Banish thoughts of ye olde country restaurant when it comes to Rockefeller Room. While Rockefeller Room is, indeed, in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg, it’s a sophisticated culinary love letter to the South.
The dining room is warm, spacious and chic. Named for John D. Rockefeller Jr., the restaurant pays homage to the man who not only created Williamsburg Inn, but whose mission to rescue the entire 18th-century city resulted in one of the country’s greatest treasures.
Far from being stuck in the past, Rockefeller Room is a rare spot where old guard Southern families rub elbows with food-forward travelers, a place to dress up and eat well — very well.
Our Inspector's Highlights
- Located within Forbes
Travel Guide Five-Star Williamsburg Inn, this Colonial Williamsburg restaurant lives up
to its storied surroundings without being stuffy. The dark wood tables (sans
white tablecloths), plush green banquets and high ceilings make for an elegant
ambiance.
- Executive chef Travis Brust
taps local purveyors for much of the food on his rotating seasonal menu. Three
standouts are culled from the nearby Chesapeake Bay: an appetizer dubbed oysters Abby(Tangier
Island bivalves served with a champagne sabayon), blue crab
cakes paired with a crisp cucumber rémoulade, and plump rockfish seared and
drizzled with brown butter.
- Without being cute about
it, the menu is crafted with a nod toward its location in Colonial Williamsburg.
Ingredients reflect European influences brought to the New World,
including spices, herbs and preparations.
- The wine list is noted for its breadth and depth. It takes
a thorough journey through Old World favorites, but also presents some prime
selections from Virginia’s wine country, including
a savory cab franc
from nearby Barboursville Vineyards.
- Get ready for high-touch service.
This is still the friendly South, so think more knowledgeable guide than
stiff-backed butler.
Things to Know
- Dinner skews early in the Virginia
countryside. Plan for a 6 p.m. dinner during the week or a 7 o’clock reservation on the
weekends.
- While visitors to Colonial
Williamsburg make pilgrimages to the Southern restaurant, it also has a faithful
local crowd, which brings a steady stream of energy.
- Although children are
permitted, this is not a restaurant geared toward family dining.
The Food
- Start with a locally
harvested bibb salad tossed with a poppy seed vinaigrette
and irresistible hunks of toasted cornbread.
- The Williamsburg restaurant
is prized for its bold flavors in dishes like a buttery rack of lamb paired
with roasted root vegetables and a potato-chèvre puree perfumed with lavender.
- Desserts aren’t an afterthought.The best way to tap into
the sweet goodness of plates like toasted honey-oat panna cotta and a pecan-studded
financier laced with local small-batch bourbon is to order The Rockefeller
Collection, so you can get a bite of all five desserts offered nightly.
The Look
- While coats and ties aren’t required, this a sophisticated
restaurant where people do dress up. It’s not unusual in summer to find men in
seersucker suits and bow ties and women in party dresses and heels.
- The bright, airy dining room
befits its setting in the stately hotel with high ceilings, carved wood moldings
and black-and-white
photos harkening back to Rockefeller’s day.
- For date night, aim for one
of the most romantic tables in the dining room, those cocooned by curved velvet banquettes.
Amenities
Dinner
Reservations recommended 
