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    Second Street American Bistro

    4.4 (1.7k reviews)
    Open 11:30 am - 9:00 pm

    Second Street American Bistro Photos

    Business Info

    SECOND STREET AMERICAN BISTRO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Classy
    Moderate noise
    Good for kids
    Happy hour specials

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    Recommended Reviews - Second Street American Bistro

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    Salmon...after having a few bites.
    Dave F.

    Stopped in for dinner..we requested the bar area and sat at a two topper. Tried a happy hour "gin" dirty martini for the first time and it was delicious. The wife had the chopped salad added grilled chicken as protein and I had the chopped salad w( apple cider vinaigrette dressing) added salmon as my protein. Both salads were deluxe and very tastey..presentation was stellar. The best thing was our service, the two young ladies working the bar area are "top notch" servers and they both do an amazing job as servers and bar keeps! Thank You Ladies!

    Beautiful day to eat lunch on the patio!
    Jodie S.

    It was an absolutely gorgeous day to sit on the patio! The atmosphere is so relaxing with the pond and gentle breeze. We ordered brussels to start, and I had the creamy artichoke & broccoli flatbread: with creamy artichoke spread, fresh broccoli , roasted tomatoes , parmesan & Jack Cheeses !! It was so good, but I definitely could have shared it. Side note, I took it home and honestly it was soooo freaking good cold. My husband was even ranting about it. My son ordered the burger and fries. It was pretty big, he could not even eat the whole thing. The server was so patient with all my questions. He was checked on us often and the food came out quickly. Overall, a great experience and I would definitely go back to try some more !!

    Cajun catfish plate
    Carroll V.

    Hey all visitors to Colonial Williamsburg--skip the chain restaurants and beat a path to this 40-year plus tradition in local dining. 2nd Street is unassuming looking from the street, but it has lots of parking in the rear. And once you are greeted you know you are at a place where service and quality really matter. Contemporary interior design gives you a break from the colonial theme too. The Cajun catfish plate is my favorite--love the slaw and corn-based relish that compliments a perfectly prepared fillet. The cornbread even adds more of a southern touch. Service is always attentive and efficient.

    Barbecue baby ribs
    Joe H.

    I loved this place! Not many higher end restaurants in the area. I pulled into the parking lot which was packed. Thank goodness I had a reservation. Btw it was a week day. Everything I got here was amazing. The drinks the food. I highly recommend this place. it's no mystery. This place was packed in the middle of the week.. inside is designed like a beautiful steakhouse. The staff was awesome. Food was great. If you're looking for a higher end restaurant in the area, this is the place..

    Crab cake w chips. Absolutely delicious, minimal filler, and true taste. Worth the price!
    Lauren T.

    Wonderful food, perfectly cooked to order, delicious drinks, absolutely flawless service and accommodating ambiance. First shout out to our amazing server Karah. Attentive, without being disruptive, wonderful communicating, extremely knowledgeable, and intuitive. Our food was cooked perfectly! Each item had its own individual tastes which was very refreshing. Definitely a great date night, family dinner, and drinks w friends place.

    Thom Y.

    Food was amazing!! Pasta dish with gnocchi, peas, cheese . Awesome dessert as well! Definitely a great stop on your vacation in Williamsburg!

    THE Martini and House Ale
    Andrea J.

    After a cold and long day at Colonial Williamsburg, this was a great place to refresh ourselves. The service was amazing (Good job Antonio!) and the food was delicious. Not pictured was the sundae for dessert. We would visit again if we lived in town.

    The cake they call Coco Grande.
    Steve R.

    After driving most of the day, these tourists were looking for a spot with an interesting, upscale menu and a relaxed atmosphere. Second Street American Bistro exceeded our expectations on both counts! It helped that we had Allison taking care of us. She stayed one step ahead of us all night and kept our drinks flowing. We started with the onion rings, which turned out to be every bit as mouthwatering as they looked in the photos. Normally, onion rings aren't something worth writing about--but these were different. The breading was crisp, flavorful, and downright addictive! For our entrées, I ordered the bone-in pork porterhouse chop with a smoked gouda grit cake, while my wife had the white bean cassoulet, which was just a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese shy of being a hearty and delicious vegan dish. The pork chop was tender, juicy, and a real treat--but the biggest surprise for me was that grit cake. I'm not usually a fan of grits, but this was breaded, deep-fried, and stuffed with cheese. At first, I honestly thought I was eating mashed potatoes--if only mashed potatoes were this good! The atmosphere was lively without being too noisy, and we finished the meal by sharing a five-layer chocolate cake that was the perfect ending to the evening. We're only in town for a few days, but we already plan to come back for lunch to try some of the flatbreads and soups. A real gem in Williamsburg!

    Burger
    Tim T.

