In the heart of downtown Hampton Virginia is a little strip of restaurants offering everything from seafood, to burgers, and pizza. On today's Monday Munchies, we'll be covering the pizza place...although they're serving up so much more than good pies! Venture Kitchen is a strange mixture of pizza, multi-culture-inspired cuisine, tapas, and craft cocktails all under one roof; and let me tell you I am 100% here for it. I love this place so much that I've brought everyone there that I could and turned them into fans as well. Honestly, I can't even count the number of times I've visited and even did a scavenger hunt for my birthday, sending people here to indulge in their tots. WOW, those tots are magnificent, but more on those later. For now let's start off with the pizza, since it is a pizza place.
This pizza starts off with homemade dough, topped with quality (a lot of which I think is local) ingredients, and then baked to perfection in their brick oven. But if you're thinking they stick to your run-of-the-mill toppings, you'd be very wrong. Of course they have the staples like pepperoni, meat lovers (Meat-za), white, and margherita; but the amount of specialty options makes it worth multiple trips just to try every kind! The menu options change often, for example the taco pizza (my personal favorite) is no longer available, but there is an elk melt pizza that I wish I was still in Virginia to try. Made with ground elk, caramelized onions and cranberry cheddar cheese. Holy wow does that sound good! Other specialty pies include, but are not limited to; the Hampton Hawaiian (classic Hawaiian with the addition of lump crab), Get Shorty (with short rib, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, cheddar jack, Parmesan, and chives), and PMO (pepperoni, mushroom, and onion). Another cool thing to note is they have a pesto sauce (featured on the Everybody's pizza) that does NOT have nuts, which I don't think many places offer. An important mention for those who can't eat nuts but would like to enjoy pesto. But Venture isn't just about pizza.
They also have a wild assortment of tapas too! As of 2/2/2020 they have elk chili on offer, which is something I haven't seen on their menu before. Also available, as of the same date, are potstickers, kimchi eggrolls, pierogi, sopapillas, oxtail stew, and curried goat; among a list of 11 other delicious offerings. Though I've been here multiple times, I don't think I've had any of the tapas listed or on the current menu aside from the potstickers and meatballs, both of which certainly didn't let me down. I have had others that are not currently listed however. Oh, wait, I'm sorry, were you looking for a new drink spot? Something to wash down all that good food?
Don't worry, Venture's got you there too. They have a wonderful selection of common, less common, and local spirits, beers, ciders, and wines. Not just that, but they craft their own cocktails, which are constantly changing (surprise, surprise) and the options are located on their daily specials. Something unique that they do, at least that I personally haven't seen done (besides in a random bar in Belize), is that they infuse flavors into vodka and other spirits right in house. I think they sell those straight and include them in their craft cocktails as well.
And remember those tots I mentioned? Oh. My. God. If you don't go for their fantastic pizza, infused spirits, delicious tapas, or their friendly staff...you HAVE to visit for the tots alone. They are big crispy rectangles of potato-y perfection; beautifully golden brown on the outside while soft and fluffy in the middle. And the in-house made spicy mayo? Bellissimo (insert a chef's kiss here), its creamy and not too spicy, pairing well with some piping hot tots!
Toss in their daily specials, rotating house made desserts (so many different types of creme brulee; my favorite!), salads, sandwiches, and even a brunch on Sunday and they truly have something for everyone. There's so much here I can't even write about it all!
So head on over to 9 E Queens Way in downtown Hampton Virginia and make Venture your new regular spot!
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