The day I never hoped to see. Blacksburg is losing an institution. Congrats to Hamid for his 37 years of service to the community. #Hokies pic.twitter.com/YEy4tQ8iUs— Damian Salas (@vthokie) December 5, 2023
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For some reason never managed to make it there during the last 10 years I've been going there as an adult. Someone should check on Joe though.
Really enjoyed their sub rolls. Sad to see another icon like Mike's Grill go away.
Are there any good places left from before say 1990 anymore in Blacksburg? What's the oldest restaurant in town now?
It's been so long. Souvlakis comes to mind.
Souvlaki is still a go to for me and my crew every time we're in town.
I ate there two weeks ago. It's as good as ever and Mike is as cranky as ever per the staff lol
Souvlakis...brought a smile to my face. Thank you.
The Cellar is still there, although it was called Greeks in the 70s and 80s. Not sure when it switched names.
Love their Greek spaghettis.
Hokie House?
Last I checked still going strong.
😭
Fuck this week in particular
NOOOOOOO GOD DAMNIT
I was there in November, quality has gone down.
At least he is retiring and not going under
Tough to hear. Got a lot of business from cadets tired of Schultz
FTFY from someone who slummed in Major Bill back in the day.
I cut my teeth hard in the GIS lab in Major Bill. But without it I wouldn't be where I'm at in my career today.
or us in Shanks...
There's one right next to my house now, always transplants me right back to Blacksburg when I walk in
Yeah, we have one down here in Charleston. Never knew it was a chain until I moved here. It's still the only other one I've seen outside of the Burg though.
The first location was in Sumter so they have quite a few SC locations. I also had to look that up when I saw my first one in Camden SC I was very confused.
Shultz, Mikes, Sycamore, Homeplace, Boudreaux's, now Sub Station. And I'm probably missing a few. Only been ten years since graduation.
I went to Homeplace once and I thought I died and went to heaven. That was back in 90. Hindsight....kind of glad I didn't go back a second time, as it probably wouldn't have been as good as the first. That meal was amazing.
Kind of like the second trip to Mardi Gras. I had fun, don't get me wrong, but it was nowhere as good as the first.
I'd like to start by reminding everyone that unpopular opinions are allowed and please don't downvote me into oblivion.
Homeplace was pretty good food at a decent value, but was WAY overhyped. It just seemed like someone doing an okay imitation of meals that my grandma (from down the road in Ironto) made when I was growing up. They did poor Appalachian country food for rich Nova city kids that didn't know any better.
Grew up in beautiful PG County MD. Started earning my own money in the 4th grade. Had a Washington Post paper route all four years of HS and either played a HS sport or worked at night during HS. Bought my own car. Bought my own skiing equipment and paid for all of my skiing trips including once to Vail. Paid for half my college. Paid for fraternity dues. Served my country in the United States Army Infantry. Have ate enough food and have been cultured enough to know better. Agree your view of Homeplace is your opinion but for the Country Bumpkin chip on your shoulder comment about some type folk you assume don't know better is bullshit just like your disclaimer in your first paragraph. I won't down vote you. I let my words speak for themselves.
Clearly I struck a nerve, which was not my intent. Tone doesn't always come across great in writing.
The disclaimer was tongue in cheek to preempt the "must not downvote opinions" comments/memes that often follow comments contrary to majority public opinion on the site. Fairly common, especially in OT threads. Joke whiffed, I'm okay with it.
The comparison I made was not intended to call into question the taste, knowledge, or socioeconomic background of the
carpetbagging Yankeesmajority demographic of the VT student body when I attended from 2010-2014. Just so happens most of the people I went with to Homeplace were more upper middle class who'd spent their whole lives in large metro areas, so that's the demo that came to mind when drawing a distinction between what I expected the food to be like vs what it was. The argument was against the hype, not the people hyping.Seconded. It wasn't great, especially when you had to wait forever to get a table.
During my time at Tech, from 2010-14, I'd argue that the wait had become part of the business model. They had games and open space outside to keep people busy, but they had to know most of their traffic was going to be groups (some usually very large) that made the 30 minute drive from Tech and didn't really have any option but to wait.
I think the single biggest factor that boosts people's opinion of Homeplace and nostalgia for it, was probably the company you were with and the fact that it was kind of an event to make that trek out. I always enjoyed going out there, I liked Homeplace, loved the drive, but it's not a place I'd go out of my way for the food.
