Crafteria Rebranding as Woodshed, Opening Appalachian Cafe Downtown 

Local retailer and craft hub Crafteria: Handmade Food and Goods will move from its current location (16 Church Ave. SW) to 409 S. Jefferson Street, directly next to Mast General Store downtown. As part of the move, Crafteria will rebrand to Woodshed: Appalachian Crafts and Coffee Cafe, which will include a modern Appalachian cafe serving breakfast and lunch seven days a week, slated to open in early 2026. 

Co-owner Mark Lynn Ferguson bills the cafe menu as “elevated hillbilly food,” and has tapped consulting chef Stephen Doyle (formerly of Jack Brown’s in Roanoke and The Maroon Door in Blacksburg) to develop it. So far, they plan to serve a chow chow melt, crafted with its namesake pickled relish (cabbage, bell peppers, onions and green tomatoes) and regionally sourced ingredients such as aged Appalachian cheese, salt-risen bread and coarse ground mustard. You’ll also find pepperoni rolls with garlic-herb dipping sauce and cheese slaw, a creamy mayonnaise-based dip with a kick that was invented in Roanoke (think of it like pimento cheese but made with shredded Swiss, chopped green onions, banana peppers and pickled jalapenos). Beverages will also reflect ingredients and artisanal products sourced from across the Appalachian mountain range. 

The design will reflect a rustic-modern vibe with a V-shaped cafe counter with a wall lined with triangular concrete breeze blocks. Seating will include a long cafe counter and cafe tables, and Ferguson says they hope to eventually offer cozy outdoor seating too. In the run-up to the move, Crafteria is holding a sale, with most goods 20 percent off — ideal for stocking up on Appalachian pantry goods sucha as Spicewalla, Poppy Hand-Crafted Popcorn and Lindera Farms.

The Haven to Open in Former Awful Arthur’s Space Downtown

Late this year, The Haven will open at 108 Campbell Ave. SE inside the downtown Roanoke space formerly occupied by Awful Arthur’s, which announced its closing in June. The concept was developed by three friends with a passion for food and local dining, including restaurateur Jonathan Tate (Awful Arthur’s Salem, Cast Plates & Pints and Pollard 107 South), marketing and sales software executive Amy Dorton and Adam Leffell, who has a background in technology. 

“We wanted to bring a lively, energetic escape, hence the name haven,” Dorton says. “Whatever that really means for you as a patron whether it’s date night, whether it’s a family lunch or dinner, just a place to go and enjoy good food, maybe a drink, live music, sports.”

The menu and pricing are still being finalized but will feature creative twists on American fare like a hot honey cream cheese dip appetizer or the Haven Burger, a smashburger with cream cheese, jalapenos and cheddar on Texas Toast, rounded out by flatbreads, salads and steak and chicken entrees (it will not be a seafood place, Dorton says). The vibe will be modern industrial chic yet cozy, with design accents like exposed brick, a concrete bar top, Edison light bulbs and greenery walls. The pool tables will remain, much to the relief of the local American Poolplayers Association league. Dorton shares that they plan to open The Haven before the end of the year, ideally before Thanksgiving and December holiday festivities.

Basil’s Farm Market & Gifts Opens in Cave Spring

Basil’s Farm Market & Gifts, a shop selling locally sourced groceries such as pasture-raised meat, seasonal produce and pantry items, celebrated its grand re-opening at its new Roanoke location at 4520 Brambleton Ave. #A on September 6. The shop, owned by husband-wife team Whitney and Chaffin Scott, previously operated in Boones Mill for nearly two years. Although the pair are Roanoke natives, they were inspired to open their farm store by their time living in Washington and the frequency of farmers markets there (which they participated in with their business Wag & Wood, selling their handcrafted wooden cutting boards). 

“We felt like Virginia, and Roanoke specifically, really needed more accessibility to quality food and also quality product,” Whitney says. “The original vision was to essentially make it like a farmers’ market that was accessible to people six days a week.” 

By supporting local organic farms (or those that practice organic farming methods), the Scotts hope to underscore for consumers the importance of knowing where your food comes from and the value of keeping dollars in the local economy. Here you’ll find grass-fed beef from Bonsack’s C & F Farms ($9 to $36 per pound), pasture raised chicken and pork ($7.49 to $16.86 per pound), farm fresh eggs ($6 to $8), and produce from local farms such as Floyd’s Riverstone Organic Farm ($3 to $7). Stock up on pantry goods like local honey, Deer Park Farm’s garlic dill pickles ($8.50), and snacks such as granola, bars, cereal, nuts and dark chocolate, many of which are gluten- or dairy-free ($5.99 to $13.99). 

On the gifts side, outfit your kitchen or find the perfect present with Wag & Wood charcuterie boards ($40 to $80), funky mugs from The Slap Shop ($45 to $65) and hand-woven tea towels from By Beth ($42).

