Burtons Grill

Burtons Grill is located in the Hilltop area of Virginia Beach on First Colonial Road and has been open for a year. My expectations for a relatively new restaurant aren't usually too high. Primarily because I don't want to fall in love with a place to see it replaced with another place in a year or so. I remember when Vivo operated at this location. I loved Vivo ... now it's gone. It was replaced by Zinc, which I never had the opportunity to visit. Now we have Burtons.

Burtons was quite busy on the Saturday night that we went and I was initially concerned when the hostess asked if we had reservations. Even without a reservation we were able to be seated immediately. There is plenty of seating in the dining area as well as the bar.

The menu displayed quite a bit of variety which was impressive. It includes several different appetizers, salads, burgers, sandwiches, seafood and steaks. The dinner entrees range in price from around $10 to $25. There are also reasonably priced vegetarian selections.

It was a chilly night so we decided to begin the meal with soup. I had the butternut squash soup:

this was a first for me so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was creamy and smooth with a silky texture that I really enjoyed. Bryan ordered the she-crab:

Also very good. The crab was plentiful and there was a bit of a kick to it -- not too much but just enough to let you know what you were eating.

We were anxious to order our entrees: rockfish. We've been slacking and this is the first time that we've had our favorite fish this season. My dish was prepared with seafood risotto:

The local rockfish is bronzed and served over risotto with calamari, shrimp, tomatoes and spinach. The flavor of the seafood risotto was bold but it did not overpower the delicate flavor the fish itself. It was a lovely balance. Bryan ordered the rockfish with the crabmeat and shrimp risotto:

This was a little different and when I first looked at it I thought it would taste bland. Seeing the corn and snap peas gave me that impression but when I tasted it, I knew I was mistaken. It was topped with a lemon butter sauce which gave it a wonderful flavor, again not enough to overpower the fish, but just enough to enhance it.

For dessert, we shared a warm apple crisp topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce:

It was a great way to end the meal.

Burtons has a great wine list and you can either peruse all ninety-nine selections or you can choose the 100th wine which is listed as the special of the evening. On our night the special was a 2006 Slipstream Shiraz Grenache from Australia. I was not disappointed.

Burtons' ingredients are fresh and locally grown. They defintely pride themselves on their customer service. Our server was friendly and very knowledgeable. There was practically no wait time in between courses yet we didn't feel rushed. The General Manager stopped by our table to check on us which I always feel is a nice touch.

Burtons is also open for lunch and Sunday brunch and the menu can be accessed online at http://www.burtonsgrill.com.

741 First Colonial Rd
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
757-422-8970