In Cape Charles, a stroll up and down Mason Avenue will bring you in contact with businesses that are either trying too hard to be Shore or are grappling with being a business on the Shore. At Tim’s Place, the latest eatery to enter the Cape Charles culinary scene, as soon as you walk through the door, you feel like you are finally back home on the real Shore.
The place is light and airy, with a real sense of beachy Shore casual. There’s a reason for this. The two buildings that make up the bistro and convenience store have long been in the family of owner William “Smitty” Smith for many years.
Inside, the walls are decorated with vintage photographs and postcards of old Cape Charles which came from Smith’s grandmother’s scrapbooks. Near the office is the restored outboard engine that belonged to Smitty’s granddad, a motor that powered them up and around the creeks when Smitty was a youngster.
“My family has been working around this block for many, many years…Tim’s is actually where my dad kept his shop,” Smitty told the Mirror. “For me, it was really neat to be able to go through my grandmother’s albums and find all these old pictures we have on the wall…it brings back lots of memories.”
It is nice to finally see a business with real ties to the community, to our history.
The ambiance is important, but none of that matters if the cuisine doesn’t hit the mark. Tim’s Place is right on point.
Many of us have been enjoying chef Tim Abraham’s cooking for thirty years or more and were thrilled to hear he was bringing his style to Cape Charles.
From breakfast to a late dinner (they are open 7-9), everything on the menu is absolutely delicious. While so many places try to raise short order fare to a higher level (and higher prices), Tim’s wants to bring it back down to earth.
Tim’s offers a wide range of breakfast options at very affordable prices. From sandwiches to entrees, there is something for everyone, even us Scrapple aficionados. My favorite is the Country Breakfast, with two eggs, bacon, sausage, ham or scrapple, three pancakes, homefries and grits for only $6.99—no better way to get ready for a day on the water.
For lunch, the sky is the limit at Tim’s Place. The sandwich menu had everything from crab cakes, to grilled cheese, flounder, reubans, fresh oyster, pulled pork, ham and cheese—you name it. The sandwiches will run you around six bucks, but you can get an all-beef hot dog for just $1.99.
Nobody rocks a sub like Tim’s. A 12” sub will run you around eight dollars, the best deal in town. The Philly cheesesteak is brilliant, but if you really want to throw down, the bacon cheddar or Memphis barbecue will win you over for sure.
Tim’s is also the place if you really like to do fries. If you like cheese, chili cheese or gravy fries, they have just what you need.
The dinner options have something for everyone. I love my baskets, and they have butterfly shrimp, scallops, clam strips or good old fish and chips. If you are a chicken wing or nugget person, Tim’s will set you up. The baskets are a great deal, 6 to 10 bucks.
If you really want a sit-down meal, the dinner menu offers scallops, crab cakes, softshell crabs, fried flounder and oysters, veal cutlet, chicken fried steak and a delectable seafood platter. Most entrees run about fifteen bucks, the most expensive is the massive seafood platter for only $21.
Tim’s rocks and rolls fried chicken too (best in town), and for the hungry family or picnic, the Family Meal will set you up with 8 pieces, 4 rolls and 2 large sides, or 16 pieces, 8 rolls, and 2 sides.
Occupying the corner of Peach and Mason Avenue, we hardily recommend Tim’s Place, a real piece of the Shore right here in downtown Cape Charles.
About the Author
Best of luck Tim!!
Welcome to the neighborhood!
Sounds great!
Food sounds great, I know where I’ll stop on my next trip south.
If you want the best fried chicken in town go to Tim’s Place.
We were down over the last weekend, and after reading all the glowing reports, decided to give Tim’s a try.
On Saturday we got there shortly before 11, and decided to wait till lunch was available. My wife and I both ordered the drum plate.
Well, it was OK, but way over-cooked. We shared our concern with the server (forgot her name), and she said she would share the info.
Thinking this must have been a one-time issue, we went back for dinner. We got there shortly before closing, but our server, Jasmine, was very gracious and made us welcome.
I ordered soft crab, my wife ordered the fried oyster dinner.
It was worse than lunch. My crab was edible, but not very good. My wife’s oysters were heavily breaded and cooked to death. Both tasted like they had been cooked in old oil.
We shared our disappointment with Jasmine and she was very concerned.
I do want to note that the server staff at both lunch and dinner were excellent. We tipped both 20%, as it was not their fault the food was not good.
Needless to say, we were both very disappointed. We were excited that a new restaurant was opening in Cape Charles, and had such high hopes for Tim’s.
I doubt we will return, unless we get some reviews that will convince us otherwise. But with so many excellent restaurants in town, we will need a really good reason.
Just to make sure that we hadn’t forgotten what fried oysters are supposed to taste like, on the way home, we stopped at Ocean Odyssey in Cambridge. They know how to fix fried oysters!
French fries were cold and mushy. Burger was over cooked. Burger bun was stale and crumbled apart when I picked it up.
Took my daughter there for breakfast two weeks ago. The food was good, the prices were reasonable, but the service was awful! It took 20-25 minutes just to get our morning coffee… Tim needs to review/revise his staffing and management techniques.
Have eaten their twice and the fried chicken was excellent. Will try some of the other dishes in the future. Wait staff was excellent. Price is reasonable.