Restaurant review: The 24 Market Restaurant

The first cup of coffee (sweetened with genuine “Dixie Crystals” sugar) got the morning off to a good start. It had also welcomed a nice reverie thanks to a great view of an historic building which had once housed the White Star Mills.

The dining room was elegant.
White table cloths and sparkling silverware.

Breakfast was presented in buffet style with three separate stations. Although there were no conventions in town and business was obviously slow, a complete and impressive array of dining choices were available.  One station had cold items including fresh fruit and cereal. Another station had hot choices with scrambled eggs and pancakes. It was also set up for an omelette and waffle bar had a chef been present and that happens on weekends. The last station was for sides with hash browns, grits, biscuits, bacon and sausage.

My test of breakfast buffets takes me to the scrambled eggs first.  Today, the eggs were neither too firm nor too runny -- just right -- and hot.  Nothing spoils a buffet quicker than for the hot foods to be cold and vice versa.  24 Market passed all my tests with flying colors! The biscuits were light and fluffy and hot enough to melt the room temperature butter. (I hate it when the butter is so cold that even a warm biscuit won’t melt it before you’re ready to eat.)

24 Market Restaurant is located in the historic Stonewall Jackson Hotel at 24 Market Street (surprise!), Staunton, VA 24401.  Weekday hours are 7:00 A.M. to 10:30 A.M on weekdays and 7:00 A.M. till Noon on Sunday.  The price tag for this morning feast? $9.95 on weekdays and $12.95 on Sunday.  The atmosphere and charm is worth half the price at least, so the food is a real bargain!

Speaking of prices, our room rate at the hotel was about $12 more than those cheap places right off the interstate.  It is well worth the mile or two drive that takes you from the busy highway into downtown and history.