Food For Thought — Restaurant in Williamsburg

Typically Food for Thought is usually so crowded you have to wait quite a while (I'd suggest reservations), but due to the pandemic, I was seated immediately in the socially distanced dining room. The parking lot fills up and overflow is in Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. Do NOT park in the restaurant on the other side, they WILL tow you.

I thought it interesting, from a philosophical standpoint that among children's books about Marie Curie, Einstein, and Ghandi, there was not one, but two books about/by Ayn Rand for sale in the lobby--hmmm. I thought it was an interesting choice, a controversial author for a restaurant, but I soldiered on. At the end of the evening, I noticed a definite Libertarian bent to the books on the shelves and particularly the merch. There are inspiring quotes from famous historical people of various philosophies. There are also biographical sketches of folks like Henry Ford, George Washington Carver, and the Wright Brothers. In these days of polarization, it was notable how wide ranging the philosophies represented were, but again, the Libertarian overtones were undeniable. Most restaurants are shades of white, FFT has bead board wainscot and colorful walls: navy, a dim turquoise, and a burnt red. Each table had a bud vase of fresh mini carnations and baby's breath. There were diners ranging in age from infants to senior. They play light jazz and blues, not too loud, nor is the dining room too brightly lit. That was nice.

When they seat you, you get a menu, specials, and a bar menu. Later, they will offer you a dessert menu. Soft drinks are Coke products. They bring very, VERY soft rolls with crisped parmasean(?) on top and a slice of corn bread. They offer both sweet cream butter and Smart Balance. The butter was quite cold and hard to spread on the ultra soft rolls, but it was delicious.

I ordered the Panko-encrusted Haddock with lemon cream sauce. It came with two sides: the asparagus with lemon butter (on special but could be ordered with the meal at apparently no addition cost) and the mashed sweet potato. The meal arrived quite quickly, half way through the cornbread. The fish portion was large, and done to perfection at the thick end (as it cooled, it was a bit crunchy at the thin end--eat from the thin end! ), overall, quite decent compared to to how baked fish often is in restaurants. There were about 6 asparagus spears, and they looked a little skimpy on the plate. There was no presentation for the mashed sweet potato, just a scoop in a small dish. The fish and asparagus were lightly swished with sauce in a zig zag pattern. I'm not sure this was a great choice as the sauce seeped into the panko, making the panko, which should be very crisp, kind of soggy. Still, that's sort of nitpicky, both sauces were delicious and well made, the consistency was perfect, the taste a light and pleasant note. All in all, it was quite enjoyable for a midrange restaurant.

The service was attentive, a drink refill appeared magically. I asked for "no ice" in my drink and it was served as I requested. I noticed the busser as he cleaned the table next to mine, sanitizing not only the table, but the booth seat and extra chair.

There are 4 dessert offerings, but at least one is vegan and gluten-free, the raspberry hazelnut torte. However, it does contain coconut which is a common allergen. The menu did not mention that. It was delicious for the one bite I took of it. I noticed the coconut immediately and called the staff, who were very solicitous. Then I had to take Benedryl and monitor an allergic reaction, which thankfully was not severe. The assistant manager was apologetic, but if you have severe allergies, ASK about what you are ordering. FFT is reportedly very good about food allergies, but I didn't ask.

Supper was $26 including soft drink and 20% tip. Management removed the torte from my bill.

A very nice meal for the price range in a pleasant environment, but perhaps one that wears its politics a bit too much on its...

2024 July 7 we had a 2:45pm reservation, we arrived around 3pm, parking lot was almost full, parked our vehicles and by the time I walked in, we were being seated, so no wait time to sit down from what I experienced. Our group of 20 people were seated at 3 tables. 2 different servers. The table that was seated first received their drinks and entrees first. The other 2 tables were a bit slower ordering, sitting down and getting our drinks and entrees. While eating, the manager came to speak to us; a very attractive lady wearing a nice dress. My wife felt a bit rushed by the waiter/server because he preferred to take the orders from one side of the table and go around the table in a clockwise motion and my wife had to deal with our daughter that was not feeling well during the time of taking orders. The server warned us that he got another table and must take our order immediately. My opinion, the food was good and the service was good but the server didn't have to backtalk my wife, the customer is always right. It seems as though we were in and out a few minutes over an hour.

