Somewhere along South Crater Road in Petersburg, Virginia, there is a place that smells like Sunday dinner and feels like a warm hug the moment you walk through the door. Locals have been quietly obsessed with it for decades, road-trippers have made U-turns for it, and out-of-state visitors have added it to their must-stop lists.
The question everyone seems to be asking is simple: is this the best Southern buffet in all of Virginia, or is it just the most comforting? My money is firmly on both.
Pull up a chair, because this place is the real deal, and once you experience it, you will completely understand why the parking lot is always packed.
A Family Legacy Built on Love and Southern Roots
Some restaurants are built on business plans. Nanny’s Restaurant was built on something far more powerful: family, faith, and a deep love for Southern cooking.
Founded by Ron Stewart, a former Prince George County police officer, this Petersburg institution started as a family-style BBQ spot and grew into one of the most beloved buffets in all of Virginia.
The story behind this place is exactly what makes every bite taste a little more meaningful. Ron did not open a restaurant to chase trends or impress food critics.
He opened it to feed people well, treat them right, and create a space that felt like home.
Decades later, that original spirit still lives in every corner of the dining room. The recipes passed down through generations carry the unmistakable fingerprint of real home cooking.
Nanny’s Restaurant is not just a meal stop. It is a living piece of Virginia’s culinary heritage, and every plate served is a quiet tribute to the family that started it all.
The Buffet Spread That Stops You in Your Tracks
Walking up to the buffet at Nanny’s Restaurant is one of those genuinely jaw-dropping moments that catches first-timers completely off guard. The spread is a full celebration of Southern cooking done right, and the variety is seriously impressive for a spot this humble and unpretentious.
Fried chicken, chopped pork BBQ, hamburger steak, chicken and dumplings, roast beef, brisket, and pork BBQ ribs anchor the main lineup. Then come the sides: collard greens, cabbage, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, and hushpuppies that practically melt on contact.
A fresh garden salad bar rounds out the savory side, and then the dessert station swoops in with peach cobbler, apple cobbler, banana pudding, brownies, and pineapple cake. Every single item is made using recipes that have been in the family for generations.
Virginia has no shortage of buffets, but very few of them hit this level of authenticity and abundance. This is a spread worth planning your schedule around.
Fried Chicken That Earns Its Own Fan Club
Ask anyone who has eaten at Nanny’s Restaurant what they remember most, and the fried chicken will come up within the first ten seconds. It has developed a reputation that reaches well beyond Petersburg, drawing people from Richmond, North Carolina, and even out-of-state road-trippers who have heard the buzz and simply had to find out for themselves.
The crust has that perfect golden crunch that gives way to impossibly juicy meat underneath. It is the kind of fried chicken that reminds you why this dish became a Southern staple in the first place.
No shortcuts, no frozen shortcuts, just technique and family know-how passed down through years of practice.
What makes it even better is the context. Eating it in the warm, unpretentious dining room of this Virginia landmark, surrounded by the sounds of a busy, happy crowd, elevates the whole experience.
Great fried chicken at a great restaurant feels entirely different from takeout. At Nanny’s, it feels like the version your grandmother would have made if she had a gift for this sort of thing.
Brisket and BBQ Ribs That Mean Serious Business
Brisket is one of those dishes that separates the serious BBQ spots from the pretenders. At Nanny’s Restaurant, the brisket is moist, deeply flavored, and cooked with the kind of patience that modern fast-casual dining simply cannot replicate.
Slice into it and the texture tells you everything you need to know about the level of care that goes into the kitchen here.
The BBQ ribs are equally memorable. They carry a genuine smokehouse quality, fall-off-the-bone tender in a way that only slow cooking can produce.
Paired with the house BBQ sauce served right at the table, they become one of those meals you mentally revisit long after the drive home.
Virginia has a rich BBQ tradition, and this Petersburg spot honors that tradition without any gimmicks or pretense. The carving station, which also features ham and other rotating cuts, adds a special touch that makes the buffet feel more like a proper Sunday feast than a standard all-you-can-eat setup.
For BBQ lovers passing through the state, this stop is completely non-negotiable.
Southern Sides That Steal the Spotlight
At most buffets, the sides are an afterthought. At Nanny’s Restaurant, they are practically the main event.
The collard greens carry a sweetness that surprises people expecting something more savory, and the green beans taste like they have been simmering low and slow all morning long. Both are deeply satisfying in that specific way that only real Southern home cooking can deliver.
The mashed potatoes are homemade and whipped to a creamy consistency that puts instant versions to shame. Sweet potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, and cabbage round out a lineup that could honestly anchor a full meal on their own.
And then there are the hushpuppies.
More than one person has declared the hushpuppies at Nanny’s to be the finest they have ever encountered anywhere. Golden on the outside, pillowy within, and perfectly seasoned, they are the kind of side dish that disappears from your plate before you even realize you have eaten them.
