The Draper Mercantile And Trading Company

I recently attended a wedding welcome dinner here, and it was fantastic! The food was great, I loved browsing the wares spread out over the building, and the upstairs space where we congregated was just lovely. It was a nice night and we spent much time on the wraparound porch outside, eating and chatting. To be honest, some of the servers were a little surly, particularly towards the end of the evening, which I found off-​putting, but everything else was so lovely, it was easy to overlook. I stopped back by here on my way home after the wedding to do some more browsing of the store, and found quite a few things I couldn’t resist. Definitely give this place your business!

The Sunday Brunch is back and it is just as good as it was in 2014. Certainly worth the 30 minute drive from Radford. The service was wonderful and the artistic atmosphere made the dining experience very enjoyable.

I’ve lived in this area for several years now and Im just so mad at myself for not visiting the Merc earlier. My boyfriend and I visited this last weekend and loved all of it! The staff at Blue Door Café are so sweet and the food is delicious. They even allow dogs outsude! Can’t wait to return and rent bikes at the bike shop next door.

This place is awesome! One of the most unique dining establishments I have ever been to. It’s almost like stepping back in time! The food was excellent and service was great, definitely recommend!

My family and I have stopped here twice now on road trips between TN and MD. It’s a great stop and our experience yesterday was so wonderful I just had to review.
Last year, we were fortunate to be there when they had live jazz with the Sunday brunch. We loved the food, music, unique décor and friendly staff so much that we decided to try to find it again and go back.
This time around, Andrew was our server. We arrived with two kids just 30 minutes before they closed and they welcomed us warmly and didn’t rush us even though we lost track of time. Andrew was our server. He was incredibly attentive and helpful, particularly relating to our son’s allergy needs. We walked around a bit to check out the fun toys and cool décor until our food arrived – which happened very quickly. We had ribs that were so delicious and tender that my picky 2 year old was able to eat the entire ½ rack with a spoon! We also had meatloaf and fried chicken and everything totally hit the spot – fresh, flavorful and fully satisfying.
They have other cool shops in this area that we keep meaning to check out. One of these days we’ll have a longer stop and rent some bikes to stretch our legs a bit! Until then, if you’re on a road trip looking for a local business that has incredible food and can accommodate food allergies – and gives everyone a nice break with lots of cool stimulation, THIS is the place. We will definitely be back! Thank you for a terrific experience.

Restaurant is about 45 minutes from a house we have in Fries VA. A friend told us about it. We had a late lunch on a Saturday afternoon. Service was attentive. Food arrived quickly and was the right temperature. I had an Italian vegetable soup which was different from the norm. It was a little sweet but delicious. I also had a grilled pimento cheese sandwich. It tasted great — but was very rich. The pimento cheese had a sour note that was offset by the grilled bread — very nice combination. The restaurant offers a nice craft beer selection as well as a selection of wines. Highly recommended!
As always — confirm hours before you go. Unilocal had closing time as 3 pm on Saturday but they actually close at 8 pm.

Nice atmosphere and food were good. They seemed a bit understaffed or extra busy. But we were not in a hurry and our waiter was always very pleasant. Only gave 4 stars due to the speed as here was room for improvement. But I would go here again without reservation. As long as I wasn’t in a hurry :-)

Surprisingly great location not far off the highway. Good food, reasonably priced, very friendly service. Plus you can shop while waiting for food. Great atmosphere.

Loved the friendly staff. Our waiter was the best. Food was amazing and good portions too. The artichoke dip was really really good and huge. Also, the coconut pie was the best I’ve ever had and this is coming from a pie snob. We’ll be stopping by the next time we’re up that way. Was a perfect end to our trip back from TN.

You won’t believe it driving up but this charming café is wonderful super burgers, salads, country chicken. And dessert! All homemade. Highest recommendation

Hushpuppies 5 stars!!! I ordered the pulled pork plate, the pork was cold, switched coleslaw for fries, they were cold too. Best thing was the hushpuppies! They were fresh and hot and served with butter. My daughter had the Ham sliders with apples, she loved it! MIL had the catfish and loved it!

