You're waiting for your car to be serviced at a dealership and you're getting hungry. What to do? Well, there's a vending machine down the hall. Ugh. But two Hampton Roads dealers offer another option, having opened cafes in their automotive showrooms. So is the food good enough to merit a special trip? Staff epicure Lorraine Eaton and I visited, and here's what we found:
The Priority Cafe
Priority Toyota, 1800 Greenbrier Pkwy., Chesapeake
Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday
Situated in the heart of the dealership between service and sales, the cafe is just off the hallway that holds Priority's other services: a hair salon, nail station, shoeshine stand and movie room.
The Priority Cafe has a modern, funky vibe, with orange walls, cafe tables and Charles Eames bent plywood chairs that are much more comfortable than you'd expect. A huge flat-screen TV provides entertainment.
And the food?
OK, you can buy a hot dog or a soda - both staples of auto dealer tent sales - but it pays to be more adventurous.
There are $5 specials that change biweekly. Our visit featured a half grilled turkey and cheddar panini with soup or mini chicken salad, egg salad with fresh fruit. The soups are made fresh, and two are featured each day. Our choices were beef vegetable or chicken with rice.
Not bad, but the specials that vary according to the day of the week were more tempting and just slightly more expensive. Monday is a blue plate special, Tuesday is Italian day, Wednesday is saute day, Thursday is burger day and, of course, Friday features fish.
The weather had just dipped into the 50s, and we were tempted by the Sequoia Smoked Brisket served with a house barbecue sauce and cheddar cheese on a Kaiser roll for $6.95.
Instead, I opted for the Camry Caribbean Wrap featuring Caribbean jerk chicken, grilled pineapple, black beans, sliced tomato and pepper jack cheese in a sun-dried tomato wrap for $6.25. As a side, I chose the homemade potato salad over the bagged potato chips.
The Camry proved to be a more flavorful choice than its automotive namesake. The zesty jerk chicken and slow-building spice had a kick that was relieved by the sweetness of the pineapple. The exquisitely thin wrap had a hint of flavor.
The potato salad was amply dressed with dill, grape tomatoes, capers, French green beans and olives. It was satisfying for the eyes and the stomach.
Lorraine had the shrimp in vodka sauce for $7.50, an unexpected offering for an eat-while-you-get-your-oil-changed-or-tires-rotated lunch.
The dish featured garlic, shrimp, green and red peppers, onions, ripe cherry tomatoes, basil and pine nuts over pasta and was finished with an Absolut Citron sauce.
The shrimp was perfectly cooked, and all the ingredients were fresh and worked well together. Lorraine thought the portion size was more than enough for a lunch.
Both meals came with a small fountain drink that can be upgraded to a bottled beverage for an additional 50 cents.
If you eat here, ask for the cafe's lunch card. After buying five lunches that cost at least $6, you'll get your sixth one free.
The cafe gets points because 80 percent of the paper goods, straws and utensils are recycled and biodegradable.
Beach Ford Filling Station
Beach Ford, 2717 Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach
Hours: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday
Located at the rear of the dealership overlooking the children's playroom, The Filling Station seemed like a friendly corner to take a breather while shopping for a new car.
The meals are made fresh here as well, although the fare is simpler. This cafe is more akin to stopping at your favorite sandwich stop than a restaurant.
Sandwich offerings included turkey with pepper jack cheese, mayonnaise, lettuces, tomato and cranberry relish and an eye of round with roasted peppers, onions, mushrooms and pesto. Both were served on whole wheat for $5.99.
Chef and chicken Caesar salads are offered for $5.99 apiece.
Our favorite item was the Mile High Apple Crumb Cake for $2.99. Served warm, it's stuffed with apples and features a sweet crumb topping.
What we think
Auto dealers have come a long way from the nightmarish waiting rooms of yore, with hard plastic seats, dingy walls, an aging TV set and a scary coffee pot.
The Priority Cafe is impressive, with food that's better than most nearby chain restaurants. Meanwhile, Beach's Filling Station has theapproachable aura of a Subway or Wawa.
And when you're done eating, your car will have been serviced.
What a convenience.
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Don't Diss
Hey don't knock it until you try it! I am a Priority customer and love the CLEAN, multi-facted waiting area! While waiting for the vehicle service to be done you are not packed into a dingy, dirty, boring waiting area like sardines. My son can enjoy a FAMILY friendly movie and I can read, or work on my laptop. It is a win win all around!
No Cars Got Food
Is this article for real? Let me guess, if you want something to eat the cashier goes behind the office with the dark windows to talk to the manager for 30-minutes only to tell you that the entree is over priced but that the meal is what you really need and that it would make a statement about you. After reconsidering the cost, you begin to walk away and the cashier lets you get to the door then stops you with, "What will make the deal work for you?" Dealerships have doomed themselves by dishonest practices and they have lost the trust of the consumer along with poor quality in cars and unreliable service. Now they want to serve us food too? What a gimmick!