First Impressions: Birrieria La Vaca

We first shared the news of Birrieria La Vaca’s expansion in the inaugural edition of Corner Booth in March; owner Sandy Sifuentes expanded her popular food truck to a brick-and-mortar location which opened on Aug. 22 at 604 5th St. SW. The Mexican restaurant is a welcome addition to the Old Southwest neighborhood, with a robust menu of tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, friendly, attentive service and a bright, festive space, which includes a portrait of Frida Kahlo holding a birria taco above the bar and two large flat screen televisions on either of the main dining room’s walls (which was airing international soccer on the day I dined). 

The menu is anchored by its namesake fare, birria (braised beef), which you can order in multiple iterations, including as an a la carte taco filling ($4.25 for one taco, $16.50 for four), burritos ($14 for “wet,” topped with beef consomme or $13 for California-style, with beans, rice and cheese) and tortas ( $12), with refried pinto beans, cheese and mayonnaise on a sourdough roll. You can also order the fan-favorite quesabirria tacos, birria sandwiched into tortillas with melty cheese flanked by a ramekin of beef consomme for dipping ($12.75 for 3), tacos ahogado, in which three quesabirria tacos are served with the consomme poured on top ($11), as part of a plate with rice, beans and tortillas ($11) and birria ramen ($11), which my server (who I later learned was Sifuentes’ daughter) says she usually enjoys after a night of dancing. 

My dining companion and I placed an order of four tacos, which you can mix-and-match, including birria (very good), asada (quite good), al pastor (a little on the dry side for my liking) and chorizo (not as flavorful as I’d hoped). The tacos come on yellow or white tortillas (ours came with a mix of both) and the option to include chopped cilantro and diced onion, which we did (though the al pastor taco had rather large pieces of onions on it, perhaps, my dining companion noted, to obscure the fact that there wasn’t as much meat filling in that one). I enjoyed the quesabirria tacos, but they didn’t pack the same flavor punch as the first time I tried them from the food truck — they also didn’t have the same signature reddish tint and crisp exterior that’s synonymous with quesabirria tacos, which comes from griddling the tortilla in the rendered beef fat.

You can customize your tacos and entrees with the excellent homemade salsa in squeeze bottles, either red (the spicier of the two) or green. There’s also a small bottle of habanero sauce, which accompanies the complimentary chips and salsa (mild, with a thin consistency). We paired our lunch with tall glasses of jamaica, a drink of steeped hibiscus flowers; I missed the refreshing, sweet-tart tang I associate with this beverage, so this version was too sweet for my palate. Other drink options include horchata, soft drinks, juice, beer and wine. I’ll definitely be back to sample the birria ramen, though I’m more likely to enjoy it on a day when I can chase it with a nap.

Ask Layla: Where to Eat

“There is a new Mediterranean restaurant in Eastern Roanoke County on Route 24. Please check it out and let us know what you find! Across the road from William Byrd, in the strip center that houses Domino's and Lickedy Split Ice /cream store!” – Scott, Roanoke

After confirming that this reader was referring to 525 Shawarma (2445 E Washington Ave., Ste 104), I drove to Vinton one sunny Saturday to have lunch with my mom. I am Lebanese-American on my mom’s side, so I was especially interested in her reaction to the food since there are many similarities across regional Middle Eastern dishes. Owners Omer Shakre and Nora Sabri, who are Iraqi, opened their restaurant in early August inside a strip mall, sandwiched between an ice cream shop and nail salon. 

As their tagline suggests, 525 Shawarma specializes in “vertical BBQ,” where slow-cooked chicken or beef is shaved from a rotating spit and served in sandwiches or on platters. The chicken shawarma ($10.99) I sampled was excellent, with the shaved meat rolled into a pita with garlic mayo and red onions, then griddled on the flattop till the exterior was nicely browned and crisped. Sandwiches and platters both come with a small plate of lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and red onions, plus a side of garlic mayo, so you can doctor up each bite as you please. Although Shakre wouldn’t reveal his proprietary seasoning blend, he did divulge that the chicken, a mix of thinly sliced chicken breasts and thighs, is marinated for 12 hours before being threaded on the skewer to slowly cook on the rotating vertical spit.

We deliberated between the beef shawarma platter ($21.99) or the ground lamb-and-beef kabob platter ($21.99); we opted for the latter after Shakre said it was his favorite. The tender kabob is lightly smoky and comes with pita and Jasmine rice (which gets its yellow hue from turmeric) and a choice of one side, either hummus (thick, tahini-forward), French fries or beans (creamy, Iraqi-style navy beans cooked in tomato sauce).

The casual eatery is done up in a mostly black and white color scheme with a smattering of black four-top tables, with pops of red from an accent wall and the drinks cooler, stocked here with soft drinks and fermented yogurt drinks. The soundtrack of Arabic music (Shakre conceded that he is partial to Lebanese singers) is punctuated by the frequent whirring of Shakre wielding a meat shaver as he slices shawarma. There’s baklava for dessert ($6 for 2 pieces), which Shakre imports from Turkey according to his preferred specs for nuts, sweetener and oil: pistachios, sugar syrup and ghee.