Previously Featured Location

Spring 2007

The Boot

123 W 21st St
Norfolk, VA 23517
(757) 627-BOOT (2668)
Tues - Sun 5:00 PM - 2:00 AM
Closed Mondays
http://www.insidetheboot.com/

Long-time friends and owners of Relative Theory Records in downtown Norfolk, David Haussmann and Josh Wright recently ventured into the restaurant business to open up The Boot on 21st St, which serves as nice restaurant and/or music venue depending on the time of night you visit. A self-described “gastropub” with “devotion to and dependence upon the region”, The Boot caters well to locals. The walls are decorated with works done by Hampton Roads artists, the bands are composed of local and regional talent, and the menu is filled with fruit, vegetables, and meat primarily taken from within the fine state of Virginia.

The Boot is named as such for the geographic shape of Italy, and so Italian cuisine naturally fills out the dinner menu. According to head chef Brendan Vesey, Italians are “fiercely regional” and seek out the freshest ingredients; this helps to explain The Boot’s near obsession with food grown on farms nearby. The menu features many vegetarian dishes as well as a few vegan options.

Up until about 10 PM each evening (except Monday when the restaurant is closed), the atmosphere can be generally described as upscale. But after that, the white tablecloths come off the tables, a local band usually kicks up, and beer is served in cans. Thanks to the more generous space of the restaurant, many of the shows from the record store downtown have been moved up to here. With its blend of fine dining and youthful bands, The Boot really is able to offer and give back to the local Ghent community an atmosphere that few others can match.

The Boot was a participating location on the 2007 Ghent Winter Bar Tour held on February 24, 2007. All proceeds from this event benefitted the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Eastern Virginia (local Hampton Roads chapter).

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