Hi Neighbor Country Restaurant
192 W. King St.
Strasburg, VA 22657
540-465-9187
www.hineighborva.com

American | $

Hiding in plain sight on Strasburg’s main street is the ultimate small town comfort food restaurant. This gem goes largely un-noticed by visitors in town for antiques and the wonderful local museum. That changed when the article Best of the Blue Ridge mentioning Hi Neighbor Restaurant appeared in the October 2014 issue of Saveur Magazine. Not long after seeing the article we were in Strasburg and stopped in.

Functional over fancy is just fine with us.

No cappuccino machine in sight so for me it all started with black coffee.

One of the first things I saw walking in was a plate of the Southern staple sausage gravy over biscuits being served. The sausage gravy perfectly combined savory sweet sausage and smooth creamy gravy. Sausage gravy is a dish made from equal parts quality smoky sausage and a gravy, mixed to a perfect consistency that is neither watery nor thick as porridge. If one element is off the other falls. If you are new to this dish and want to be a fan this is the place to try it.

The pancake side covered much of the plate and was not super fluffy or doughy.

Good home-made corned beef hash is scarce today. Hash has been going downhill since Hormel started cramming it in cans back in the fifties. I know most corned beef hash I see on menus comes out of a can so I avoid it. Because I knew everything here was home-made with fresh ingredients I could not wait to try it. The corned beef, peppers, onions, and potatoes mix was perfectly balanced with the flavor of the corned beef foremost.

Two pieces of sweet moist buttery cornbread came with the meal.

My wife chose a special of Fried Catfish topped with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and mushrooms. She said the lightly breaded catfish was just right. She also loved her sides.

This delicious never been frozen banana cream pie was wonderful and a great way to finish the meal.

Owners Sam and Pat Mumper have done a wonderful job of creating a cozy neighborhood restaurant with high quality home-cooked food. Sam learned his craft working under French Chef Roger Mallet and Swiss-born Chef René Debon. After coming to town to work at the Hotel Strasburg in the 1990s Sam and Pat bought the restaurant in 1995.

When you are out in the northern Shenandoah Valley don’t forget Hi Neighbor Restaurant in downtown Strasburg. It’s the best place around for fresh affordable home-cooked meals.