Plus don't forget the announcer calling out party names "Smyyythe Fer faour and uh hyychayyyyr" I loved that guy!
Yeah but come on, man. Having a Southern Memaw is a food cheat code. Not really fair to compare Southern food produced for a price in an industrial kitchen to food you got down home for free. It's never gonna be as good, haha.
For what it was, the Homeplace did just fine in my eyes.
source: my Honaker-born, Roanoke-raised, 93 year old grandmother who made some of the most memorable feasts of my youth
I ate there several times and really enjoyed it each time. I was also semi-famous amongst my friends for how much I could eat despite being more on the wiry side of a build.
Yeah. I must have gone there on a good day.
Well, some stuff I can see being more of a particular taste. Like the cured ham that was tasty but salty (like the kind that is salt cured and hung to dry until all the moisture is pulled out). I definitely liked quantity of food, but I have standards as well. Everyone I went with (and I went with groups of 8 or 10 and my family of 5) all really liked it.
Considering the volume of people I know that liked it, I'd say anybody who didn't like it was more of a one off and a personal taste thing.
I cried a little inside when I heard Krazy May's closed down
I died inside when Famous Anthony's closed though
The Famous Anthony's in Blacksburg was shut down repeatedly by the Health Department. I am not sure they ever passed back to back inspections.
Add Kobe to that list. I miss their Hokie Sauce in the ketchup bottles.
Had to google it, and it apparently existed while I was there, I just nearly never went out to UC after my one semester of the Math Empo. It's crazy how small Blacksburg is, and we all remember the same 5 places, yet there are/were so many restaurants that fly under the radar somehow. Living on campus all 4 years certainly didn't help.
The dining halls at Tech were also the best in the country while I was there. I was able to convince my parents to get me the mondo meal plan and I could save every last dollar I had for beer.
I was *just* having a random craving for Kobe.
It was basically teriyaki chicken with yum yum sauce, right?
They also had steak, shrimp, fish, and scallops. Surprisingly, their website and menu are still online.
I was in town in September for the CEE Career Fair. I attempted to go but gathered from folks I interacted with that it had just closed. I loved that place. Haven't found a Japanese express style restaurant worth a damn since leaving college.
I'm showing my age, but Mr. Fooz in the mid-late 70's had great subs made and piled high by a mostly stoned staff. On Wednesday night, full 72-oz pitchers of PBR for $1.25 or, if you could spare the extra quarter, Michelob for $1.50. Fooz was always packed on Wednesday nights.
Didn't that turn into Tech Bookstore?
RIP Tech Bookstore
Barrel Mall was where Tech Bookstore was in the mid to late 70's. Lots of disco dancing went on there!
Tech Bookstore is gone!?
No it was where Moe's is now.
And you didn't need a fake ID for beer, legal at 18. All those places were beer joints.
I seem to recall that there was a sub place on College Ave. in the early '80's, I think between the Lyric & Souvlaki's (which opened when I was in school......was my favorite place to go by the time I left BBurg). Was that Mr. Fooz? I remember getting great subs there with a side of jalapenos.
Knew Mr. Fooz would get brought up, given that Campus Emporium still sells t-shirts, but it was long gone before I got to Tech.
Here to give Boudreaux's some love... a fine fine place. Loved that joint.
We went back to Blacksburg in 2015 for Beamers last home game, and went to Boudreaux for brunch and some drinks.
As an adult with a real paycheck, I was shocked at how stupid inexpensive it was compared to similar restaurants in Pensacola, where I lived then. If I was a townie, I'd have eaten there at least twice a week.
I second this. I worked there for about 2 years in the kitchen and although the pay was terrible it was an experience.
My problem with there was it took 45 minutes to get a bowl of gumbo and a side of cornbread for lunch. Shouldn't those two things always be ready go in a cajun restaurant?
One of these is not like the others. LOL. I can't laugh too hard, though. I have nostalgia for Shultz too.
Closed my sophomore year. Didn't know what we had till it was gone. Damn convenient place in winter or during rain storms. And the breakfast was the absolute best deal on campus.
This is a damn shame. As a cadet I loved going to Substation
These deals feel just like the death of an old friend. Sub Station II was a favorite of my cadet son. Sad fact of a college town is that small businesses with individual charm come and go. Favorites of mine were the College Inn, run by country folk driving in from Floyd Co everyday, and the China Inn on Draper road for late night post party. Some creative restaurateur will make something of that location and a new favorite will emerge.