2018 October 28 our group of 8 people was seated immediately near the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon even though the parking lot was full, received service, drink and food immediately, a few mistakes were made with our orders and a few had to wait longer to get their food, so the manager got involved (without us asking for the manager), she took plates and asked if we wanted dessert, she was super friendly and personable, and she took plates and served dessert and the orders that had mistakes earlier. Really really nice experience!

2017 November 15 get in and get out for lunch, that's the way I like it! Fork Tender Pot Roast was okay, corn bread is always good, bread tastes good too!

2017 September 18 had lunch, Veronica was an excellent server, meatloaf was good

2017 August 31 Thursday dinner, wow, service was good and quick, seated us immediately, ordered appetizer and entree, we ate and left within 30 minutes!

2017 August 13, Sunday meal after church, wow, service was good and quick, seated us within 10 or 15 minutes, bread and butter were good and the turkey lunch/dinner special was so good!

2017 April 1, Saturday morning, parking lot looked full, got inside, seated at table immediately, no wait, waitress arrived at table, placed order immediately, breakfast arrived at table within 10 or 15 minutes, ate breakfast, paid and left. Freshly squeezed orange juice has to be the best I ever tasted, it tasted like I was eating an orange and it took me a while to drink because all the pulp, fullness and realness of the orange was there (in a glass)!!! 2 eggs and sausage patties hit the spot. Thank you! FYI, this is definitely NO April's fool joke/post.

2017 February 19, Sunday afternoon food and service were excellent! Arrived, parking lot was full, 2 people walked in before us, they were seated immediately, we had to wait only 10 minutes, we ordered immediately after sitting down and our meal arrived 10 minutes later. Meatloaf was excellent. Everyone else enjoyed their food, too.

2016 (8 months prior) Sunday afternoon food and service was great! We had 15 people in our group and we got our food and drinks very fast, and it...

At first glance you think it's packed because of the small parking area but it's bigger than you think. The ambiance of this place is spectacular. When you walk in the door, you are greeted with a movie mystery theater-type ambiance. The wait staff was friendly, and my waiter, Eric, was AMAZING. It was super awesome for explaining the menu for my first time here and super fast. The bread was OMG great! Parmesan bread and sweet potato corn bread.... OH MY! I was almost finished with bread when I realized I didn't have butter, but to be honest, they didn't need it. Eric was on it, though! Before I asked, he was already on the way. I ordered what he told me was his favorite the STICK TO YOUR RIBS SNACKER.. but this bread had me hooked. The ribs came smothered! And were perfectly complimented with the sauce and were INDEED, LITERALLY fall off the bone. My mimosa wasn't presented very well, but it definitely hit the much needed drink spot. To be honest, I didn't think twice about the way it looked as I was eating my ribs. I see why it's a favorite... TGIF! You've got competition lol this might be my new favorite tasting ribs for the price. For the price and what you get, it's totally worth it. For my second drink lol I ordered the lavender Margarita.... did I mention the ribs were an appetizer that hit like a full meal! Beware when ordering your main dish. This second drink! BAYBEEEE! Wooo! IT came looking like a Rockstar. Lavender crystals, orange and lime, and a REAL leaf of lavender... they are trying to put me to sleep! Lol. My food comes out, and I think the actual chef delivered it because it looked over delicious..... UNTIL I SAW... THE MUSHROOMS 🍄 NOOOOO....I did say no mushrooms... it was almost a tragedy but Eric came over and comically handled the situation and even offered more bread which I HAD to sadly say no to because I was getting full and hadn't even had the main meal. He whisked away my meal with no delay and said, "I'll be right back." To be honest, I was relieved as it gave me some time to digest my food lol and drink my drink, lol The second plate came out piping hot and looking better than the first, and I got to keep this one! The dish overall was great but was a little overwhelmed with the amount of green and red peppers... I would've liked a more down-home taste, but It was filling! I had to take the rest to go! I also ordered a full dish of ribs to go..... no cooking tonight, and for my picky eater, I think this will be a great treat.. no bone to work around! I was too full for dessert, but I took home the raspberry hazelnut torte! Food for thought makes me think about coming back! I can't believe I've driven past this place so many times and never...