Restaurants in Walnut Cove, North Carolina: A Local Dining Guide
A guide to local restaurants, diners, Mexican food, pizza, Asian cuisine, coffee shops and specialty food in Stokes County
Walnut Cove is a small Stokes County town, but its restaurant selection is considerably more varied than its size might suggest. Visitors and residents can choose from traditional Southern cooking, family-style dining, Mexican food, Chinese and Japanese cuisine, pizza, burgers, sandwiches, coffee and specialty desserts.
The town’s dining scene includes longtime local restaurants as well as newer businesses that have expanded the choices along Main Street. Whether you’re looking for a substantial country-cooking meal, a quick lunch, pizza, Mexican food, Asian cuisine or a cup of coffee, Walnut Cove has several options worth considering.
Hillbilly Hide-A-Way Restaurant
Hillbilly Hide-A-Way is one of Walnut Cove’s most distinctive dining experiences. Located on Pine Hall Road, the restaurant operates in a rustic log-cabin setting and specializes in traditional Southern and country cooking.
Rather than ordering an individual entrée, guests are served an all-you-can-eat family-style meal. The menu changes by day but includes such traditional foods as fried chicken, country ham, pinto beans, green beans, mashed potatoes, cornbread and hoe-cake biscuits. Saturday dinner features barbecue pork ribs, while Sunday includes a country breakfast as well as lunch and dinner.
The restaurant currently operates Friday through Sunday. Friday and Saturday are dinner days, while Sunday includes breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant also has a music hall and promotes country, bluegrass and gospel music as part of the experience.
For visitors looking for an old-fashioned Southern meal rather than a conventional restaurant experience, Hillbilly Hide-A-Way is one of Walnut Cove’s most distinctive choices.
Olympic Family Restaurant
Olympic Family Restaurant at 632 South Main Street is a traditional family restaurant with a broad menu.
Breakfast is served all day, with familiar choices such as eggs, biscuits, pancakes, waffles and omelets. Lunch and dinner expand the menu to include burgers, sandwiches, seafood, salads, country-style entrées and Greek favorites such as gyros and Greek salad.
The restaurant is a practical choice for families and travelers because its menu covers a wide range of tastes. It is also one of Walnut Cove’s longtime dining establishments.
The Milk Bar
The Milk Bar at 213 North Main Street is a family-owned restaurant specializing in American comfort food.
Its menu includes burgers, sandwiches, catfish, chicken, hamburger steak, daily hot-bar selections and traditional Southern vegetables. The restaurant also serves milkshakes, ice cream and homemade desserts, giving it something of a diner and old-fashioned dessert-shop character.
The Milk Bar says it has been serving Walnut Cove since 2015. Its current schedule is Monday through Friday, making it particularly useful for lunch and dinner during the workweek.
El Cabo Mexican Restaurant
El Cabo, at 234 North Main Street, provides a Mexican dining option in downtown Walnut Cove.
The menu includes tacos, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, quesadillas, nachos and other familiar Mexican dishes. It is a casual choice for lunch or dinner and adds another cuisine to what would otherwise be a heavily American and Southern restaurant selection.
El Jefe Kitchen & Cantina
El Jefe Kitchen & Cantina is one of the newer additions to Walnut Cove’s restaurant scene. Located at 1074 North Main Street, it offers Mexican food in a casual restaurant and cantina setting.
The restaurant serves traditional Mexican dishes along with drinks and a full bar. Current listings show it operating seven days a week, with later hours on Friday and Saturday. Its arrival gives Walnut Cove another Mexican option and broadens the town’s choices for dinner and drinks.
Sam’s Pizza Etc.
Sam’s Pizza Etc. at 220 North Main Street is a longtime Walnut Cove restaurant centered on pizza but offering much more.
Its current menu includes stone-baked pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, subs, salads, steaks, chicken and pasta. The restaurant describes itself as a place for families and groups looking for a broad casual menu rather than simply a pizza shop.
Sam’s is open Tuesday through Sunday and is closed Monday.
Milano Pizza
Milano Pizza is another local option for pizza and Italian-American food.
Pizza is the main attraction, but the restaurant also offers wings, calzones and strombolis, subs, pasta, burgers and other casual dishes. It also has a pizza buffet, giving it an additional appeal for families and groups.
Milano is located on South Main Street in Walnut Cove.
China House
China House at 802 South Main Street adds Chinese food to Walnut Cove’s restaurant selection.
The menu includes familiar Chinese-American dishes such as fried rice, lo mein, chow mein, egg rolls, chicken, beef, pork and seafood. Current 2026 listings show both dine-in and takeout service.
China House has been in Walnut Cove for many years and remains one of the town’s established restaurant choices.
Kobe Japanese Restaurant
Kobe Japanese Restaurant provides Walnut Cove with another Asian dining option, specializing in Japanese food.
