Lowry’s now sports indoor and outdoor seating, live music on the weekends, and is the only place you’ll likely find within 40 miles to get a bushel of steamed blue crabs to pick. The lunch crowd was impressive, with the indoor seating filled and overflowing into the outdoor area by noon. The daily specials included several “salad” sandwiches with sides, including crab, seafood, tuna, chicken, and egg salad for around $6. We decided to order from the regular menu, putting the kitchen’s blue crab acumen to the test by ordering the Crab Ball Basket and the Softshell Sandwich.

The Basket came with four big balls of seasoned backfin crab meat, a couple of hushpuppies, and a choice of side dish which was cinnamon applesauce in our case. The crab balls are just smaller versions of the crabcake elsewhere on the menu and were nicely spiced with large pieces of crab and a minimum amount of filler to hold it all together. As usual, the hushpuppies were nice and crispy, with a light texture that would have gone well with a little butter. While tasty, the applesauce could have done with a lot less cinnamon, which made it a bit bitter.

The softshell sandwich was served with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce on a buttered and toasted bun, with a side of Lowry’s signature waffle-cut fries. The crab was a nice size, bigger than the bun could hold, and was very lightly breaded and cooked just so. Having grown up in Hampton Roads, one can be a bit snobby about one’s crabs. For a landlocked seafood shop at the foot of the Blue Ridge, Lowry’s does softshells better than most places I’ve dined at within a stone’s throw of the Chesapeake or Atlantic.

Our lunch with drinks and two entrees was about $25. That seems the norm for most sit-down lunch places in our area now, but still seems a bit high to my out-of-date dining sensibilities. Regardless, Lowry’s is a great place to head if you have a desire for some good seafood for lunch or dinner, or for some fresh fish to take home and cook. It should still be one of the more popular destinations for bikers on the W&OD with live music outside on the weekend, and it’s a great place to bring the kids, too. And nothing beats being able to drive a few miles to dump a basket of crabs on the table and whack away with a hammer for a weekend afternoon meal with friends. Lowry’s is at 420 West Colonial Highway (old Rt. 7), just west of downtown Hamilton at the old Planet Wayside Location.

Our second stop for the week was just a few blocks east of Lowry’s (52A West Colonial Highway) at the Hamilton General Store, which is owned and operated by the same family that runs Lowry’s. Wanting to find a bit of dessert to top off the seafood lunch, we pulled into Hamilton’s take on the classic small town general store. Much like its peers in Bluemont, Aldie, or Waterford, this is a classic general store, with local produce, organic meat, eggs, and dairy products, big jars of candy, freezers of ice cream, and the usual grocery items you might need in a pinch. Obviously the focus is on local producers, with everything from heirloom tomatoes to hand made candies for sale. The store would be an awesome destination for the family wanting a quick weekend outing. Leaving Leesburg along Dry Mill Rd. takes you on a nice, scenic 15 minute ride through neighboring horse farms and vineyards, the Loudoun Co. fairgrounds, and scenic little Hamilton. It’s certainly worth the short drive from Leesburg for a quick time warp to the early 20th century.

Finally, a quick update about one of our favorites. Thai Pan, the little Thai restaurant next to the Liberty gas station, recently received their beer and wine license. So now you can have a nice glass of wine or a Thai beer with your dinner. Enjoy!

Here’s a map to Lowry’s and the Hamilton General Store:

The dining room is spacious and immaculately clean, with a large TV and free WiFi for diners who need to be entertained while eating. But the food is the highlight of Red Kabob, as it should be. The meats are perfectly cooked, side dishes quite tasty, and portions are more than enough for one person. We had the beef and the chicken kabob plates, which came with basmati rice and a small salad and a large, locally baked pita. Along with the dinner came two very nice dipping sauces, a minty, spicy one that went very well with the beef and the classic yogurt/mint tzatziki sauce.

I can’t overstate how nicely the meats were prepared. So often, kabob restaurants have the meat pre-cooked and it ends up dry and tough as it is reheated. The chicken and beef were tender, moist, and very nicely spiced.

