Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Waterman’s
- Address: 415 Atlantic Avenue, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Chix on the Beach
- Address: 701 Atlantic Ave, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Baker’s Crust
- Address:
- 1628 Laskin Road, Ste. 704, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
- 3388 Princess Anne Road, Ste. 311, Virginia Beach, VA 23456
The Butcher’s Son Chop House
- Address: 1556 Laskin Rd Suite 134, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Bay Local Eatery
- Address:
- 2917 Shore Dr, Virginia Beach, VA
- 972 Laskin Road Ste A, Virginia Beach, VA
Redhead Bay Cafe
- Address: 605 Princess Anne Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23457
Simple Eats
- Address: 3152 Shore Dr, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Becca’s Restaurant
- Address: 4200 Atlantic Ave, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Sunnyside Cafe and Restaurant
- Address: 508 Atlantic Ave, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Norfolk, VA Breakfast Spots
We couldn’t leave out a couple of our favorites in neighboring Norfolk
Handsome Biscuit
- Address: 2511 Colonial Ave, Norfolk, VA 23517
D’egg
- Address: 204 E Main St Norfolk, VA 23510
Starving Artist Cafe
- Address: 4408 Colley Ave, Norfolk, VA 23508