    09.25.25 My wife and I came back to Second Street Bistro for dinner tonight -- just one night after eating here the first time. We sat at the bar and were greeted by Jaime. My wife ordered iced tea, and I had a Bulleit Rye Honey Old Fashioned I was going to try one of the other drinks but the old fashion is excellent. To start, we ordered the Asian Sticky Ribs. Our ribs came, WOW -- talk about tender, juicy, flavorful, and fall-off-the-bone good. Absolutely amazing and the slaw that came with it was outstanding! We enjoyed them both very much as we finished, we were already ready to order more food. Branden, who was also working behind the bar, answered our questions about the soup and salad. We mentioned how much we enjoyed the Corn & Crab Soup on our last visit, and he confirmed the soup is always served in the same size bowl whether you order it alone or with a salad. We went with the soup-and-salad combo and chose the Vidalia dressing. In just a few minutes, Branden brought out our food. While we were enjoying the soup, he came by to check on us. I told him it was veg even better than the other night, since that first bowl didn't have much crab. He seemed surprised, and I even mentioned he could read my Yelp review about it. A little later, he came back with a second bowl of Corn & Crab Soup on the house -- to make up for the lack of crab last time. That was such a thoughtful touch and really appreciated! The salad with the Vidalia dressing was delicious, and we wrapped things up by ordering three cookies to go. Overall, everything was excellent -- from the food to the service to the conversations with both staff and fellow patrons some review were saying service wasn't that great. Try the bar area. We can't wait to come back again soon!

    Joy A.

    Excellent in every aspect! Walked in at 5:00 on Saturday night we were promptly seated (2 seat high top) - immediately our server appeared and was on point start to finish! The food was incredible! Every bite had me doing the happy tummy dance in my seat! Ambiance was causal yet felt a bit upscale, the perfect blend!

    Thai Shrimp, Sweet and Spicy Chicken Sandwich, O-Rings (onion rings), Sriracha ranch dip
    Britt D.

    This is a great spot for a lunch or dinner date! Dark, cozy, and warm atmosphere. Our waitress was so quick and accommodating. We loved the Thai Shrimp, an absolutely phenomenal dish! The onion rings are also a great side, lightly breaded and flavorful, comes with a great sriracha ranch! Our main dish was the sweet and spicy chicken sandwich, which the flavor was a bit lost on me, but the size was great. We would absolutely come here again and highly recommend it!

    Burratta
    Faith N.

    The service here was great! Food came out in a timely manner. The buratta and bread was delicious but the sirloin steak not so much. The steak was very bland and had a weird taste (but I didn't know what it was). The broccoli was also unseasoned. Kinda sad about this meal

    Fish sandwich
    Lorina S.

    We enjoyed ourselves at Second Street American Bistro. It has a nice ambiance with dim light and nice seating. The staff were really nice and attentive, no complaints there. The price point was affordable 10-25 for most entrees with generous portion sizes. As far as the food itself, I think they have a good variety of dishes, the chips were homemade, I felt everything was made to serve. We were really excited about the corn bread but it was sort of dry but other than that everything was good.

    Fried Green Tomatoes and Onion Rings

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    Second Street American Bistro Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Second Street American Bistro

    What is the dress code for this establishment?

    Casual to semi formal. Could go for drinks after work or a nice second/third date night.

    This came up under a search for sports bars, but I see no mention of that at all! Do they show NFL games?

    It's not a sports bar like you would think, but they do have a few TVs in the bar area and were showing football games while I was eating dinner.

    Does this resteraunt have vegan options?

    Definitely some vegetarian options but not sure about vegan.

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    Terrace & Goodwin Rooms - Morning's special: brioche French toast with fresh whipped cream, strawberries, and sausage. Absolutely fabulous.

    Terrace & Goodwin Rooms

    4.1(39 reviews)
    0.7 mi
    $$$

    Had rwo wonderful breakfasts at the Terrace served by the most upbeat and friendly waitress by the…read morename of Sarah. She kept the coffee coming and was very attentive to the entire room of customers. I ordered the grain bowl which began with a smear of green goddess dressing on the bottom heaped with quinoa and wild rice with the most perfectly ripe avocado sliced on the side and a perfectly poached egg on top. There were other things to give this dish, texture and color simply perfection. Theme t day, I got the poached eggs dish with roasted potatoes and a tomato salad. Perfect!

    UPDATE TO 1-STAR ORIGINAL REVIEW (2 days later): Were able to contact the exec chef who took this…read morequite seriously and made things right, assuring us that what happened was not nearly up to their standard. While we can't promise *you* won't have a similar experience, we can say that in this case the executive chef personally responded promptly to a respectful polite email and then handled it all very appropriately once informed. And for that alone, we revise to 4 stars. Perhaps ours was an isolated incident. Regardless, a big thank you to the executive chef for the response and swift refund. Much appreciated. We *think* any executive chef would want to KNOW what was going on, perhaps in their absence, right? YMMV. Thanks again. ORIGINAL 1 star review: New Years Eve dinner at Terrace Room. The photo shows "pan-seared" scallops with a ... risotto-like substance. Heh. $50. Uh huh. Scallops: No sear. Super chewy. Hard to even cut. Risotto was like mushy oatmeal stuff and zero seasoning or flavor. Maybe something was wrong in the kitchen, I dunno. Ack. We both ordered this and left most of it. Also a bottle of wine (white) that had to be chilled in front of us for a while before the server could/would pour it. Hm. $110 for that. Note: the *service* was excellent! It is never a waiter's "fault" when the food is awful. We tipped the excellent waiter accordingly, BTW. Just sharing our experience at this place on this particular night. Hope it helps. Be aware. Maybe it's "iffy."

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    Terrace & Goodwin Rooms
    Terrace & Goodwin Rooms
    Terrace & Goodwin Rooms

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    Second Street American Bistro - tradamerican - Updated May 2026

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