Repeal Bourbon & Burgers — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

I was on a mission, a mission to have one of the best burgers in Virginia Beach. It's been a while since I've been down to the oceanfront. Especially the area called 'The Block', which encompasses the space between 21st & 22nd street and Atlantic & Pacific Avenues. I think the last time I spent any real time down here was a bar crawl about 5 years ago.

I parked over in the free city parking which used to the the Dome back in the day. It's a little bit of a walk, but it beats the meter. Back in the mid 90's this area was my stomping grounds for a few years. I was fresh out of the Navy and going to TCC. As I walked past the businesses on Atlantic Ave I can see that a lot has changed since then, and a lot hasn't. The bars I used to frequent are all gone and replaced by... well the exact same thing. Only now a days you can't buy pizza slice at a window. Good job City of VB. Way to win over the locals.

But I digress.

I rounded the corner onto 22nd where the Quick Food Mart is still standing and walked into Repeal Bourbons and Burgers. From my first step in the door I had a good felling about the place. The lights were dim and an old blues song could be heard playing on the house system. I looked to my right and booths were mostly full of folks enjoying their lunch. I decided to take a seat a the bar and take a look around. The joint definitely has the air of an old speakeasy. Haze grey walls on the bar side and the dining room side has a kinda crumbled rock with a rust colored paint job. Between the bar and the dining room is a community table that's propped up on old whisky barrels. The furniture is black. Like I said, it looks like a speakeasy. The bar is full of whisky bottles. Take your pick, your favorite is probably there. I prefer Woodford Reserve and found it right away.

The bartender, and I think the only person working the entire floor, immediately brought over a menu and asked what I would like to drink. He let me know they had Pepsi products there, however when I asked for a Mt. Dew they didn't carry it. I opted for some tea because it was just to early to be sipping whiskey. But I did look over the whisky menu. The font half has all the regular drinks you know and love, Rob Roy, Bowery Boy, etc. The back side how to make your own mix. Pretty cool idea.

For lunch I ended up ordering the a burger called 'The Prohibition' which comes with the following. Surry County Bacon, Free Range Over Easy Egg, Cheddar Cheese, Swiss Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato and Onion. For fries I just ordered them regular. I know, I know, I could have had seasoned fries, however the pain fries were just as good. They're beer battered and excellent with just a touch of salt.

In no time at all my lunch was in front of me and the burger was cooked exactly as I had asked, medium well. Repeal takes pride in it's food. The burger looked as delicious as it smelled and the portions were excellent for the price. Since this was breakfast as well as lunch for for me, the burger didn't stand a chance. The taste was excellent, especially with the fried egg included. Prohibition is over and that burger and fries was gone in record time.

I wish I could have stuck around a bit longer but I had things to do. But I'll be back soon... I...

Let me first start with the positive. My husband's burger was cooked to perfection, not the best burger, but definitely good. The wait staff was amazing! I got a salad and fries with truffle parm. Which were great, but the size was that of a small fries from a fast food joint for $4.00. The burgers are aprox 17.00. My husband got a beer that the staff recommended,come in at $8, on tap. My salad was 9.00 and had 4 thin slices of tomato and 6 thin slices of cucumbers and one slice with onion pull apart to make rings on the top. The Romaine was the white and yellow inner core which was tasteless if not a bit on the bitter side. This is a burger joint/ bar and I don't expect much from a salad here. The dressing which was Blue cheese was prepped in advance and stored in condiment size plastic, the issue was it had sat so long it has seperated, and had a thin layer of salad oil and appeared slightly more yellow than blue chesse dressings usual shade. Now for the not so nice, which I hate to do. Let me explain the establishment in depth. The outside seating is contructed of old 2x4 wood painted Dark brown that the paint looks old and dated and in no way appears comfortable. This does not serve them well as we debated by the outdated appearance what the inside would hold. Inside is a very small establishment that makes great use of the Sq footage they have. It has a very dark, hole in the wall feel, but not trendy. The kitchen which is small cranks out an enormous amount of food in a confined space, they appear to be very efficient. Which means to combat the heat of the kitchen the ductwork over the tables blasts customers with icy cold air. The room temp itself was nice, but my husband noticed other customers that sat under vents crossing their arms with shoulders tensed. And during our meal asked if I was alright. I had it blowing on my back, so it was only a little uncomfortable, but I couldn't wait to move out of vents cold air. I imagine if you sit at the bar this would be extremely pleasant. I could see us returning to pick up take out for the burgers. The burgers I would recommend. Expect to spend $20-30.00 per person for a...

Normally I wait and write a ton of reviews when I'm bored at home procrastinating doing what I should be doing, BUT, this place was so good I'm writing after we left right now. First, the atmosphere was very chill, the bartenders were friendly as soon as we walked in. Love that the menu is small and adequately prohibition themed. Ordered our drinks (Planter's Punch and The Southside) and the only word to describe them both is SMOOOOTH... And good! We had the Pork Belly Burnt Ends to start (highly recommend) followed by the Pugilist and the Huntsman burgers. We also had the Chef's choice brussel sprouts, truffle mac n cheese, and bacon dust fries. The Pugilist had the perfect amount of blue cheese to not over power but enhance the beef flavor, the garlic aioli paired well enough I didn't need any additional condiments. I tasted the hubs Huntsman burger, and although I'm not a fan of elk, I'll admit I'd take a few more bites! I absolutely do NOT eat brussel sprouts so can not personally vouch for them but the hubs is adamant they were delicious. The only "complaint" I can say from start to end is the macaronis were a little softer for my liking (I'm a big al dente fan), but the flavor more than made up for it, I will be ordering it again. And finally ... The bacon dusted fries... The menu doesn't state they are CANDIED BACON dusted fries (I would have ordered two), so I was very pleasantly surprised with the first bite I had to slowly much to savor them throughout the meal.

TLDR, I'm a huge fan, 12/10 will be back the...