The Heyward is one of those low key unassuming places where you can sit down with a friend and drink tons of wine, have lots of good food and have great conversation. It was quiet but not stuffy or boring and despite never being totally packed, it still felt like a cool place to be.
I met Lily here on a cold, dark, rainy Friday. The place seemed like it was full of locals just trying to unwind from the week. The menu here is pretty much American with a bit of a slant on Southern seafood. We shared the spicy glazed octopus ($15) to start and I ended up going for the cheeseburger ($18) because it came with Old Bay seasoned onions and 2 yr old aged cheddar cheese. Yum. Lily got a few oysters ($3/each) and ordered the butternut squash mac and cheese ($10) and brussels sprout ($7) side as her main dishes. Oh and we got wine too, lots and lots of wine. The octopus was one long tender tentacle served with andouille sausage ragout, fava beans and wilted greens. The meat of the octopus was perfect and not chewy at all. The spice from the sausage was perfect - it added heat but it wasn't overbearing. It was a lovely dish that I really enjoyed. I also thoroughly enjoyed the burger here too - it was was a solid burger that totally got the job done. It's nothing fancy or amazing like the one at Black Tap - but it was a nice juicy burger on a sesame seed bun that held everything together. The combination of the Old Bay onions and aged cheddar cheese was a nice twist to an old classic. I devoured the thing in a matter of minutes and I'll add that the fries were tasty, salty, thick cut fries. It was the perfect gloomy rainy day comfort food. I had a few bites of Lily's mac and cheese and it was homey and autumnal with the butternut squash mixed in. Mac and cheese is also a solid rainy day food in my book. The brussels sprouts were your typical brussels sprouts in that they were roasted and tasty but it had a slight kick to it with aged worcestershire, pickled peanuts and chili. For dessert we had a raspberry and fig cake that was light but distinctively figgy. It was totally unnecessary but we were on our 5th glass of red wine so it seemed appropriate to order a dessert to round out the night.
Overall, it was a lovely, low key dinner in a somewhere upscale, more adult setting. I can see this place being a nice date place if you wanted to go somewhere in Williamsburg that was low pressure, non-hipster but still relaxing. It's by no means the best restaurant or coolest restaurant in Williamsburg but sometimes you just need a nice neighborhood joint to escape to every once in a while. Total bill: $250 for 2 people with tax, tip and lots of wine
Photo Credit: Yelp
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