Good food in the Shenandoah: Brookside Restaurant in Luray VA

I’m warning you, the sweet potato fries here are embarrassingly addictive.

We’d just popped off of Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park near Luray, Virginia and were looking for a local restaurant for a late lunch when we passed a group of cabins tucked next to the road under some pretty trees, and a stone building next to them that said “Restaurant.”

Can you say u-turn, with a spray of gravel?

It turned out to be the Brookside Restaurant, a well-known eatery in these parts and perfect for our lunch.

The cuisine was down-home and there were many sandwich and salad options, with homemade veggie sides (I liked the green beans.) Those sticks of sweet potato came with a sweet honey-butter dipping sauce that contrasted divinely with the saltiness of the fries.

There’s a food and salad buffet as well, a kid’s menu with the usual chicken tenders suspects and a dessert menu full of pies and fruit cobblers.

I laughed at the beer listings at the bottom of the menu, which included three brews labeled “Imported and Yuppie Beer.” Since Sam Adams is based in Boston and Killians is made by Coors, they must be the Yuppie ones.

Don’t miss the pretty running stream (hence the name “brookside”) just behind the restaurant.

First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia ate here recently during a family trip to nearby Luray Caverns.

I wonder if they ordered the fries?