Ethnic eats
Published 12:51 pm Thursday, May 29, 2014
At Totoy’s Filipino Store in North Suffolk, Lynn Carbonell helps her sons Reggie Felipe—on the knife—and Ryan Felipe prepare some tasty traditional dishes.
Suffolk offers something for every palate
Turning Suffolk on to ethnic tastes is all about education, according to Lynn Carbonell’s experience.
In 2008, she and husband Ronald Felipe established Totoy’s Filipino Store, which includes a Filipino restaurant, at The Market Center at Harbour View shopping center.
“People in our area have been really good — they’ve been willing to try,” Carbonell said.
Totoy’s gives away samples of its fare, which includes an array of traditional Filipino dishes, to cultivate return customers, according to Carbonell.
“I tell them (that) if they don’t like it, it won’t hurt my feelings,” she said. “I’d rather them try it here than they take it home and they don’t like it, because then they won’t come back.”
With about eight Italian eateries, half a dozen Mexican restaurants, a quintessential soul food joint, a Thai place and a slew of Japanese and Chinese restaurants — not to mention the Indian eatery that just opened in Harbour View — Suffolk’s ethnic menu is growing as the city grows.
Comparing censuses, Suffolk has become more ethnically diverse in recent years, though very modestly. In 2000, 0.2 percent of the population was Asian-Indian, while in 2010 it was 0.3 percent. For Filipinos, it’s been 0.3 percent to 0.6 percent.
Mary Chen, the manager, sits at a table at Tokyo Grill in the city’s downtown.
Paul Chhabra opened Suffolk’s first Indian restaurant, Rajput Indian Cuisine, in March. He already had restaurants in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, but said that folks had been asking him to come to Suffolk for five years.
“I told them, ‘Later on,’” Chhabra said. When the demographics — he paid for research — had grown favorable, he became a man of his word:
“This was the time we saw developments going in,” he said. “I included Chesapeake and Portsmouth in my demographics. If it was just Suffolk, maybe not. This area is a little triangle.”
Back at Totoy’s, regular customer Bobby Dunn, who lives a few streets away, comes through the front door. “I didn’t know what to order (the first time), but now I love everything,” Dunn says. “I come here once a week, at least. Sometimes twice.”
Carbonell’s husband and three sons, aged 17 to 24, work with her in the restaurant. Folks from the nearby U.S. Navy commands and Joint and Coalition Warfighting at Lakeview Technology Park and various defense contractors help keep them busy.
Paul Chhabra, seated inside the restaurant during a recent busy lunch period, owns Rajput Indian Cuisine at Harbour View—Suffolk’s first Indian eatery.
“I get them used to my cooking, then they get sent somewhere else,” Carbonell, a former Navy child herself, says of her military customers. “Then they will come back and say, ‘In the area I got sent’ — Texas or Washington state — ‘they don’t have a Filipino restaurant.’
“I know that I have opened up people’s minds to Filipino cuisine.”
Mary Chen, manager of Tokyo Grill in downtown Suffolk, said most of her customers are regulars who come “once or twice a week.”
“A lot of customers come to be friends, they come so often,” she said.
Ethnic food guide
JAPANESE/SUSHI
Iron Chef Japanese Restaurant
1024 Centerbrook Lane
923-1588
A Japanese favorite just off Goodwin Boulevard
Koi Sushi & Hibachi
3575 Bridge Road, Suite 23
686-9009
www.koisushiva.com
Sushi artists prepare from a varied menu
Nana Sushi
6255 College Drive, Suite J
686-1560
www.nana-sushi.com
Signature rolls include the Tokyo Love Story
Ninja Japanese Restaurant
7386 Harbour Towne Parkway,
Suite 35
484-6888/484-2988
www.ninjasuffolk.com
Full bar and hibachi grill
Sapporo Japanese
Steakhouse and Sushi
729 N. Main St.
539-9968
A friendly favorite in a convenient downtown location
Tokyo Grill
1409 N. Main St.
539-8266
Customers become friends, the manager says
YoYo Sushi
5886 Harbour View Blvd.
483-8859
Sushi and pho noodles, too
CHINESE
China Moon Chinese Restaurant
938 N. Main St.
934-1800
www.chinamoonsuffolk.com
A varied menu and online ordering
China Village
217 E. Washington St.
538-2888
Good food, attentive staff and inexpensive
Dragon Chinese
827 W. Constance Road
925-1818
Classic Chinese in the heart of Suffolk
Great Wall
1524 Holland Road
923-0016
Another Chinese favorite
Hong Kong Restaurant
3215 Bridge Road, suite 2A
638-7788
Longtime North Suffolk location
Hong Kong II
1008 Portsmouth Blvd.
934-8008
Hit Chinese favorites
Peking House
3575 Bridge Road, Suite 16
686-8818
Serving the Route 17 area
Shun Xing
2815 Godwin Blvd.
539-6590
Convenient to the King’s Fork area
Super China
6550 Town Point Road, Suite 102
638-1133
Near Harbour View
Win Wok Chinese Restaurant
1238 Holland Road
925-2135
A fixture near the Suffolk Golf Course
INDIAN
Rajput
5860 Harbour View Blvd.
484-4444
www.rajputonline.com
Suffolk’s first Indian restaurant has proven popular
ITALIAN
Amici’s Pizza Café
157 E. Washington St.
923-5300
www.amicissuffolk.com
Brick-oven pizzas are a specialty
Al Forno Pizzeria
1523 Holland Road
925-2829
www.al-forno-pizzeria.com
Born in Palermo, Italy, owner Nunzio has been a restaurateur since 1977
Atlas Pizza
3575 Bridge Road, Suite 15
483-0101
www.atlaspizza1.com
Thin-crust and thicker, Sicilian-style
Bella Napoli Pizza
6550 Town Point Road, Suite 101
483-0720
Convenient to Huntersville
Gianna’s Pizzeria & Restaurant
7386 Harbour Towne Parkway,
Suite 33
394-1255
Elegant atmosphere, good food and comfortable booths
Sal’s Pizza
148 Burnett’s Way, Suite 115
934-6006
Popular eatery near Obici Hospital
Sal’s Pizzeria by Maurizio
920 N. Main St.
539-6111
www.salspizzeriasuffolk.com
Pizza, cold and hot subs, wraps and more
MEXICAN
Cazadores Mexican Restaurant
1701 N. Main St.
923-9440
www.cazadoressuffolk.com
A family favorite near Elephant’s Fork
Chipotle Mexican Grill
6216 College Drive, Suite 101
484-6051
A new contender in North Suffolk
East Coast Taco Company
116 West Washington St.
935-5275
Downtown destination for authentic Mexican food
La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant
7386 Harbour Towne Parkway,
Suite 9
394-1400
and
3575 Bridge Road, Suite 32
www.laparrillamexicangrillva.com
Two locations for this popular eatery
Moe’s Southwest Grill
1217 North Main St.
925-4405
www.moes.com
Chain restaurant with a tex-mex appeal
Plaza Azteca
1467 N. Main St.
923-1222
www.plazaazteca.com
Fun atmosphere and good value
Santa Fe Grille
1024 Centerbrooke Lane
923-5331
Convenient location near Route 58
SOUL FOOD
NDulge Eclectic Soul Cuisine
200 E. Washington St.
925-3780
www.ndulgeesc.com
Soul food favorites in a family-friendly environment
THAI FOOD
Thai Erawan
3575 Bridge Road, Suite 27
686-2888
Thai favorites in an elegant setting
