Comfort food in a former grocery store.

Welcome to Hayfields in Little Washington—a market, counter service café, and neighborhood bar named for the rolled hay bales and golden fields surrounding the town we call home. Nearby in the next county fifteen years ago, I created a nationally-acclaimed rural bakery that inspired the rebirth and food renaissance of a forsaken Main Street, and wrote both the The Red Truck Bakery Farmhouse Cookbook and the Red Truck Bakery Cookbook (Clarkson Potter/ Penguin Random House, 2022 and 2018). Now here’s my new passion coming to life in Washington, Virginia: comfort food and local products in an old grocery store, set in a beloved village nestled against the Blue Ridge mountains and eight miles from Shenandoah National Park. 

Hayfields is a market with local and national goods, and a counter-service café serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Locals are happy that we’ll have a full bar and neighborhood joint, The Last Straw, and a large outdoor patio. Place your order at our counter and we’ll bring your meal to you in our dining room, our bar area, or on the spacious patio outside. Best of all: we’ll offer online ordering for pickup orders. 

We’ll be open daily—morning, noon and night—and on Sunday evenings we’ll have our Family Supper: communal tables groaning with large platters and bowls of seasonal cooking served family-style to you and your neighbors. On nights that the Little Washington Theater next door is bustling with events, we’ll have a special menu to get you in and out before the show starts (and our bar will be open afterwards). Also on the docket: monthly movie nights at our place with a menu themed to the film. Lots ahead for all of us—stop in and say howdy to the gang, and save room for dessert. We’re excited. —Brian Noyes, proprietor and town resident

Follow our progress on Instagram @hayfieldslittlewashington

For your trek to the Blue Ridge Mountains and Old Rag, Mary’s Rock, Shenandoah National Park trails, and canoeing on the Shenandoah River, stock up on our granola, energy bars, water in reusable non-plastic containers, snacks, trail mix, peanuts, brownies, and cookies. Grab some sandwiches and chips for a picnic. Use our Wi-Fi to plan your journey. 

Our visitors’ guide features local shops and galleries, B&Bs, wineries, area hiking trails, river info, recreational activities and farm tours. Don’t miss our travel guides, hats, t-shirts, hoodies, knapsacks, candles and supplies at our market and online. 

Thanks to Lancaster Mennonite School for this Shenandoah NP photo.