For a restaurant that already excels at so many things, the sides are genuinely one of its greatest strengths.
Desserts That Make You Forget You Were Already Full
Just when you think the meal has peaked, the dessert station at Nanny’s Restaurant enters the conversation and completely changes the game. Peach cobbler, apple cobbler, banana pudding, brownies, and pineapple cake are lined up and ready to undo every good intention you walked in with.
The cobblers are especially beloved. Scooped into a bowl with a generous helping of vanilla ice cream, they become something close to transcendent.
The pineapple cake has its own devoted following, with a flavor profile that is sweet, tropical, and completely unexpected in the best possible way. Brownies are dense and fudgy, the kind that taste genuinely homemade because they absolutely are.
A helpful tip for first-timers: grab your ice cream from the freezer box before sitting down, since it needs a few minutes to soften to the perfect scoopable consistency. The dessert selection at this Virginia buffet is not just a pleasant bonus.
It is a fully realized final chapter to one of the most satisfying dining experiences the Petersburg area has to offer. Save room, no matter how challenging that feels.
An Atmosphere That Feels Like Coming Home
The moment you step inside Nanny’s Restaurant, something shifts. The noise of South Crater Road fades, replaced by the hum of a dining room that feels genuinely alive with warmth.
Christian music plays softly in the background, the staff greet you like they mean it, and the whole space carries an energy that is rare in modern dining.
The decor is unpretentious and homey, the kind of environment where you feel immediately comfortable regardless of how you are dressed or where you drove in from. Families, couples, work crews, and solo road-trippers all share the same space without any awkwardness, united by the shared mission of eating very well.
This is Southern hospitality in its most genuine form, not a performance put on for tourists, but the real thing. The staff are attentive without being intrusive, knowledgeable about the menu, and genuinely happy to make recommendations.
Virginia has many restaurants that claim to offer a welcoming atmosphere. Nanny’s actually delivers on that promise every single service, every single day it is open.
That consistency is what turns first-time visitors into loyal regulars who keep coming back for years.
A Road Trip Gem Right Off Interstate 95
Location is one of those things that either makes a restaurant or limits it. For Nanny’s Restaurant, the spot just off Interstate 95 in Petersburg is almost perfectly positioned for one of the best road trip stops in the entire state of Virginia.
Drivers heading north or south along the East Coast corridor pass right by it, and those who know, stop.
The Petersburg area itself is worth a mention. It sits in the heart of central Virginia, surrounded by history and character, and Nanny’s fits right into that fabric as a local institution with staying power.
Several hotels sit within easy walking distance along South Crater Road, making it a genuinely convenient dinner stop for overnight travelers.
The parking lot tends to fill up fast, which is both a testament to the restaurant’s popularity and a practical heads-up for planning your visit. Coming slightly before peak hours on a Friday or Saturday evening is a smart move.
For anyone driving through Virginia and looking for a meal that actually delivers on the promise of Southern cooking, this is the exit worth taking without hesitation.
Hours That Reward the Planners Among Us
One of the most frequently mentioned quirks about Nanny’s Restaurant is its operating schedule, and it is worth knowing before you make the drive. The restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays, which surprises a lot of people expecting weekend availability across the board.
Tuesday through Thursday, lunch service runs from 11 AM to 2 PM. Friday opens up considerably, with service running from 11 AM in the morning all the way through to 9 PM in the evening.
Saturday dinner service runs from 4 PM to 9 PM, making it the prime weekend window for those who cannot make a weekday visit work.
The limited hours are actually part of what keeps the food so consistently fresh and good. With a shorter service window, the kitchen focuses its energy on doing everything at the highest possible level rather than stretching across a full seven-day week.
Planning your visit around these hours is a small investment that pays off enormously once you sit down. Check the schedule, mark your calendar, and make the trip to Petersburg a deliberate part of your Virginia itinerary.
It is absolutely worth the planning.
Find It, Visit It, and Tell Everyone You Know
Nanny’s Restaurant sits at 11900 S Crater Rd, Petersburg, VA 23805, and if you plug that address into your navigation app right now, you will be making one of the better decisions of your road trip. The phone number is (804) 733-6619, and the website at nannysbbq.com has up-to-date details on hours and buffet offerings.
What started as a humble family BBQ spot in Petersburg has grown into a Virginia dining institution with a reputation that stretches across state lines. People drive from Richmond, from North Carolina, from Ohio, and beyond, all chasing the kind of home-cooked Southern meal that is increasingly hard to find in an era of chains and convenience.
The buffet changes slightly day to day, which keeps things interesting and ensures the kitchen is always working with fresh ingredients. My honest advice is simple: go on a Friday when you have the full lunch-to-dinner window available, arrive a little early, grab a table, and pace yourself through the buffet.
Then come back the following Saturday for the dinner service and do it all over again. Virginia has given travelers many great reasons to stop.
Nanny’s is one of the very best.
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