I'm concerned whatever replaces SSII will be some cookie cutter chain restaurant. Feels like there's more and more of those in Blacksburg and less charm.
Not for the food but my fave "no longer there" place has to be 117 S. Main aka South Main Cafe! Great place to see a band and drink cheaply while doing it!
Non-commercial place would be Barger Street- so miss Bargerfest1 (And I imagine Stonegate may still exist as an apartment complex but -given the rise in drinking age to 21 -I doubt that the Stonegate spring block party still exists in any form close to what it was in the 1980s!
which Blacksburg restaurant has the best PB sandwich?
5th floor Lee Hall- where I was in the two years on campus; and Stonegate and Terrace View apartments where I was my three off campus years!
South Main was great - can't count how many times i watched the Kind and Electric Woodshed there-
Yep, loved the Electric Woodshed. So must have the weird professor with the hearing protectors standing in front of the amplifiers.
That was Herb West. A blacksburg legend. Saw that he passed away a couple years ago.
Right, names are fleeting for me anymore.
You and me both brother.......
Shout out to the China Inn on Draper. Went there enough the lady who took orders knew our order by face, but never asked our names. I miss Gumby's, damnit. Mikes Grill for 25 cent beers when you did not have enough time to go home between classes. But some are still there. Macado's, even if the Kind isn't there and the location is worse, Gillie's breakfast. Carol Lee. Wife picked me up at the Cellar by saying she saw me in line for ticket master in Heironimous. We went to the Balcony instead of Tots, but they still had rails. Really hope it is not another ff chain, but you get what you pay for.......
Well this sucks. Glad I had a sandwich there while I was in town for the Purdue game. I really wish my schedule was more open to drive down for one last sandwich, but probably won't happen.
Jersey Mike's won.
I think the first meal I ever ate out at while at Tech was Substation II. Not 100% sure, but think it was. Thought they had good subs. Not great, but solid. Shame to see them go. Backstreet Pizza was fabulous when I was there in the late 80s/early 90s. Know for the younger folks that it seemed to have gone downhill after that, but that was one I was really sorry to see go. And, of course, The Home Place loss was a tragedy.
Backstreets and Mikes were such money. Great local eats- affordable. The good ole days
Dang I almost forgot about Backstreets I loved that place when I went to bburg. Didn't they replace it with a mellow mushroom? Worse pizza for triple the price.
Replaced it with Cabo Fish Taco
backstreets was operating at the corner of main/washington when it closed. then a mellow mushroom was put into that location
by the time backstreets closed, it was a punchline and not good at all. idk about backstreets at its peak, but mellow mushroom was an improvement vs what backstreets was when it closed
Thanks, Im old and confused. my bad
It's a shame when you have great places fall apart. Backstreets was amazing and - from almost everything I heard from people who ate there 10-20 years after I left, it was really bad. Came back one time with my family and could tell it was not close to the same.
Was a place in Ely, MN called the Chocolate Moose that was wonderful the first time I was there are had gone out of business with lots of mediocre-to-bad reviews when I tried to go again. The 3rd owners let it tank. Apparently I was there when the second (and still very good) owners had it.
Has me thinking, what other great restaurants went to pot? There was a classic spot, Olga's Diner in Marlton, NJ. Had black and white pictures of cakes they had made with people like President Kennedy and Frank Sinatra on the walls. We ate there and it was store bought rolls, below mediocre entrees ... Not surprisingly, they went under. It was re-opened nearby with a new management, but have not tried it again.
I've looked into opening a restaurant. My dad owned and operated one for 60 years. He always discouraged me because the margins are so low and if you are open long enough and serve the same exact product- people will eventually find fault with it. He also said that people will 100% take advantage of good customer service- eat half the meal and then say the meat is "tough" can they get a new one etc- already cutting into thin margins. He told me the key was simply volume (and staff that doesn't steal from you) - be busy he said- turn enough volume to make some money. It's a tough tough business. It's why vegas changes restaurants/concepts constantly- people will stop going or find fault with it. My guess is backstreets started to buy substandard products/ingredients for cheap and hoping you wouldn't notice. Some restaurants reduce their portion sizes over time, etc. My dad also told me that the biggest money makers are pizza, beer, and buffets. So buy a cici's and add some draft beer!
Restaurants are of course a tough business but they can be very lucrative and rewarding. I have two multi-unit independent restaurant companies and both are super successful. We have great brands, great product and great people. And I stay engaged which is a prerequisite if you want to make money... owner influence is paramount. I know we are the outlier statistically on this.
