Fiddler’s Restaurant in Abingdon is a Southern-style comfort food buffet that serves a mix of breakfast, lunch, and dinner all day. It’s located just off I-81, which makes it a frequent stop for travelers through Southwest Virginia. "The Young family has been operating restaurants in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee for over fifty years. They are committed to providing classic American favorites with outstanding customer service in a relaxed family atmosphere. Fiddler's menu offers a wide variety of appetizer, burgers, sandwiches, steaks and BBQ plus our famous all-you-can eat buffet," reads the website. They do have a menu, which offers options like burgers, fried green tomatoes and wings. But, it seemed like the buffet was far and away the most popular option. The first section of the buffet that I encountered featured broccoli, chicken fritters, potatoes, fish, carrots and fried okra. Following that, we had some mixed veggies, rolls, mac & cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes and BBQ. There were some desserts and salad options intermixed with everything else. Rather than all the hot main entrees together and then all the sides together, it was a bit more freeform. So, each section was a whole new surprise. That certainly kept it interesting. As is often the case with buffet food, heat and air exposure dry things out a little bit. Things get a little tougher. And, well, there's the general cleanliness of a handle making its way into the food itself. Overall, not a bad stop. A decent fill-up with a comfort food angle. But nothing to go out of your way for. Grade: B

Anthony's Desserts was a wonderful dessert shop in Abingdon, Virginia, that served up creative and whimsical sweets.



At the shop, there was a large case inside filled to the brim with pies, cakes, muffins, cheesecakes, brownies, cookies, pastries and more.



I picked up the following:

- strawberry tart - strawberry curd, mascspone mousse, strawberry compote

- lemon - lemon curd, blueberry compote, white cake, white chocolate mousse

- vanilla bean creme brulee

- turtle brownie



Everything was tasty, including the brownie and crème brûlée. But, there is something exciting about the strawberry dessert and lemon dessert. They feel so special and surreal - that adds to the intrigue and enjoyment.



Grade: A

The Peppermill is an Abingdon, Virginia, restaurant set in a beautiful 1900s era home with large porch.



The menu features of variety of standard American options, like sandwiches, salads, and entrées that feature pasta, salmon, and chicken.



I ordered the Shrimp Margherita: One-quarter pound of Gulf shrimp sautéed in olive oil with tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic, lemon and cracked black pepper tossed with linguini finished with Parmesan cheese



This healthy portion could have fed two people. The flavors were light and simple, but classic. Fresh tomatoes, and lemon and basil made this dish, feel bright and tasty.



Grade: B

128 Pecan in Abingdon, Virginia, is a "local, quirky, fun little restaurant with simple good food and friendly professional service," according to its website.



I ordered the crab sandwich, which was served with lettuce, tomato, tartar and lemon. I added a side of mac & cheese. I would have loved a harder sear on the outside of the crabcake to give it some texture, but the flavor was fine. The tartar traditionally would have been swapped for a remoulade. All in all, decent.



Grade: B

Cold-pressed juices, smoothies and light bites are the name of the game at White Birch Kitchen & Juice Bar. I'm typically not a green juice or wheat grass shot fan, but I can always get down with a smoothie. So, I ordered a tropical sunset smoothie. It has mango, strawberries, pineapple, banana, oat milk and orange juice. It was light and fairly sweet. The consistency was pretty thin, which is not my personal preference. Not bad overall.



Grade: B

The Girl and The Raven Cafe and Brazen Raven Coffee Roasters offers top quality coffee, southern dishes and fresh baked treats.



I ordered an iced chocolate and a bologna, bread and butter pickles, pimento cheese, and Lusty Monk Mustard sandwich.

This is a down and dirty homemade summer sandwich with a fancy upgrade of the mustard. I joke that dishes like this speak to my white trash upbringing - because despite being poor, meals like this are still delicious.



Grade: A

Zazzy'z is the coffee shop connected to The Balkan Bakery in my last post.

Housed in a beautiful home, this coffee shop has a few cozy rooms full of books, art and snacks.

I made my way back to the cafe area to look over the menu.

There were fresh-made muffins, quiche, cookies and more.

Looking over the case, I immediately knew what I wanted: crab quiche.

Have you ever had crab quiche? There was a literal entire layer of real crab. Just so delicious.

And a caramel frappuccino because there's nothing better than a caramel coffee milkshake.

Have you ever been?

While driving through Virginia and searching for something to satisfy my sweet tooth, my friend found the "Balkan Bakery."

What is a Balkan bakery, you ask? That was my question, too.

First of all, the Balkans are a geographic region in southeastern Europe. This region includes the countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Greece, and Slovenia.

So this bakery features pastries from this region.

That includes things like "burek," "strudla," "kifli," "ekleri," bread and crepes.

The Balkan Bakery is actually housed in the same building as another coffee shop, Zazzy'z.

When we walked in, I first saw the menu, and I was so excited to see lots of items I've never had before.

There was baklava, strudla (streussel), ekleri (eclairs), kilfli (croissants), bombinci (truffles), palacinki (Balkan crepes), and more.


Everything looked amazing.

I ended up trying a spinach and feta burek, which is a filo dough puffed pastry stuffed with savory ingredients.

And, I got a peanut butter balklava - which was easily the best baklava I've ever had. And it was all rolled and syrupy and amazing.

Do you have a favorite Balkan dessert?