Blue Petes Restaurant

We frequently come here for a drink on the deck. Service can vary from good to poor depending on who’s working. Yesterday we stopped by for a beer. We were going to sit at the bar but saw several empty tables on the deck. We sat down and expected someone would come check on us… we finally had to go get a beer from the bar and carry it out. Since we didn’t initially ask to be seated I guess we were ignored. My feeling was that one of the waiters should have stepped up and asked to help us. It wasn’t like there were others waiting for a table… There were several open inside and out. Be proactive waiters… I’m a great tipper if you will just wait on me! Next time I will ask to be seated now that I have learned the wait staff will only wait on those who were officially seated by the hostess. Yes… some of the wait staff seem to be younger and not real comfortable yet in their roles.

Service takes FOREVER, the expensive drinks were weak, and the food is just so/​so. No thanks.

if you love spending money at a place where the waitress comes to your table twice (to take your order & bring the check) in a 2 hour timespan, never getting a refill, and enjoy eating the wrong plate of food the entire time then this restaurant is for you

Another great dinner at Blue Pete’s. They handled our large family party of 16 just great. Awesome music and great food and service. Highly recommend for off the beaten path good food and atmosphere.

Very run down. Food wasn’t hot. Too far to drive for so-​so food. We visited this restaurant about 5 or more years ago and it was great. It was upscale with a pretty setting. Now it’s changed owners and while I think they are trying, it’s just run down with mediocre food. I doubt we’ll go back.

Funny thing, I have been living in Virginia Beach 9 years. I heard about Blue Pete’s long before I became a Unilocaler. Every so often I would try to get my husband to give it a try. He hates commuting. He lived in Maryland and worked the summer in DC when he was in college. That didn’t go over big at all, so when he found out this was way out in Pungo, the farming/​swamp area of Virginia Beach. He would always say no. Well now, he is traveling again and when he is home for the weekends, he takes long bicycle rides. I can go on about his bicycling rides, but lets be honest here, This is about Blue Petes. I told him about having to review new places, he agreed to go a new place. I held my breath and said, «Blue Petes». I won that coin toss. Blue Pete’s it is!
I can represent like most Elite Unilocaler’s here, but I’m not on this review. Because J. David pretty much covered it all with photos too boot. And he did so not too long before my experience here. But what I will say is, as a child and young adult, I was vegetarian. Over time I learned to eat meat again. I adapted only because of my life at the time. Only vegetarian in a sea of meat eaters! And anything that swims, I have a VERY hard time. My sense of smell allows me to become nauseated at certain smells. And raw seafood can be a rancid smell to me. But I tried the fried flounder, something I hadn’t eaten since I was 5 or 6. And it was great. Our kid had the oyster po boy. My husband had the seafood or crab imperial which is a shocker because he has always stated that he doesn’t like she crab soup! He loved it on this try. And here is something that J. David neglected to say. This place is owned by two Greek American brothers who grew up in the area. They are big on protecting this area of Virginia Beach, another score in my humble opinion! For majority of us, it’s a haul. So make reservations and show up on time. That is just plain out using manners! Service at peak times may be a little slow, have patience. They are doing the best they can. All that stated, I’m outa here, peace!

I don’t even know where to begin: This was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had.
We were seated immediately even though it was Friday night at 6:30 pm, at a picnic table outside. Our server was friendly but clueless and unprofessional. It took forever to get drinks and food and our toddler was getting very crabby because she was so hungry. No bread, nothing. We had questions about the menu and our server obviously didn’t know anything: Whether all the seafood including shrimp were local? Fresh? «They just get here (shrimp)».
Seriously? «No, those aren’t fresh.» Girl, you should think before you speak or get better training. Once the food FINALLY came, it was a huge disappointment. On a side note — we did not expect who-​knows-​what but this food was awful. Not just one dish, but all of them. My daughter’s mac & cheese had black pepper in it and the fries were overly spicy, what kid eats that? My greek salad was sub-​par, the dressing was horribly sour, the feta cheese dry and tasteless, the olives nothing special and the cucumber bitter. Steamed shrimp (supposedly fresh) were hard and rubbery. No replacement was offered nor taking it off the bill. Steak burned on one side, they brought a replacement which was undercooked and on a third attempt was overly done. Seafood pasta was too salty. Appetizers nothing special either. Our server apologizes for everything but didn’t seem to actually care: «The kitchen has been really backed up, they are freaking out in there» — why would you tell a guest that? Completely inappropriate! I have no idea how this place ever made it into the paper, gets good reviews or frankly, stays in business! The whole joint looks quite run down and like it could use a good renovation, especially the wooden boardwalk outside, bathrooms were not clean either. Cannot recommend and will definitely never return.