Are you in the Phoenix Metro area at all?
SoCal.
There was a place (I think it was on Main St., across the road from the bank) called The Fat Rabbit. It only lasted a couple of years, opened my sophmore year, was gone when I came back for my senior year. Fantastic place to eat.
The Backstreets lunch buffet was the bomb back in the day. But a lot of places went through name changes and stuff even when I was there. There was a place on S. Main called European Pizza that became Roni's and is now like an ice cream shop. PK's opened under a different name (can't recall right now), TOTS was the The Balcony for a while, Steve's Hot Dogs is now Bottom of the Stairs. Cricket's -> Sharkey's (also Arnold's -> Preston's -> Sharkey's which is weird). The list is lengthy, but it always sucks when one of your favorites closes. Steve's Hot Dogs was a must for late night grub.
Edit: Bad spelling was annoying me, plus remembered a few more.
I used to work at Steve's, then it became BoJo's Hot Dogs for a couple years, and then 1 day the IRS showed up and told us to get out and locked the doors. We quickly stuffed our backpacks with as much beer as we could before we left...
I had forgotten about the BoJo's phase.
Those taxes will get after ya...
Loved Bogens back in the day (early-mid 80s) when you had little to no restrictions on happy hours; they had 2 for 1 kamikazes from 11pm-1am Friday and Saturday nights- great times!
Bogens was awesome. I had Dr Glanville for Chem freshman year, he took every student out to lunch (in groups of 4-5) and took my group there and introduced us to Bill Ellenbogen (owner and former Hokie football player). I miss those waffle fries and the VT monopoly menu...
Iirc Ellenbogen played guard ten years for the NFL Giants before coming back to Blacksburg. He married a Marketing professor. Their daughter played on Duke's women's golf team.
Smash the leg button for the Backstreets lunch buffet! My wife (gf at the time) and I had our first date there 😎🦃
backstreets when I was in school was consistently good ('03-'07). Backstreets when I was a townie was consistently disappointing ('10-'16). I'll echo that mellow mushroom was an upgrade by the time that happened.
Thank you for filling me in on the timeline. Knew it was great in 1987-1992. Sounds like 2008-2009 was when something happened. Guessing when I brought my family back was when our daughter had not started school yet, so somewhere 2007-2012. Probably closer to 2012. Thought it was serviceable but a disappointment to what I was used to in the good old days. That buffet was to live for when I was a student or the year working as a lab tech.
I remember its demise. It was great before I was in school and quickly fell off sometime in the early 2010s or latte 2000s. Right around then we started going to Sharky's for food around town when family came in for the games.
South Main Cafe was replaced with Cabo Fish Taco. Backstreets became Mellow Mushroom.
Mikes was the first place I ever ate in Blacksburg, where my fam and I ate the day I moved in my freshman year, where we ate the day of graduation, and countless times in between with friends. Genuinely broke my heart when it closed.
I have no idea how many bong hits I have taken with Backstreets delivery as a tip, but I know we did it for 5 years. We'd swap joints for delivery beer with a few of them once we got to know them. good times......
lived in Thomas Hall freshman year and practically lived in the Ware lab senior year. I ate more SSII than I can remember (even though sycamore deli, when it was on turner st was better, as indicated by being completely slammed for the two hours bracketing lunch every day).
Gumbys Pizza was our late night slice. Changed how I eat pizza forever because it was first place that had ranch dressing with pizza. Looks like it's closed permanently now too. Not great pizza but they were huge and when you had been out beveraging exactly what you needed.
"Gumby's Pizza"
They were also really good at maintaining their hidden menu, as well
Gumby's was the bomb in the early '00s. Well, it was good drunk food. And you're right on the ranch, didn't know what I was missing until you could devour leftover crust covered in ranch.
This was the go to when I was a freshman in 95 and lived in Pritchard, it was cheap (I think at the time the 16 inch Dammit was something like 8 bucks) and they would deliver to all the dorms. It was not good Pizza at all and yes I remember this being the first place that ever served ranch with every Pizza.
I was going to mention the Dammit if nobody else did. Their delivery to the dorms got me through several late nights on projects.
pokey stix
I probably caused permanent damage to my stomach eating pokey stix.
My freshman year, Benny's came to town and put Gumby's out of business in short order. Benny's colonized the old Gumby's space for their takeout location. Then they hung up the Gumby costume on the wall of their DT shop like a hunting trophy mount— it was absolutely savage.
