The Bluestone

The Bluestone Inn Restaurant on Route 11 north of Harrisonburg has been a family favorite for decades. Many family occasions have been celebrated there, and it's the restaurant my brothers and I gravitate to whenever the three of us are together. Last evening was no exception. Like always, I ordered the grilled rainbow trout stuffed with crab. It is, after all, their signature dish.

Seafood abounds, both grilled and fried. They also have James River raw oysters and soft-shelled crabs in appropriate months of the year. Although the aroma of steak always tantalizes me on the short walk from the parking lot to the front door of the limestone structure, by the time we're sitting with menus I never seem to make it past the seafood offerings. (Who am I kidding? I never even make it past the first item: grilled rainbow trout stuffed with crab!)

But last night I did try a couple of new items. The first was a thinly-sliced cucumber salad with onion and fresh dill in a light sweet-sour dressing. The server suggested it as the preferred side salad, over coleslaw, and it did not disappoint. My second new venture was a dessert item called Hummingbird Cake, which I understand to be a Southern favorite that is made with bananas, walnuts, and cream cheese icing. It was tasty, somewhat reminiscent of Carrot Cake, but I was glad to share the gargantuan slice with one of my brothers.

If you are okay with a dark, noisy, rustic setting... deer busts lining the paneled walls and a stuffed turkey suspended above the bar, platform booths with high back privacy dividers, tables jammed so close together you can overhear the conversations around you... along with a 30-40 minute wait should you miss the Early Bird sitting at 4:30pm, then I highly recommend you try the Bluestone next time you are headed down Interstate 81. Take the Broadway exit, which is the last exit before you reach Harrisonburg, onto Route 11 South and you will find it several miles along on the right side of the road.