Love sitting on the outdoor patio! You get sweet potato biscuits with your meal and the crab cake is delicious!

On a rare recommendation from a non Unilocal friend I checked this placed out after attempting to navigate the Pungo Strawberry festival unsuccessfully.
First know this. Blue Pete’s is red neck Pungo remote. I say that in a good way. Not to be confused with the gorgeous West Neck golf neighborhood you will most likely pass first. The Resturant is in the Back Bay if that gives you an idea of how far from civilization it is. The great news is by setting your GPS is will take you to there drive. The sign is small, but hey you can’t miss it, there is nothing else around except woods and swamp.
Parking is very plentiful in a gravel lot. You cannot park else where, the roads are too narrow to pull off. But an alternative for boaters is to dock off the back. There are a few slips. Kayaks and canoes are welcome too!
The building… hmm, well it looks fitting for the area, let me say that. It’s a one story with decking around the roadside. It appears to have had multiple additions. The entrance is in the front where you check into with a hostess.
A young woman immediately greeted me and was prepared to seat me. I asked about bar seating and she directed me. The dining area is to the rear with a room for pool and a stage on the right as you enter. The outdoor deck seating is accessed by a single door to left of bar.
The dining room was quite full with a table & chair system packed in. Glass is all along the back to enjoy the view. The bar seats around 12 and I could see ten taps. A young female bartender waited on me a short time after sitting down. The counter was sticky from the last guest and was wiped down when she took my drink order. I rarely order a Lager, but it was a Weihenstephan that sampled nicely in a huge pour. I was given a large menu to choose entrees, or sandwiches. I asked a waitress on break beside me her recommendation. Then I asked the bartender and they both hit on the Shrimp Po Boy which I ordered.
A large TV was directly behind the bar with women’s softball which entertained me until my food arrived in about 15 minutes. Two large hoagies with fries smelled yum! The fries were hot and that first bite of the sandwich had me smiling big. You can’t find great Po Boys in our area, this was a super find. The bartender kept very busy, but had time to chat a few times. No specific check-​in of my meal which was disappointing, but I proactively did tell her it was great!
I took a walk outside and it was a party. A small deck has table service. A few picnic tables had families hanging out enjoying the nice evening. Corn hole was set up by the building. The docks had a few boats pulled up. Kids were casting off the banks in hopes of a fresh catch. I also saw kayaking. The area is beautiful and serene.
This place caught me off guard. I had never heard of it and to be so far removed from the city had a swank feel of its own. Even the drive with hairpin turns and a mixture of old and new homes was something I will remember adding to the ambiance. If your looking for great food at a fair prices and a quiet folksy feel dining experience, you have found it in Blue Petes.

I haven’t been here in years, but lately have heard good things about it, anyway, met some friends there tonight for dinner and really enjoyed my meal (The place was hopping!!) I had the fried flounder, a huge serving, plus a squash medley which was sooo tasty, and baked macaroni & cheese, also delish! I would go there again in a heartbeat. Many times, a restaurant will give you a decent entrée and than add not so tasty sides — and sometimes charge extra. Really enjoyed & finished everything on my plate!!!
Boop6Bets

Had a nice quiet dinner here a few weeks ago on a Thursday evening. The weather was nice so we sat out on the back patio. I did get one huge bug bite but the bugs weren’t terrible considering you’re on the bayou.
The restaurant is far larger inside than I expected and we walked through the main dining area and past the bar to get to the outside patio seating around back.
We started with the coconut shrimp and they were very, very good. Freshly breaded, not so hot they scalded my skin off, and tasted delicious. My boyfriend got the snow crab legs and they were large, fresh crab legs. He loved them. He gave me some and I have to say it was delish. I couldn’t decide between crab cakes or the tuna burrito so we got both and he said he’d help me eat some of whichever I didn’t like. I ordered brown rice and veggies with my crab cakes. They were good — but not the best. My ex-husband’s are still the best crab cakes I’ve ever had. The tuna burrito was very good — I liked it — we both had some of that.
We considered dessert but decided to pass. Maybe next time.
This feels like a real-​life Merlotte’s or something (True Blood reference) where it’s a local spot buried in the middle of nowhere and occasional out of towners or visitors to Sandbridge find it and wander in. I liked the atmosphere and the food tasted pretty good — the seafood was certainly fresh.
I’d come back — probably only for crab legs though.