Gumby's allegedly got put out of business because they never maintained their status as a franchise and corporate dropped a cease and desist on them when it was realized. That, and they also found out the store was dealing drugs on the side for those who knew the menu
Agreed on the special menu. Guys I bounced and bartended with at Prestons/Mike's and The Library would utilize both menus after we got off.
Ah, the Gumby Dammit - 20 inches of appetite quenching. And yeah, loved the ranch!
Does anyone remember the take and bake pizza place that was in the little retail center behind the old power plant? I think it was called Mike's or something. The guy would make pizzas that you had to take back to your place and bake. They had one that had like 5lbs of cheese and 5lbs of meat on it in multiple layers. It was like a shepherd's pie and took like 2 hours to bake. The guy was pretty cool and would let us drink beer in there while he put pizzas together. Don't think he lasted long and it was kind of a weird concept, but man I miss those huge pizzas.
I used to take my dates to a little Brazilian place down 460 called quite uniquely "Ipanema." No way that place is still there. It is where I discovered escargot. In college believe it or not. The ladies loved that place.
Man really hate to see this. I used to go to SSII about once a week back when I was there in 06-10.
Is PKs and Tijuana toss still a thing? Used to love that spot as well. One time we had 15 people and got 5 pizzas. Went tails for all 5 tosses and hit tails 5 times in a row. Felt like we won the effing lottery. The whole bar went insane.
My Lee Hall roommate and I would order Expresso Pizza (552-FAST) way more often than we should. So often in fact that I remember exact pricing: $6.92 for a large pepperoni and a 2 liter coke. Mediocre pizza was still better than the dining hall food in those days.
Firehouse Pizza was some cheap ass mediocre pizza. Loved it!
Is it still there? That place was great.
Would get the two cheese pizzas for 6 bucks deal delivered to east aj for a while until they had to stop delivering due to robberies. Then new management took over, they revamped the recipes and it was actually good pizza, but unfortunately, they adjusted prices accordingly. Last I heard (and this is like 8 years ago now) they had either changed management again or just rebranded into "The Beast of Blacksburg"
except they called it Best of Blacksburg except put the long vowel thingy over the E in Best
so you can some people calling it Beast, some calling it Best. and it was definitely not the best
That must have been after I got out of West AJ. I would either do a pepperoni, or if I had some coin in my pocket, I'd get the pepperoni, olive, and mushroom, and even then it was $8.
You had to have a coupon and it was Monday nights only. The coupons were in the CT so we had an unlimited supply. Last time I remember doing it was sophomore year so that would be in teh 04-05 range.
Same. We're the same age so that checks out. Moved out of the dorms after the 04-05 year.
Beast makes the best pie in town nowadays, still cheaper and better than MM. And they actually pay their staff fairly, which is refreshing. When I worked across the street at the old hole in the wall Pizza Hut (which, praise be, is also gone now), I applied there more than once in the hope of no longer needing to worry about getting tipped enough to pay rent that month (they never had openings, but fortunately I'm in a much less desperate place now). I don't eat there much but when I'm in Cburg visiting friends, we always make the drive to go pick some Beast up.
Does Sharkey's still do the all you can eat wing buffet on Sundays and Wednesdays? When I was there in the late 90's at the old location next door to the new one (the current location was Arnold's late 90's) we would hit that at least once a week. I think it was something like $7.95 and of course you could still get the cheap supermugs of Natty Light.
Speaking of old Sharkey's, how is that place still abandoned?
It makes no sense. That's a prime location with upstairs and downstairs bars (at least back in the late 90's, lord knows what it looks like in that building now). I don't see how using it for storing junk or whatever is more cost effective than operating a bar on Main St.
I made many a walk back from old Sharkey's to Brodie with a little stop to water some convenient tall bushes between Squires and Henderson.
Can't believe they announced this before Fuga announced he was coming back :)
I worked next door at Baskin Robbins for a number of years and ate SS11 every chance I got. Hamid was a good dude, and every day he would come in and count the bread loaves to make sure his employees werent stealing from him, which some of them def were. Hope Dawn and Hamid enjoy retirement
I was crushed when Baskin Robbins left. Crushed now.
I'm curious about what will happen to the site. That's prime real estate, but a very tight site.
Very true.
What ever happened to Sub Station 1?
we don't speak of this
for good reason
From the Roanoke Times. The closing may only be temporary but could also just be the easiest way to respond to questions.