In addition to the main courses, we had a side order of hummus, which would have been nice with a little olive oil, but was fine by itself, with probably more tahini than some recipes, which made it quite tasty.

The owners are very enthusiastic about their new restaurant and are quite happy to offer you a taste of something else, or a little bit more of what you were having if you’re still hungry. My only regret is not realizing how large the portions are. Two full plates is really more than enough for 3 or 4 people, so you can probably get away with splitting one of the combination dishes if you want to keep the per person lunch cost under $10. Our bill for 2 dinners, drinks, and a side of hummus was $24.

The graciousness of the owners and the perfect preparation of the meats make this place a repeat visit for sure.

The series is free, and open to anyone who can get their blankets and lawn chairs spread out fast enough to claim a spot. Concert start at 7 PM and usually last until around 9. Since it’s right next door to the town parking garage, and right around the corner from numerous restaurants, it’s easy to make an evening of it. Stop in to La Lou’s, China King, or Leesburg Restaurant for a quick bite, catch the performance, then wander up to Shoe’s for a cup of coffee and dessert before calling it a night. Can’t beat that for a nice summer evening in Leesburg!

Our second small but nice restaurant is Lesher’s Hot-Dog at 26 South King St. You better look up for the sign to not miss the place! First of all, we have gone several times to this place and it’s always super clean and the staff is very friendly. The menu is not very large (3 kinds of hot-dogs and 2 choices of burgers if I remember correctly) but the food is good. I really like the chili hot-dog. They burgers are well cooked and juicy. Unfortunately they do not serve fries, but they do have a variety of chips and sodas. I hope one day this place will add a few mores items on they menu like more toppings and some side dish. That would make it a lot more interesting place. But you can get 2 hot-dogs and a soda for about $5.30, which is not bad for lunch.

Right now, the best way to characterize Shoe’s is as a local coffee shop, very much in the pattern of the old Market St. Coffee, but with a significantly wider selection of coffees, teas, smoothies,  and fruit drinks. Add to that the freshly baked pasteries and sandwiches and salads made on the premises and you can start to see where it goes beyond the “just another coffee shop” label. And best of all, their coffee is organic and fair-trade and they are trying to stick to local, organic ingredients in the food they serve.

The decor is fun, with walls of shelves, a floor to ceiling chalk board, big tables with board games, puzzles, and rack of magazines to entertain. Not to be missed is the overhead light fixture made from antique shoes, complete with a 1928 ladies shoe found in the wall during renovations. And as we walked in, one of the baristas was adding live music to the mix with her guitar and pleasant vocals. There’s also free Wi-Fi, but it was hard to tell what the power outlet situation was for road warriors needing a quick bite and a cuppa.

We tried several things from the menu, selecting the Shoe salad (a bit of an antipasto-topped garden salad), the Italian hoagie, and the grilled portobello and mozzarella sandwich. The sandwiches were good, and though already made, they were happy to stick them in the sandwich press to toast them up for you. The ingredients were great, with the roasted peppers and fresh mozzarella, fresh greens, and nice breads adding a lot. Beverages we tried included the Shoe smoothie (normally peach, but made with pineapple for us), the blackberry smoothie, and the lemonade. All were very nice, freshly made, and as a pleasant surprise, not very sweet with the tartness of the fruit supplying a little extra zing to the drinks.

While we were dining, we were treated to a preview of the menu to come once the beer and wine license wends its way through the Virginia ABC bureaucracy . A nice small plate, including goat cheese stuffed peppadew peppers and some grilled focaccia with melted cheeses would go very well with a glass of wine, and we look forward to these sorts of additions to the menu.

Sandwiches were followed up by coffee and dessert, with a nice blueberry scone and a large cup of café mocha rounding out the meal. Due to a complete ordering failure on my part, we didn’t get to try the unadulterated coffees or teas, but that’s just an excuse to go back soon.

In short, Shoe’s is going to be a wonderful addition to the downtown dining scene. They are open every day from that first wake-up cup of coffee to the late evening dessert run or glass of wine. The staff were all very helpful, the decor is a treat, and you can’t beat the location for convenience. See you there!