Battlefield Restaurant still feeding Fredericksburg's hungry lunch crowd. By LAURA MOYER

By LAURA MOYER

Date published: 2/19/2004

THE FREE LANCE-STAR

You get two side orders with your grilled pork chop at the Battlefield Restaurant, and they aren't just for decoration.

A bite of Battlefield's homemade potato salad and you time-travel to the past--to picnics and reunions and church potlucks where the preparation of a side dish is a competitive event.

Battlefield Restaurant could give any church lady a run for her money in the potato salad category. Theirs starts with tender potatoes, boiled-that-morning fresh. Then comes a good mayonnaise dressing with finely diced hard-boiled egg, and barely visible minced onion and pickle.

And the cole slaw is freshly shredded, not too sweet, not too mayo-laden. The nice thin pork chop, pan-fried and juicy, is almost an after-thought with slaw like that.

I thought I had achieved at least honorary status as a Fredericksburger, having lived here 15 years. I had not. Because, until last week, I had never been to the Battlefield Restaurant.

Of course I'd driven by it thousands of times, rounding Dead Man's Curve in front of the National Cemetery and the National Park Service Visitor Center on Lafayette Boulevard. I'd noticed the neon sign on the side that promises "Air Cond." and serves as a reminder of the restaurant's origins in 1951. I'd often thought the little building looked interesting, and it always bustled.

But it's only inside that you realize what a genuine Fredericksburg experience this is. There's an utterly homey menu. A fresh cigarette-coffee-cheeseburger aroma. Friendly waitresses who seem to think everyone merits the title of "Sweetie."

And every bite or sip of anything I took there was just as it should be.

The pork chop and sides? You can't do better for $7.

The $2.40 cheeseburger? Just a humble but freshly grilled patty with yellow cheese, a slice of tomato, a slice of red onion, mustard and ketchup on a soft white bun.

The vegetable soup, for $1.70 a cup? Homemade and hot, with chunks of stew beef and red tomato, carrots, onion and celery.

A steak and cheese sub was enormous for $3.50, its fluffy sub roll stuffed with thin skillet steaks, lettuce and tomato, with grilled onions and mayo (or not) and passable crinkle-cut fries.

Date published: 2/19/2004