Capt. Sid's

Recently, we found ourselves once again downtown at midday on a Saturday, ready to try one of those very-old-but-new-to-us local Fredericksburg restaurants. We’ve passed Capt. Sid’s thousands of times, and have heard locals mention it, but never stopped in. It’s one of those places that looks like a real dive from the outside. Inside, however, the place was clean and reasonably cheery, with its big windows and red-checked tablecloths. It’s a mom and pop place, although on the day of our visit, it was more of a pop and daughter place. The menu features breakfast items (and not just egg sandwiches, but omelets and waffles and pancakes), subs, sandwiches, burgers and fried seafood. We tried a steak and cheese, and a chicken and cheese sub, both very tasty, and sampled the boardwalk-style fries, also good. I’ve seen reviews on the internet that suggest the value isn’t as good as it used to be, and that the sandwiches have shrunk since the ownership changed hands. When I mentioned to a friend that I had eaten there recently, she agreed that Capt. Sid’s used to be a great place to eat. But this was our first visit, so I can’t compare to what used to be. In our case, we went in with low expectations, but were pleasantly surprised: the food was freshly made, the value seemed pretty good, and we came away wondering why anyone with the time to sit down to eat would bother going to a fast food chain. Now, like most of these old-time Fredericksburg joints, there’s nothing healthy on the menu, and vegans should stay away. But for a quick and casual lunch, we gave Capt. Sid’s two thumbs up.

The menu (click on image for a closer view):

Our lunch: