plaid turnip

the food was not good. sat about 1 hour waiting for it and it was just not good the cup cake was old and hard do not plan to return

yum!. i find that the "plaid turnip" is the most delicious place in suffolk (other than amici's pizzaria). i personally know the owner who is a very kind and hard working man. the breakfast there is never under or over cooked. they always hve fresh brewed coffee and always check to make sure you are satisfied. thank you for the food. i will be seeing you next saturday!

tasty. the redeeming quality of this place is the food. my soup, burger, and my son's mac 'n cheese were very good and exceeded my expectations. my burger was big, juicy, and cooked a perfect medium. almost all of the food was made from scratch, including the kids mac 'n cheese, it was very creamy and cheesy. my service, however, was polite but amateurish and the food came out very slow, especially since me and my two young boys were the only people in the dinning room at 5:15 pm on a wednesday. although they have a kids menu, and the prices are good, i was not impressed when the high-chair they brought had the straps broken on it rendering it useless to restrain my exceedingly bouncy 11 month old baby boy.

the decor is clean and mostly works but i wish restaurants would stop putting up bad folksy artwork that is for sale in lieu of real decorations, i'm not a fan. on another food note the fries were tasty and hot, but they were generic frozen from a bag. the potato chips, on the other hand, were cut in house and fried up to a crispy tasty perfection. i'm not sure why they think it's too much work to make fries in house, but then go ahead and make their own potato chips? the world may never know. all in all this is a great place to stop by for lunch when in downtown suffolk, or maybe a nice spot to grab a drink and a quick bite to eat after work.

last comment; the menu is huge. as a personal rule, i am always leery of restaurants that have gargantuan menus. however, in my visit, my food was very tasty and exceeded my expectations.

dining here? definitly yes!!. this is a response to greg mayfield who wrote a terrible review. i have been to the turnip several times and i know to whom you are speaking of and being in the south you do run into people that speak with a thick southern accent. you must be from the north. it is one thing to voice your opinion but a totally different thing to rip someone that you don't even know to shreds. i find it very disrespectful of you as a man (if we can say that) to make fun of someone in the way they talk or speak. it just shows your intelligence or lack of.

as far as the food maybe you were not feeling well and had a cold which throws off your taste buds. there is nothing bland about the seafood i get that quite often and the crab cakes runny....i don't think so they are quite tasty. i must say the portions that they serve is more than enough for a normal person. maybe be your appetite is slightly bigger than a normal person.

i wonder if you told your server of even a manager about your "horrible" experience? or did you just decide to go on the internet and voice "your opinion"

as far as them not being in business....well maybe you did not read the paper but i do believe the turnip received 14 best of awards!!!! so i think you should get your eyes check and research your information before putting your "stories" online.

love the turnip....best in suffolk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


-----24 feb, 2011-----

must try again melissa p.-- "awful!". after reviewing melissa p.'s comment about the plaid turnip i felt i had no choice but to comment. first are you sure you went to the plaid turnip and not the previous restaurant pisces? i have been to the plaid turnip several times for breakfast, lunch and dinner; i tried almost everything including the pasta dish which i might add was.....outstanding! the servers that i have encounterd have been more than on top of their game. i must admit service has been a little slow at times but it is due to them having a packed house where people are waiting to be seated. i myself have had to wait but not very long. they have been quick about clearing tables to seat waiting customers so much that the hostess has cleared a table for me and my party. maybe you should wipe the slate clean and try the plaid turnip again. i'm sure you will not be disappointed. if you want excellent service ask to karen, brent, graceann, susan, leslie or vicky they are all wonderful and top notch. oh, be sure to stop by the bakery and get a cupcake from jane. they are the best!!