The restaurant offers hibachi-style meals as well as sushi. Current listings show chicken, steak, seafood and sushi choices, giving diners an option that is quite different from the town’s traditional Southern and American restaurants.
311 Tavern
311 Tavern is a casual bar-and-grill located at 1137 North Main Street.
It offers the type of food commonly associated with a neighborhood tavern, including burgers, wings and sandwiches. The atmosphere is more informal and social than a traditional family restaurant, making it an option for an evening out or a casual meal with friends.
1889 Taphouse
1889 Taphouse at 310 North Main Street is another relatively recent addition to Walnut Cove’s social and dining scene.
The business also has a connection with the local music community. In 2026, the High Lonesome Strings Bluegrass Association listed 1889 Taphouse as the location for one of its local jam gatherings.
For visitors interested in combining food and a more social atmosphere, 1889 Taphouse gives downtown Walnut Cove another option beyond the traditional family restaurants.
Red Rooster
Red Rooster is a small breakfast and lunch counter located inside Hicks Pharmacy at 1072 North Main Street.
Its menu focuses on straightforward American food, including breakfast items, burgers and hot dogs. The setting is part of its appeal: rather than being a conventional standalone restaurant, it operates within the pharmacy, giving it the character of an old-fashioned small-town lunch counter.
Main Street Diner & Dairy Bar
Main Street Diner & Dairy Bar at 419 North Main Street is another traditional American restaurant in Walnut Cove.
Its menu centers on casual American food, with burgers and hot dogs among the foods mentioned by diners. It also has the dairy-bar element suggested by its name, making it another local option for a casual meal or treat. Current listings show it operating Monday through Saturday.
Our Place
Our Place is a casual local gathering place in Walnut Cove. It fits more naturally into the town’s informal bar-and-food scene than the traditional family-diner category.
For someone looking for a relaxed place to meet friends rather than a formal dining experience, it represents another side of Walnut Cove’s restaurant scene. Current restaurant listings continue to include it among Walnut Cove’s dining establishments.
Coffee, Bakery and Specialty Food
Walnut Cove also has several smaller food businesses that are worth mentioning even though they are not conventional full-service restaurants.
Creations Coffee Company
Creations Coffee Company is a locally owned coffee shop at 137 North Main Street. The business began with a coffee trailer before opening its brick-and-mortar location in Walnut Cove.
It offers coffee and specialty drinks along with breakfast-style and bakery items. Its arrival added another independent downtown business to Walnut Cove’s growing food scene.
Oma’s Coffee Shop
Oma’s Coffee Shop at 335 North Main Street is another locally oriented downtown stop. It specializes in coffee and specialty drinks and also offers baked goods and other light food choices.
Its small-town atmosphere makes it more of a coffeehouse stop than a conventional restaurant.
Artist’s Way Cakes & More
Artist’s Way Cakes & More at 333 North Main Street is a specialty bakery and cake business.
The Walnut Cove location provides cakes and other baked goods and has served as a temporary storefront while the business’s Danbury location undergoes renovation. It is a useful option for specialty desserts and custom cakes rather than a traditional restaurant meal.
The Cove Nutrition
The Cove Nutrition at 318 North Main Street is a beverage-focused business offering specialty drinks. It is better described as a juice and beverage stop than as a conventional restaurant.
Fast Food and Takeout
Walnut Cove also has several familiar chain restaurants for travelers and residents who want a quick meal.
McDonald’s on North Main Street offers the standard breakfast, burger, chicken, coffee and dessert menu, while Bojangles provides another familiar Southern fast-food option.
Domino’s provides pizza, wings and other delivery and carryout choices. Subway is another quick-service option in the community. These businesses may not provide the local character of Walnut Cove’s independent restaurants, but they are part of the town’s current food choices.
A Small-Town Dining Scene With More Variety Than Expected
Walnut Cove’s restaurant scene is larger and more diverse than might be expected from a small Stokes County community.
Traditional Southern and American food remain important, represented by restaurants such as Hillbilly Hide-A-Way, Olympic Family Restaurant, The Milk Bar and Red Rooster. At the same time, diners can choose Mexican food at El Cabo or El Jefe, Chinese food at China House, Japanese food at Kobe and pizza and Italian-American food at Sam’s Pizza and Milano Pizza.
The town’s downtown area has also developed a stronger coffee and specialty-food presence, with Creations Coffee Company, Oma’s Coffee Shop and Artist’s Way Cakes & More adding choices that go beyond conventional restaurants.
For someone passing through Walnut Cove, the dining choices range from an unusual all-you-can-eat country-cooking experience at Hillbilly Hide-A-Way to a quick cup of coffee, pizza, Mexican food, Chinese food, Japanese food or a traditional family-diner meal.
Walnut Cove may be small, but its restaurants provide enough variety that visitors do not have to leave town simply to find something different to eat.