Blue Petes is hidden from crowed Virginia Beach. The restaurant has great local seafood and a great view of the swamplands. The hospitality is sweet and southern with a bayou twist. I recommend this restaurant to anyone in the Virginia Beach area trying to leave the downtown strip and trying to get local southern food.

Portions were huge! We loved the coconut shrimp appetizer. The atmosphere was really nice. Our dinners were ok. We had a chicken dish and a steak dish. Probably should have stuck with seafood.

I live in Stafford, VA and looked into this place. So glad I did this place for my birthday dinner. Loved the flounder dinner, the waitress was awesome and it was great to actually have the owner come and greet us. Definitely a place you should try.

Awesome experience!!! We were the only tourists in the place. Our food and our waitress were top notch. Party of 23 and everything was right.
Angela was the best waitress!
I cannot recommend this place enough. I had the Tuna Burrito. 4 people had the steak. 2 had crab legs. And on and on and on!
Virginia Beach visitors make it a stop.

Found Blue Pete’s on Unilocal and went for carry out. It looked like a nice sit down place. Talking to the hostess and seeing several folks come in it’s definitely a local favorite. The Cali[mari] Nachos were huge. Ended up finishing them for lunch the next day. The tuna wrap was delicious and the wasabi sauce perfect. Definitely on the list for places to go out to in the future. Holding off on the fifth star until we get the full experience.

Pretty good, I didn’t love that their smash drink thingy that can also come in a mason jar didn’t have a description. The base alcohol must be some kind of whiskey or gin… whatever it was, I hated it! So I tried the cake batter martini which was a bit better.
I had the crab flounder for dinner, very good as well as the broccoli. Honestly this place isn’t going to stun anybody, and all the waiters were walking around with someones baby on their hip (the same baby) all night and handling plates and her at the same time… I don’t know how anyone can function with a baby on one hip and handling drinks & plates for multiple customers with the other, I would have dropped one or both.
The high school hostesses seemed to be very confused and angry at each other and at the customers, even though it wasn’t terribly busy. Lots of eye rolling and bickering and huffing in the 2 minutes I stood up there with them.

If you like smelly seafood and fatty meats, then this is the place for you!
We wanted to like this place because it is so close to our home but the food was horrible.
We started with a cup of the seafood gumbo that was so fishy tasting we sent it back for the she crab soup. The crab soup was better than the seafood gumbo but not by much. You could tell it was not fresh by the way it looked and tasted; it was very dark and pasty tasting and not much crab in it.
We ordered the French dip sandwich that was absolutely disgusting. Over 40% of it was fat and gristle, and that is not an exaggeration. We left most of the sandwich on the plate along with the pile of fat we trimmed off. We did tell our server about it who apologized but did not offer to bring anything else or take the sandwich off of our check plus she said it sometimes comes out that fatty… What??? They knowingly serve this kind of food!
Based on our experience we will not be back and you should not go there either unless you like stinky seafood and blubber!

Not a bad place!
My babe and I attended a birthday gathering for his brother. I had fried flounder with fries and broccoli. My babe had fried shrimp and fries. I was surprisingly pleased! Everything tasted great and the scenery was amazing! My only complaint is it took the waitress a long time to bring us our check, but we had a large party so I won’t fault her.
I’m looking forward to returning!

I wanted to like this place. I REALLY did. It just wasn’t as good as I’d hoped and I have to be honest with a my review.
We sat in the area closest to the water, which I liked, but it was really hot where we sat. There were fans going, but it didn’t feel like there was any A/​C. We also had an issue with flies hovering around the table.
The food was decent. Started off with the crab dip, which we liked. I had the crab cakes. The broccoli and mashed potatoes were pretty good. But the crab cakes were overly broiled — so much so that they were dry on the outside. The hubs had the seafood pasta. For a wine/​lemon/​garlic sauce, it was awfully dry and heavily doused in Old Bay. Just wasn’t what he was expecting.
Service was extremely friendly. The folks here seem genuinely pleasant and grateful for the business. Unfortunately, it just couldn’t make up for the lackluster meal and uncomfortable surroundings.