-----01 aug, 2010-----

excellent service!!!!. this was a wonderfull experience for us. the food was amazing and the prices are more than reasonable. our server karen took care of us and we did not have to ask for anything. she was delightful to talk with. our food came out promptly. i'm sorry "steve" i don't agree with your comment. you must try going again. ask for karen to be your server she is wonderful!

a great experience. nothing is from a can; it's fresh.
the service was very attentive and nice. we will be going back. better than any place in chesapeake.

my first and last trip to this establishment. i made a reservation a week in advance to have a fun dinner out with a group of friends. we had a total of 6 in our party. when we arrived the place was near empty. this should had been a telltale sign of things to come. if you don’t want to read all of the details below, bottom line is don’t come here! if you want the whole experience settle in for a long and thorough review.

my husband and myself were the first to arrive and we asked for a beer/wine menu. the waitress went to the bar and wrote down the beers on draft on a piece of paper and handed it to us. i asked what wines do you have and she said all house wines. while trying to figure out what alcoholic beverages were available, our other couple walks in and asks for a liquor menu. the waitress said, “just tell me what you want and i can see if we can make it.” what establishment does not have a beer/wine/liquor menu??

our final couple walks in and i order three apps for the table. the hummus (chefs choice), fried green tomatoes and pimento cheese. waitress was clueless about which hummus was chefs choice. the apps were not horrible, but pretty average.

then we tell the waitress we need a few more minutes to look over the menu and she just lingers. at this point, i feel like we are being rushed. our reservations were at 8pm and if you can’t accommodate a party of 6 at that time, you should not accept a reservation.

we order our dinner, or at least try. my girlfriend wanted the prime rib. they were out, so she shifted to the specials menu and ordered the short ribs with mushroom ravioli. my husband order the same dish. my other girlfriend and myself ordered the fried green tomato and eggplant parmesan with linguine and the two other men order a chicken alfredo and a build your own bbq with ribs and brisk with three sides one of which were green beans.

aside from the aforementioned oddities our other issues.

1st issue - after our order was placed, we find out only one serving of linguine is left- okay not a big deal restaurants run out of stuff. my girlfriend said she would switch hers to penne.

2nd issue - both “short rib” dinners come out and it is pot roast meat. the manager is called over and when my husband asks how they can be short ribs. the manager responds, they are boneless. he said no ma’am it looks like chuck roast. she again very curtly corrected him and said it was short rib and that is how they bought it. my husband stated to her, “you have a problem with your supplier and you can’t tell the difference between chuck roast and a short rib.” he asked that it be removed from our table. the menu did not indicate boneless short ribs. our girlfriend who wanted the steak but ordered short rib special just ate the ravioli.

3rd issue - our friend who ordered the bbq brisket said it was also chuck. he then let everyone at the table to try his green beans and asked if it tasted sweet. upon making our comments, the manager literally shouted from the behind kitchen partition “they are not sweet!” appallingly and very discourteous.

the other menu items order by the other friends at the table were also not amazing and not even worth taking home for leftovers.

4th issue- as we tried to finish our meals the staff is cleaning and flipping up chairs. this is a huge offense for me!! the hours posted on the door say they are open until 10 and we are flipping chairs at 8:45 while patrons are still having dinner!!! we rushed to finished up our dinner and pay the bill. mind you we would have had another round of drinks and dessert if our experience wasn’t so terrible.

5th issue - i let this one slide because frankly i didn’t want to have to deal with the manager again, but i noticed two random charges for breakfast side at $1.50 a piece. what the hell was that for?? so a $3.00 extra charge was added for no reason.

as we walked out the door at 9:20 they locked the door behind us. much needs to be change here. hopefully this review will invoke the ownership to re-evaluate the staff and food quality.

good friendly service, large portions at a decent price. greens are the bomb. have come here a couple of times and will continue as long as the quality of the food doesn't decline. i'm glad we came.

best catfish i have ever had!!! we had so much we took food home. we did get a bread pudding to go and man was that wonderful. we will definitely be going back.

best eatery in suffolk. we have been going to this place since about the time it opened. in an area that is left mostly to chains, fast-food, and delivery pizza, this is a jewel in suffolk. if you like homemade food and good service with a reasonable price, this is where you should go.

