Mario Buffa is a man who understands restaurants.
He grew up in them—his parents opened Grafton’s Joe & Mimma’s in 1972—and now he owns and operates them. In addition to Joe & Mimma’s, Buffa is the owner of the IHOP on George Washington Memorial Highway (Route 17) and Riverwalk Restaurant, which he acquired in December. His fourth York County restaurant, Water Street Grille, opened Thursday.
The new restaurant is set in a large space at the edge of Riverwalk Landing, with one side featuring a large patio that overlooks the York River and the other a brick courtyard with a fountain that extends to Water Street. Buffa hired York County-based Fjord Construction to build a custom interior for the restaurant.
“Setting us apart is the microbrews on tap with the ambience of the river,” Buffa said of his newest restaurant, which features 20 microbrews on tap at the large, octagonal bar that anchors the dining room. Buffa hired Virginia Beverage Services to install a custom tap system for the myriad beers available among the marble countertop of the bar.
Off to one side of the dining room is a brick pizza oven in plain view, where customers can watch as chefs prepare hot pizzas. The menu also features a slew of tapas options — foods that function as appetizers or snacks which can be combined to make a full meal — in addition to sandwiches, wraps and burgers.
Water Street Grille and Riverwalk Restaurant have provided Buffa with an opportunity to craft dishes he did not have before with the established menus of Joe & Mimma’s and IHOP.
“With Joe & Mimma’s, we have a strong following,” Buffa said. “I wasn’t able to truly explore what I wanted to inject in the business model. Here at Riverwalk Landing, the opportunities are endless. I am exploring all nationalities of food. There’s upper scale at Riverwalk Restaurant, while Water Street Grille has more casual, affordable foods.”
Simone Pillari, one of the managers of Water Street Grille, said he was excited about the possibilities.
“We’ll have bands playing out on the patio,” he said. “There will be other special events. We’re talking about roasting a whole pig for Halloween.”
He said he is thrilled with the microbrew options, which includes Devil’s Backbone, Bold Rock Hard Cider and options from Williamsburg’s AleWerks Brewing Company. The tap system in the bar features a beer chiller, which Pillari says is popular in Europe. Instead of using frosted beer glasses, a machine fires water into the glass which allows a pour with much less foam than one finds in a frosted mug.
Water Street Grille is located at Riverwalk Landing in Yorktown and is open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily. You can view the menu by clicking here.
