Pungo & Blackwater

A genuine surprise for visitors who think VB is all boardwalk: working farmland inside city limits. The Pungo Strawberry Festival is a local institution. Slow roads, farm markets, and big skies — the city's hidden-gem anchor.

• Blue Pete's Restaurant

  Pungo & Blackwater$$

  Pungo-area seafood restaurant known locally as a 'locals' secret,' serving dinner nightly plus a full weekend brunch service.

  • Hidden Gem

• Pungo Boys BBQ

  Pungo & Blackwater$$

  Family-run Pungo smokehouse where the meats smoke sixteen hours — try the Alabama white sauce smoked turkey or the Brunswick stew.

  • Family Friendly
  • Hidden Gem

• Pungo Pizza & Ice Cream

  Pungo & Blackwater$

  Family-run Pungo pizzeria since 1998 with a game room, ice cream counter, and enclosed deck for large groups.

  • Family Friendly
  • Outdoor Seating

• ShoreBreak Pizza & TapHouse — Pungo

  Pungo & Blackwater$$

  Pungo location of the 'Fiercely Independent since 2003' pizza-and-burger taphouse, with a Monday-Friday 3-5:30pm happy hour.

  • Happy Hour
  • Family Friendly

• TASTE — Pungo

  Pungo & Blackwater$$

  Pungo outpost of the Hampton Roads gourmet market-and-cafe chain founded in 1973, known for made-to-order sandwiches and craft beverages.

  • Family Friendly

• The Bee & The Biscuit

  Pungo & Blackwater$$

  Breakfast-and-lunch spot in a circa-1919 Pungo cottage, known for fresh-made biscuits, Colossal Cinnamon Rolls, and a garden patio.

  • Outdoor Seating
  • Family Friendly

• Monk's Place

  Pungo & Blackwater$

  Cash-only Pungo roadhouse pouring since the 1940s — dollar-bill walls, paper-plate burgers with a cult following, and fried gizzards on the menu.

  • Hidden Gem
  • Outdoor Seating

• Astraea Coffee

  Pungo & Blackwater$$

  Pet-friendly cafe in a converted house near the Municipal Center courthouse cluster, pairing coffee with bagels, wraps, and a fresh bakery case.

  • Dog Friendly

• Corduroy

  Pungo & Blackwater$$

  Melbourne-inspired coffee and made-from-scratch food in a historic Pungo Village home — the rebrand of longtime local favorite Sawdust Road.

  • Hidden Gem

• Munden Point Park

  Pungo & Blackwater

  Deep in rural southern Virginia Beach, 100-acre Munden Point Park sits on the North Landing River — a major leg of the Intracoastal Waterway — and feels more…

  • Free
  • Family Friendly

• Pungo Ferry Landing Park

  Pungo & Blackwater

  A working boat launch on the North Landing River deep in rural southern Virginia Beach, Pungo Ferry Landing is currently mid-upgrade: construction beginning in…

  • Free
  • Dog Friendly

• West Neck Creek Natural Area

  Pungo & Blackwater

  A 217-acre wooded natural area kept deliberately undeveloped, West Neck Creek borders West Neck Road and Princess Anne Road in the rural southern reach of the…

  • Free
  • Hidden Gem
  • Dog Friendly

• Military Aviation Museum

  Pungo & Blackwater

  Out among the farm fields of Pungo sits one of the world's largest private collections of flyable World War I and World War II aircraft — and 'flyable' is the…

  • Hidden Gem
  • Wheelchair Accessible
  • Family Friendly

• Virginia Beach Hidden Gems: Local Spots Off the Boardwalk

• Sandbridge
• Kempsville
• Red Mill & General Booth

• Back Bay Getaways

  Sandbridge$$

  Sandbridge's southernmost outfitter, near Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge — guided kayak and bike tours, rentals, and overnight trips into False Cape.

  • Hidden Gem

• Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge

  Sandbridge

  Immediately south of Sandbridge, Back Bay NWR protects thousands of acres of barrier-spit habitat — beach, dunes, maritime forest, and freshwater marsh — that…

  • Hidden Gem
  • Family Friendly

• Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Beach

  Sandbridge

  Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge protects about 3 miles of Atlantic shoreline south of Sandbridge, reached on foot from the Visitor Contact Station via two…

  • Hidden Gem
  • Wheelchair Accessible

• Baja Coffee Co

  Sandbridge$$

  Sandbridge's morning coffee counter alongside Baja Restaurant, pouring Fair Trade Organic Peruvian coffee and cold brew from 7am to noon.

• Baja Restaurant

  Sandbridge$$

  Sandbridge's end-of-the-road seafood spot right on Back Bay, with live entertainment and sunset water views.

  • Waterfront
  • Live Music
  • Hidden Gem

• Boardwok Restaurant

  Sandbridge$$

  Family-owned Chinese and Asian-American kitchen near Sandbridge with a weather-permitting outdoor lanai and made-to-order, gluten-free-friendly dishes.

  • Outdoor Seating
  • Hidden Gem