We stopped at the Café after a visit to Grayson Highlands State Park, then a stop by the Shot Tower and Foster Falls at New River Trail State Park. We were hungry and looking for some delicious food. The Blue Door Café delivered! The special today was a pulled pork sandwich, so three of our party got that. The pork was flavorful, tender, just the right amount of smoke and the sauce was wonderful and tangy. Thick slices of Texas Toast was the perfect vehicle for bringing home the meat. I had an amazing chicken salad sandwich with pecans and dried cranberries. Between the four of us we had fries, tator salad and sweet potato fries — all excellent. The potato salad was heavy on the mustard (which I loved) but not everyone might. On top of great food the atmosphere, service, and prices couldn’t be beat. Their slogan says «If we were any fresher you’d have to slap us». It’s true.
If you are even close to Draper you really can’t pass up this gem of a café. Check out their website for all their offerings.

Loved this place! Had some smoked chicken with sweet potato fries and coleslaw. All very good. Then pie and cake. Excellent. Bunches of cute stuffed animals and paintings of farm animals in the store. Super friendly and quick service. We will return whenever in the area.

Been here twice now when passing through visiting friends in southern Virginia. I’ve never had a bad sandwich, but I’ve never been wowed either. This place reminds me of what Cracker Barrel probably was meant to be before it went corporate and multiplied by 1000. It’s a neat eatery, bike rental place, and general store all in one.
This time we went, I had the club sandwich (5 star) and blackberry pie (3 star).
My wife barely even ate half her sandwich (she says 2 star) but absolutely loved the cheesecake she got (5+ star). We sat outside with our dog & child and a friend and felt like the waitress kept forgetting about us out there as we were the only ones out there and saw her rarely.
My son loves walking all around the place, up the stairs, into the bike shop & general store. It’s always fun for him.

Visited the «Merc» on a Sunday with a local dining group and found it to be an awesome experience not just food-​wise but also merchandise-​wise. Great idea to have old-​timey type shopping available to go with a meal. The food was awesome. Had the meatloaf with great mashed potatoes and green bean casserole. The service was great and the prices are super reasonable. The place is off the beaten track but well worth the drive. Our group traveled 60 miles for this dining event and it was worth every mile of it. Will definitely be back!

Excellent! Very nice staff. I was there in the morning an hour before they open the grill for lunch. I wanted a sandwich and even though the grill was closed they made it anyway with no problem. Not only was the the grill closed but the sandwich I ordered was no longer on the menu. Yes, they made it anyway. It was delicious!

Incredible food in an old hardware store a mile or two down a country road off I-​81 in Draper.
Great food, great atmosphere, great people.

Totally Unexpected! Found almost by accident and a Good one! Cool Store with a Restaurant! BIG! This place is a small compound, large store, medium sized Restaurant! Casual, though not as country as I would have thought! Nice! Friendly Staff

I just had a wonderful meal including soup, entrée and dessert. The soup was billed as «beef soup», but it was far from common. The deep brown broth was derived from slow cooking overnight and then the beef and mushrooms, etc were added at appropriate times during preparation. A real professional job! The entrée was a tomato starburst with homemade chicken salad. Obviously prepared with great care and likely from a family recipe. Dessert was a strawberry-​rhubarb pie that was so good I almost ordered another piece.
The atmosphere was accented by wonderful music and delightful servers.
I have traveled the world and eaten at some of T&J he finest restaurants of all times, so when I give 5 stars you can count on a great dining experience. Come to savor the times past…

Traveing up I-​81, what a great find! Just 1 mile off the highway, why would anyone want to eat at tired fast food joints? The Draper Mercantile offers fresh, local food — and that right there is worth the stop in this world of over-​processed options. Shared a burger with my teenage daughter and from the first bite, I knew it was local beef. My side salad was fresh mixed greens — not boring iceburg. Hubby ordered tuna sandwich and sez it was a «fine» sandwich. The menu was very nice and we had a lot of choices.
You order at the counter and then wait for your food to come. While you wait, browse the local crafts and baked goods. We got an apple pie to take up the road with us and a banana nut bread. Banana bread was yummy for breakfast this morning and we’ll cut the apple pie with Thanksgiving dinner tonight. I hope we pass through Draper at mealtime on our way home! We used to stop at Mrs. Rose’s in Staunton, but the Merc is healthier and our new preferred meal-​stop.