The Pampered Palate Cafe

Any time I get to choose the lunch spot, I always choose Pampered Palate! It’s simple & delicious. The warm chip dip is out of this world, & I’d kill for a glass of their blackberry sage iced tea. Such a hidden gem in downtown Staunton. Do yourself a favor & get acquainted with The Pampered Palate!

I only made it there once during my stay. The employees were all friendly. My pastrami sandwich was delicious. While you wait, you can wander around and check out their eclectic shop. Sugar wafers from Italy. Candy from my childhood in the 70s. The wait for your freshly made-​to-​order sandwich flies by!

Ladies Choice! This place is NOT Masculine at Heart, so on the surface is it a Good choice for a Secret Meeting place for a couple of guys to exchange valuable documents or information on a _​_​_​_​_​…Wait a Minute, maybe it is the Perfekt Cover… After all, what was the «Club» where Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) met Jarvis (The INCOMPARABLE Ainsley Jarvis)!? ??
We got Four Sandwiches (with Local Names like «Statler» «Witz» and «Main Street Hoagie»
Statler [a Quartet of Two Meats and Two Cheeses and more] was better than the Music though to me that does not mean much ! I wonder what the Statlers think of this?
«Main Street Hoagie» (Think «Italian Sub») was my Choice and I have to say it beats the other Sandwich I have eaten on this street so far… It was Pretty Good
Skip the Chips!!! These Chips tasted like they were out of a bag and Nothing Special though the Dip was Good it was not far from the Ordinary!
UPstairs! Eat on the Second Floor (not as quaint as you might think) or they have a few Sidewalk Tables if you need the exposure!

Had large Chef salad (with homemade blue cheese dressing) which was plentiful and delicious. Others in my group had different sandwiches that they all enjoyed very much. We also had desserts as well. Half were homemade and half were not, but all tasted good. The Blackforest cheesecake and the lemon berry mascarpone cake were the best. Upstairs dining was quiet and comfortable. Waitstaff was friendly and helpful.

If you’re looking for a place in Staunton just to grab a sandwich or salad for a quick/​simple lunch, this place suffices. If you’re looking for sandwiches and salads that are even slightly a cut above what you can make at home with a Kaiser roll and Oscar Mayer’s deli meat, then this is probably not the place.

Great food and service. Blue Ridge hummus pita was a great vegan choice. My wife had the Mountain Laurel which was a great combination of ham, Brie and apple in a croissant. Dogs allowed outside but outside seating limited to two tables for two. Prices were very reasonable. Local wine selection.

A wonderful sandwich place and the spot for local business professionals to meet during the day. Their food is always very fresh and they have rotating soup and sandwich specials. The tables are tiny, as is the dining area, but the portions are generous. The Palate also sells wine and candy to take with you. A wonderful little spot, only open through the lunch hour.

Quaint little café that was reccd by a native. Sandwich was not that good. How can you mess up a turkey sandwich? It was dry, the meat did not taste good or fresh and it was just blah. But they had a lot of customers at lunch so they must be doing something right.

Wife and I were in Staunton for the day and she just HAD to get her nails done (haha, thank you random girl at our B&B for planting this idea in her head). We went to a salon called TEASE and it ended up taking so long that we nearly missed our show at the Blackfriar Theater. It was right around lunchtime though and we needed to eat before our show so the salon recommended calling Pampered Palate, which is a few doors down the street from the salon.
I ended up just walking down and went in their take-​out entrance. I ordered a Chef Salad and a Texas Wrap. They made my food on the spot in front of me and I walked it back down to the salon to eat with my wife.
Both items were well made, and the Chef Salad was notable because they used «real» meat rather than cold cuts. My wife is pregnant so she wouldn’t have been able to eat lunchmeat. Also, for serious, the Texas Wrap was delicioso as well.
The other notable thing is that I asked the guy behind the counter if a salad and wrap would be big enough to split between two people. He replied by telling the girl next to him to make our salad bigger for no charge because it was getting split two ways.
It’s the little things like this that make a difference for me, and it helped that the food was great deli-​style fare. Check out the Pampered Palate Café, and um, maybe go get your nails done too. They’re looking a little shabby.

Well, I felt a little deceived by the restaurant’s name. I would have named it the «Plain Palate» or «Tasteless Palate». I was expecting some local smoked bacon, aiolio’s or chipotle sauces, and the hot sauce that was smeared on my wrap tasted like it came out of a can or jar. (Although my wrap said it had bacon on the menu, they forget to put it on). The chicken had no flavor. At home, I would have pampered my palate by seasoning the chicken in lemon, cumin, olive oil and garlic. Adding salt and pepper. It wouldn’t take much to take this charming restaurant to four stars. If they would use fresh, local ingredients, and some snazzy new recipes, they would be able to honor their name.
Nonetheless, the staff is so nice and greeted me with a smile and polite conversation. It would alone be worth it to stop by and meet this good-​hearted people.
The chocolate chip cookies are excellent. My palate was pampered while I chowed down on a few. Kudos for the cookies.

I’m in love with the potato salad here. It’s different and delicious, like none I’ve had before. Sandwiches are creative but simple enough that whatever you choose is tasty. Prices are reasonable and the wine selection is pretty extensive for a small restaurant. Staff is usually friendly but certainly busy. There’s also a cute store on the first floor with fun candies and gifts.

Pleasant staff, casual digs, acceptable food at a value price. Tuna sandwich was very large, though too creamy for my taste — not top grade tuna, either. Small place: I’m not a big guy (5’10″, 185#) but the tiny table and stool-​sized seat felt cramped. Also for sale to go, a wide selection of Va wines, and some nice chocolates for après manger.

I’ve been a customer since 1983 and love this place. I no longer live in Staunton, but when I come to visit my family, the Pamper Palate is a must see. This place was an oasis in the fast food desert in this little town. The Manse sandwich with roast beef, brie and horseradish sauce is wonderful. The place also has a good selection of chocolates and other specialty items.

This place is awesome. I don’t live anywhere near the area now, but I might go back just to go here again.
Whenever I went here I got a green salad, which would be a boring blend of iceberg lettuce (maybe romaine or spring mix if you’re lucky) and some pallid tomatoes anywhere else, but here, it was one of the best damn salads I’ve had in my life. The atmosphere was really pleasant, too. I miss it.

Had a tasty Smoked Turkey/​BLT sandwich, fresh fruit on the side, potato salad, and the price was right. The potato salad was good, creamy, but perhaps a bit too sweet. Service was not great, it seemed hasty and I felt a little rushed because of it. There’s a wine-​by-​the-​bottle selection against the wall, but the selection is mixed — I saw a lot of utter crrrap mixed with what looked to be a very fine Chateaunneuf-​du-​Pape, but the prices seemed pretty fair.
Sorry, nothing witty to say about this place, there’s no wit to be had. Go if you want a simple sandwich that satisfies.