Thursday Nights at Fontaine's

Finding a restaurant with a food special is always fantastic, especially when the food is actually good. The Thursday night happy hour special (between 4 - 7pm) at Fontaine's in the Virginia Highlands allows you to catch discounts on oysters from the raw bar, peel and eat shrimp and crab legs.  Like many restaurants in the Va-Hi neighborhood there is no parking lot attached and parking is street or lot where you can find it. Since parking is always crazy in this neighborhood, even on a Thursday, it would be smart to be parked by 6:30pm (at the latest) to beat the full dinner rush.

The decor is fun and quirky and the staff are friendly with a sense of humor. We were placed in a small side room just left of the door that was dominated by a large Chihuly-like light fixture in the ceiling.

Now to the food. The seafood on special was very fresh; in fact, there was much consumption of it at our table. You'll want to wear a shirt you don't care much about, or tuck a napkin into your top because you'll want dig in and make a mess of yourself with these crab legs. Other seafood was also exemplary. The seafood po'boy with fried scallops was devoured quickly, as was the lobster bisque soup. The calamari was granted a thumbs up, but was set aside in favor of the next course.

Those who are not particularly fond of seafood or are vegetarian, and are dining with a group take note: they offer extensive non- seafood options. The spinach - artichoke dip was rather good; you'll almost want to make a meal of the baked dip with its crusted gooey melted goodness with contrasted ricotta cheese, spinach and artichokes served with the usual crispy tortilla chips. It was really good, but not much different than the usual spinach artichoke dip, other than the addition of ricotta cheese.

They offer a vegetable plate with a large number of interchangeable options including: two types of beans and rice, fresh veggies and fried goods (ps - the hush puppies are amazing and they serve them with honey!). For those of the salad persuasion, they also offer a really good house salad that is chock full of mandarin oranges and pecans. For those from the New York state area, apparently their poppyseed dressing is the same type that transplants have trouble finding.

One thing disappointing, however, was the key lime pie. If you love a very tangy, sour key lime pie, you are in luck, but be forewarned; I mean very sour.

Overall, this place is pretty great for a Thursday night happy hour, or even for dinner any day of the week.

PS-As a vegetarian all non-vegetarian reviews were given by the food-lovers with great taste in my party; I give no guarantees for the sentiments expressed on seafood.