Elvie’s has Chef Hunter Evans in charge of the kitchen.  He was a finalist for the 2024 James Beard Best Chef South award (a semi-finalist in 2025).  With his partner Cody McCain, they opened Elvie’s in 2020 and the Mayflower Cafe in 2025.  Elvie’s served seasonal cuisine highlighting local farmers and fishermen.  The building was a restored home in Belhaven and the food was highly influenced by by the Evans’s grandmother, Elvieretta Good, from New Orleans.  The good-sized place was longer than wide with counter seating at the bar and bench seating opposite small 2-tops along the wall.  Parking was on the street or there was a free lot down the hill behind the building.  The room was not highly decorated with dark wood windows breaking up the off-white walls.  Lots of light fixtures but the overall room was still fairly dim with a good amount of crowd noise.  They’d tried to dampen this with sound panels on the ceiling and cloths on some tables but it still can be noisy when full.  Part of the kitchen was exposed but most hidden by the counter and walls.   With a full bar it was surprising how limited the wine list was, offering mosly low or high price point bottles.  Of course the first wine we picked our server couldn’t find and so we ended up just buying by the glass, which all added to the time the meal took.  It was easily over 45 minutes to get our first glass let alone food.  I liked the concept and the menu read well but the food was mixed.  We were there for dinner but they are open Tues through Sat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Continue reading →