one of my biggest gripes about living in suffolk is the lack of places to eat that isn't a chain. for some reason, we have very few homemade/mom-pop places. the nearby mall (chesapeake square) is typically crowded with the outback, red lobster, olive garden visitors and i just don't understand that. the college drive area of suffolk is all chains, too- how can you not get sick of that? and how do you not resent paying for pre-frozen food? there is no chef at any of these places and they've all gone downhill in quality, but prices have increased. for what?

plaid turnip is something very special. it's a family-oriented place in downtown suffolk. there is nothing like it in the immediate area. what else is there? subway? baron's? (the last time we were at baron's the food was awful and the service was non-existent). you can get real, home-cooked food at plaid turnip within a nice atmosphere and with really good, friendly service. their menu accommodates nearly everyone. they have everything from steak to fish to chicken and salads. they have a good range of sides and a full bar with decent beer choices. they almost always have inventive specials at reasonable prices- oh, and their normal prices are wonderful. you don't have to spend $20 on an entrée to have it taste really good.

we visit this place at least once a week- it's our friday night staple. sometimes we throw in another night just because it's so comfortable and we know whatever we want, they'll have.

their burgers are the best i've ever had. they're huge and delicious and you won't regret it. their flat iron steak is more like a boneless ribeye. it's one of my husband's favorite items. and i love the chicken- you get so much for the price and it's just so delicious. the sides are all wonderful, too. our favorite appetizers are the hummus, the calamari, and the (baked) bacon-wrapped jalepenos (oh my god they're good).

their desserts are wonderful, too. if they have the bread pudding, go for it. otherwise, the cupcakes (on display when you enter) are wonderful and creative.

the atmosphere is friendly (kids and adults alike) and comfortable. we've been taking our baby there since she was 4 weeks old (and i spent many nights of my pregnancy there because i craved their burgers).

i highly recommend this place. you can try george's- their food is really good, but their menu is limited for dinner. there's really nothing like plaid turnip in the area.

to the reviewer that was upset about take-out...this restaurant isn't a typical take-out place. we've been hit or miss with take-out here, too. that's just not their big thing. i've run into other restaurants that refuse take-out after a certain time or on a certain night. i don't fault them for this, though. they don't tout themselves as a take-out restaurant, so i wouldn't fault them for this. when they're exceptionally busy, it's not a chain, so they offer take-out, but sometimes they can't handle it. i'd rather them refuse than give us a lousy order. go to the restaurant. you'll have a better experience, anyway.


-----09 sep, 2012-----

great price, great food. besides good food, the one other thing i can say about this place is: quantity of food. they give you so much for such a good price. it was pretty basic food, too, but fresh and tasty. i don't think i'd hang out at the bar after work, but we'd definitely go back for a family night. we were at this restaurant when it was a seafood place and they've done some things to change up the decor. when we were there, there were a lot of families with young children. it's become more of a family place, which is nice for the area.

great service, good food, and a good price- all in downtown suffolk!

angel food cake french toast, with an extra side. spongey & batter is subtle blend, no dominating spice or sweetness. crisp bacon or fruit pair well with it.

too busy for carry out. i called on a saturday afternoon to order one appetizer nachos when the guy who answered the phone said they were too busy to take an order for nachos for carry out. too busy? so if i sat down a table that would be any different? don't offer carry out if you can't do it when it's "too busy." it doesn't require any difference beside putting it in a box instead of on a plate

great eatery. i have only been here for breakfast and it has never been disappointing. the portions are large and the food has always been tasty. i truly believe that their home made sausage (patties) is some of the most flavorful that i have ever had. highly recommend going for breakfast.

cute little local place with an interesting comfort food menu, eclectic decor featuring local artists' work for sale, clean and comfortable, with fun music and friendly and helpful waitstaff. i had the countrified blt with country ham and fried green tomatoes on sourdough. the ham was as salty as you'd expect country ham would be and the fried green tomatoes were great. if i'm ever passing through suffolk again, i'll be back!

i have come to this restaurant on several trips and the food has always been good but the service is a cut above.travis and the rest of the servers are grate.

maybe next time. i did not like the cheeseburger i ordered. but the portions were huge. maybe i'll order someting different next time.