Paul B.'s Profile

This place is still great. We've been several more times since the first review. One thing I wanted to add was their chili con carne. Man, this stuff is GOOD! It's dark and rich and beefy and smoky and tastes like it's been simmering away all day. Go try it right now. I usually get half of my trusty Reuben and a cup of chili.

Cake Donuts. I know what you're thinking: "Meh." Cake donuts are usually the ones left over when you wander into a donut shop at 5:00 p.m. They're dry and sort of cardboard-y.

Well, let me tell you that Duck Donuts will change your mind about cake donuts. They make them fresh all day right in front of you. You can watch these amazing little magical automatic donut machines churning out batch after batch of fresh, soft, , moist, rich, delicious donuts.

But wait, it gets even better: they have about a dozen different toppings you can choose. Chocolate and vanilla icing, traditional glazed, chopped peanuts, shredded coconut, sprinkles, you name it. And you can stand right there and order exactly what you want, and then watch them make up your order.

We had an issue at times when we would say something like "I'd like a dozen with mixed toppings--you choose what they have on them." We tended to end up with a dozen glazed donuts. We learned quickly to take the time to spell out exactly what we wanted. It gets a little tedious sometimes. However, we addressed the issue through the recently established Duck Donuts Facebook page, and they responded very quickly to rectify the issue. My advice: the first time you go, just fly by the seat of your pants and pick whatever looks good. (and believe me, it's all good). While you're waiting for your order, grab a stack of blue order forms and take them home with you. That way you can get a consensus on what everyone wants before you even leave, and then hand over the form at the register. Very simple.

Overall, you can't go wrong at Duck Donuts (we've had great experiences at the Kitty Hawk location as well). You'll always meet smiling faces and cheerful people, which makes for a great start to the day. Oh, and the donuts are pretty good too.

This is a good, standard, slightly upscale seafood restaurant. The interior is open and airy. Every table has a view of the sound. We went early on a Sunday evening and it was very quiet. Our server was very friendly and attentive.

We started with the evening's featured appetizer: Mahi Mahi fingers battered in a coconut batter and deep fried. They were served with a unique--and addictive--cucumber and sweet chili sauce. The fish was crispy and hot and perfectly cooked (it was very tender and juicy, but not great our soggy at all). The sauce had a great sweet/hot/cool combination.

My wife had the signature salad topped with yellowfin tuna cooked to order. It had mixed greens, goat cheese, walnuts, and a sweet raspberry vinaigrette.

I had market yellowfin tuna steak  marinated in garlic and herbs. I ordered it medium rare and it was more like medium, but it was still very tender, juicy, and far from overcooked.

Overall, Miller's Waterfront is great. If you're accustomed to the kind of seafood restaurant that's widely available on the Outer Banks, Miller's is the top of the heap.

Probably the biggest draw is the fact that they have a smoking section that's sanctioned under the new Virginia law that requires smokers to be cloistered in a closed area with a separate ventilation system.

The food is nothing special. It's typical salad/sandwich-type stuff.

My biggest gripe is the fact that the last time I went, I was with some friends and we had separate checks. Each of us payed cash, but I needed change. The server came and took our money and we sat and talked a while longer. Finally someone asked, "What are we waiting for?" "My change," I said. We all became keenly aware that the waitress had given herself a $5 tip on a $10 check. It might even have been OK, except that she was rather gruff and not particularly attentive.

A word of advice: use a card when you go here, or very specifically say "I need change" when you pay.

It's interesting that a Ledo franchise should open in Front Royal, since their pizza is so much like that at the The Melting Pot, a "Fro Ro" staple. It's rectangular, thin crust pizza with a variety of fresh toppings. We've been here half a dozen times or so and we've always gotten the Ledo Deluxe pizza, and it's consistently good. The Deluxe is absolutely smothered with all kinds of classic pizza toppings. Other perennial favorites are the calamari appetizer, and the fried ravioli appetizer.

Everyone wants to find a good, honest mechanic. This is the place. I always ask for an estimate and I always get a call within 24 hours outlining what needs to be done and how much it will cost. They're very flexible and easy to work with if your schedule makes it difficult to pick up your vehicle.

Awesome, greasy, cheesy cheese steaks. Hot, crispy fries. Delicious, thick shakes. And the best part: cheez whiz. That's right you can get a real "Philly-style" cheese steak with whiz. So good.

Great prices and great, classic "subs & pizza" fare. Number one take away: the fries are always perfectly cooked: hot, golden brown and crispy. A very close second place (maybe even a tie for first): cheese steaks have that great meaty flavor, gooey provolone cheese (sorry, Philly, no cheese whiz), sweet caramelized onions, and earthy sauteed mushrooms.

I've only tried the cheese pizza, but it seems like decent "New York style" stuff, with huge, floppy, foldable slices.

The Crab Pot is a classic beach dive. It's little more than a big screened porch with open rafters and unfinished wood. We've ordered steamed shrimp and hush puppies to go from the Crab Pot for three years in a row now and they've always been excellent.

You may ask what authority I have to comment on the restaurant if all I've done is get carry out. You see, I always volunteer to go pick up the food, so that while I'm waiting I can order a Corona and sit a while.

The decor is unmistakably irreverent, with all manner of signs, posters, bumper stickers, and license plates stuck to the walls and ceiling. You place your order and get a number, then make your way to the bar to grab some refreshment. Have a seat and read the walls, or people watch. Then when your number is called, dig in. The shrimp is always very heavily spiced (the way I like it) and the hush puppies are crispy and sweet.

Situated across Highway 12 from Jeanette's Pier, Sam and Omies hosts whatever ghosts escaped the old pier when it was destroyed by Hurricane Isabel in 2003. You don't have to look closely to see that this place was a haunt of all the old fishermen, and it's managed (passably) to remake itself into a more tourist-friendly dive.

Clearly the biggest draw is the food. The waitstaff has retained the gruff banter and no-nonsense attitude that was no doubt appreciated by pier patrons. The walls are adorned with impressive (and sometimes grisly) photos of proud fishermen, exhausted from a night of battling monsters from the deep, grinning next to their bloody prizes.

The breakfast menu seems sparse at first. You find yourself wishing you could get three eggs with your pancakes. And what if you want a side of bacon? Where are the sides? When your waitress arrives, you timidly ask if you can get three eggs instead of two. "We can make whatever you want," she replies, more a dismissal than an invitation.

The beauty of old joints like Sam and Omie's is this: they thrive on regulars. I'm fairly certain that at one time, the menus were rarely used, substituted instead with a simple "The Usual."

So, if you're looking for good short order breakfast on the Outer Banks, try Sam and Omie's. Gruff it up a bit. Give your waitress some lip. Maybe if you go every day, by the end of your week's vacation the waitress will see you walk in the door and ask if you want The Usual.