Staff Report

After years of planning and waiting for the perfect venue to open a restaurant, Brian and Teresa Mullins will open the Vintage Tavern in north Suffolk.

The Mullinses are Suffolk residents and the developers of the Governor’s Pointe, a planned community where the restaurant will be located just off of Route 17.

They have partnered with restaurateurs Sam McGann of The Blue Point restaurant in Duck, N.C., and Cindy Day McGann, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic Foundation, to turn the restaurant from a vision into reality.

Taking inspiration from the comfortable and friendly old tavern atmospheres, Vintage Tavern expands on that concept and creates an inviting restaurant in the heart of Suffolk’s growing neighborhoods, according to the owners.

The restaurant’s extensive menu will emphasize fresh regional produce and seafood, along with rotisserie style game and grilled prime steaks prepared in one of the area’s finest kitchens.

In the main dining room, the menu will include red wine braised lamb shank served with roasted vegetables, stone ground grits and mint chutney as well as crispy farm-raised catfish and fresh Carolina shrimp served with Louisiana Tasso Ham jambalaya.

In addition to the wide array of entrees, Vintage Tavern will feature an extensive wine list, including the Governor’s Pointe label.

A separate bar area, themed after the Old English pubs and styled in English Victoriana complete with stone walls, wood floors and a heavy beamed ceiling, will offer draft beers, vintage wines and pub style foods such as Reuben sandwiches and Shepard’s Pie.

For those wanting a romantic candle-lit dinner after a long day at work or a hard day on a near-by golf course, patio dining in the crisp breeze may be in your future. A trellised, al fresco dining area is planned around an English Garden setting designed by Carter Wynn of Wynn Nursery.

Vintage Tavern will open in the fall.