Hellbender's Cafe

Pork sandwich, peach shake, lemonade! Great WiFi, comfortable picnic tables with umbrellas for shade. Great pit stop off the Appalachian trail, or on the creeper trail!

In the "middle of nowhere" you will ride up on Hellbender's Cafe in Damascus, VA. This little Cafe, nestled in a small, beautiful valley on the Virginia Creeper Trail, is about six miles from the town of Damascus. This is a great place to grab a bite to eat, use the restroom, and sit down and relax. The staff were friendly and the prices were fair. Stop peddling for a bit and visit Hellbender's Cafe. Enjoy!

Stopped for lunch while cycling on the Virginia Creeper Trail. So convenient - located alongside the trail in a beautiful setting. Lots of picnic tables, some with umbrellas for shade and a large deck. Order and pay at the window. They give you a receipt with number and call your number when food is ready. Quick service, nice staff and delicious food. Chicken salad wrap is fresh and delicious. Hot dog with Chile and French Fries also good. We didn’t try the desserts (chocolate cake, ice cream, etc) Clean restrooms with flush toilets and running water are an added bonus for cyclists and hikers! Highly recommend. Prefer this to crowded restaurants near trail in town of Damascus.

I can't say enough about the great folks at Helbender's Cafe. My father-in-law, my son and I decided to go ahead with our planned trip down the VA Creeper Trail despite some light rain and cold weather. Light rain got heavier and my son was quite cold by the time we got to Hellbender's. Teresa came out with a big blanket for my son and towels for all. We later got separated purely thru my own foolishness (the trail is not difficult - do NOT let this review worry you) and I decided to bike 5-6 miles back up to Hellbender's to see if they had gone back there or so I could use their WiFi to ensure they had made it to town (they had). Teresa and her colleague had closed the shop, but opened it to let me in, gave me a blanket and towel and turned the heater on me while Teresa called the bike shop. Son and father-in-law were both waiting me at the shop and Steve (The Bike Station) graciously came to get me. A thousand thanks for all of your kindness and generosity. The food was great too!

Need to get the card machine running. Food was good but not everyone had cash so everything had to be divided up. Don't mind sharing but we were hungry.

It's the only place on the creeper trail to eat a you make your way down the 17 miles. But it's decent food.

If they’re open when I’m on the VA Creeper Trail Trout fishing on my ebike I’m stopping for a hotdog or bbq, fries and some cold caffeine!
Not a common sight to come upon a diner/snack bar in the mountains along a trout stream anywhere!

Lots of seating a available under the covered patio or large picnic tables with umbrellas. Very relaxing. My BBQ sandwich was good. Service was slow because so many people ordered chicken fingers and fries - it was hard to keep up with demand. Given the high volume of customers coming here from the Virginia Creeper, I’d suggest focusing on a menu that is easier to prep and serve quicker. I’d focus on the BBQ sandwich and a couple sides.

One of 2 cafe options along our 17 mile section of the creeper trail! Pretty standard section of quick service food... But the corn dog was fresh battered and super delicious!

The place was busy but the staff was friendly and kept things moving. Got the BBQ pork sandwich and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the bbq meat. The fries were done nicely (I prefer crispier than a lot of other places make them) Definitely well placed along the Creeper Trail, right when I was looking for an excuse to stop for a minute. Saw a lot of ice cream being served, they had a number of different flavors. Maybe next time, and there will definitely be a next time!