Hometown Eats: Abby’s Restaurant & Bar

BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - On the back side of Main Street in Blacksburg you’ll see a plain old brown building, but you get anything but plain when you walk into Abby’s Restaurant and Bar.

“One of the last dive bars left in town. It’s a good blend for all the local folks to come in and grab a bite to eat,” said owner York Onnen.

Onnen and his staff have been serving locals and first-timers for 20 years in the restaurant he named to honor his dog, Abby, which is well represented on the same walls where regulars have also left their mark.

“It’s little pieces of everybody that they’ve brought in over the years. They bring in license plates that are cool like the Enter Sandman plate. I saw a guy with that one day and told him that’s a really cool plate because I like Tech and he brought it back years later and gave it to me,” said Onnen with a smile.

If you’re wondering what brings people back to Abby’s time and time again, it’s the specials.

“A friend of mine that used to live here moved to Northern Virginia but still comes down on Saturdays for the pork chop special,” said long time customer John Lloyd.

The one special that lines them up and keeps the phone ringing is the meat loaf.

“(People are) waiting for it at 11 o’clock. I had to put it on the sign, meatloaf day is Thursday because half the calls would be asking what day is meatloaf day, Thursday. It will fill you up, it’s naptime food,” joked York.

The meat loaf isn’t the only dish that will leave you with leftovers; make sure to check out the chicken salad sandwich with the boardwalk fries that taste like they came straight from the coast.

“You don’t go away hungry from this place; it’s great and the service is always good,” said Lloyd.

Abby’s Restaurant and Bar, a doggone good Hometown Eat.

Copyright 2022 WDBJ. All rights reserved.