16 Nov
Hello Whistlepigs!
We’re happy to announce our move down the road from Damascus to Glade Spring.
You can read all about why we moved and what we’re up to in this great article from SWVA Today!
Please be patient with us while we get the place started and update all our information so you can find us–keep watching this space, and as always, our Facebook page, to get more updates!
28 Jun
Here’s some recent good news from folks who’ve eaten with us:
TripAdvisor.com
“Cute place with a friendly staff”
“What a great find in Damascus! We were surprised to find such great food hidden in this small restaurant.”
Yelp.com
“This is the best place to eat in Damascus! Good quality, wholesome food at a reasonable price.”
Like our food? Let us know through some of the above websites!
1 Dec
Ladies and Gentleman, I am pleased to announce that the Whistlepig Bistro has officially turned one year old! 365 days ago we were struggling just to open our doors against one of the nastiest winters SWVA has ever experienced, but with the love of a whole lot of friends we have flourished! Thank you, each and every one, for being so good to us! Here’s to many more wonderful years!
19 Jul
Hello Whistlepiggies!
My name is Liese, and I’m responsible for most of the Whistlepig Bistro’s internet presence, from the Facebook and Twitter right on through this website. I’ve also worked at the Whistlepig since February as a line cook and a server, music-provider and grocery shopper and pastry chef and everything in between.
I joined the Whistlepig because I love the way Roger and Cindy Goodson approach food and people – with love and care. They know that good food starts with good ingredients – fresh basil in the vinaigrette, local corn in the fritters, gorgeous heirloom tomatoes on the fresh backyard greens. And Roger and Cindy know that the best food isn’t anything unless it’s shared in a happy place, warm and full of loved ones.
When I started at the Whistlepig, feeding twenty folks was a big day for us – especially since it was just us three and the restaurant was in a constant state of remodeling and replacing equipment and rearranging for better efficiency. I still can’t believe that we regularly serve 120 and 140 people on weekends now! That miracle is only possible through the amazing, hard-working cast of characters who’ve joined us to get the Whistlepig through her first Damascus Summer. Every day we get a little bit better at balancing our duties while still keeping true to the quality of our food and the way we take care of our guests.
My last day at the Whistlepig Bistro is Friday, July 30th, and leaving this place is going to be harder than hard. In just these six months, I’ve worked longer hours, done more difficult jobs, and met more wonderful people than any other time in my life. I cannot thank Roger and Cindy and everyone else at the Whistlepig enough for letting me share in this dream. Thank you for being such wonderful friends, and thank you to my wonderful regular faces and all the great strangers who’ve wandered through the Whistlepig’s doors.
It’s been real. I love you all!
Liese
10 Jul
A quick note on seating and reservations: We hate to make our dear friends wait for seats, and we like even less to turn hungry faces away. If you have a group of 6 or more, please make a reservation by calling 276-475-3194, especially for Thursday/Friday/Saturday dinners.
And a note about canine companions: We love ‘em and we’re happy to accommodate your pooch on our back deck, but in the event of rain we cannot guarantee doggie seating except on the front porch. Many apologies and thank you for your patronage!
1 Jul
Hello, Whistlepigs!
Thanks to your support, we continue to grow, learn and change every day. We appreciate your patience as we toggle our Hours to ensure we’re open when you want us and closed enough to give our hard working staff the breaks they deserve.
While we will continue to update this website every week or so, the best way to get up-to-the minute updates on our hours and specials is to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. We update them as we work, so you know the news is as fresh as the food.
In more interesting happenings, we’ve finally scanned some of the adorable pictures colored by our little whistlepigs. Here are a couple of our favorites – go to our Flickr to view even more. Not enough fun for you? Download and print your own whistlepig to color, and e mail it to us at whistlepigbistro@gmail.com!
2 Jun
It is this Whistlepig’s personal opinion that the Southwestern Virginia stretch of the Appalachian Mountains is the nicest, prettiest place to be in early summer. The days are closer and warmer than a snug wool sweater, the perfect excuse to take advantage of a patch of shade, the odd cool breeze and a sweet, icy glass of tea. The birds are calling, the river is gurgling and shushing, and if you’ve just gotten off your bike or your feet, there’s nothing better than a juicy buffalo dog or the cool, smooth-and-crunchy combination of hummus, sprouts and cucumbers.
Maybe you’d rather wait until the sun has gone down and the fireflies come out, and heat lightning lingers at the edges of the sky. The deck is cooler, the friends are thick and the food is more daring: Plate after plate of fall-off-the-bone pork ribs, dressed in nothing but a honey-chipotle glaze, comes out of the kitchen, wafting sweet and savory. Verdant salads, grown just a few miles away and served with emerald green basil vinaigrette, crunch and clatter under hungry forks. The servers are smiling and laughing and telling tales and the feeling around the whole restaurant is one of contentment and satisfaction, pleasure in the simplest experiences of good food and good friends in a good place.
If you poke your head in the kitchen, you’ll be greeted with waves and smiles. The staff is working hard and having fun, teasing each other and singing snatches of songs around burgers being flipped and plates constructed. They move easily from the simplicity of a hot dog with chili and slaw to a serving of mahi-mahi, grilled and topped with a delicate fruit salsa. Everything receives the same attention to detail and quality, and it’s all served with the love of work well done.
The Whistlepig Bistro is grateful to all the wonderful customers, local and far-flung, who have made the past 6 months worth it — all the hard work that opening a new business in a challenging economic climate requires is nothing compared to the amount of loyalty and love poured out by our customers as they review us, follow us on Facebook, and return for old favorites and new specials. A very heartfelt thank you to all of you as we continue through our first summer as a fledgling business.
18 May
We survived Trail Days! There were a few bumps along the road — we ran out of food Saturday night, after our busiest day ever — but we learned a lot from our first ever Trail Days. We want to extend big furry Whistlepig Hugs to our staff and our regulars for working hard, sending folks our way, and being patient when plans went awry. And many thanks to the hundreds of new folks who tried us out — we hope you’ll come back soon!
We have a lot of ideas for specials to try out over the next few weeks, so if you’ve been waiting to join us, keep your eye on our website and our Facebook. As our local crops come into season, we’ll work them into every part of our menu we can — and we’re always experimenting with new cuisines, so watch for Asian and Mediterranean flavors in the coming days. As always, we look forward to seeing you!
