Jonathan Huffman

Harrisonburg - a Guide to the Friendliest City

Posted: January 28, 2026

The pond at Purcell Park The pond at Purcell Park.

Harrisonburg is my hometown, and a place I love to visit whenever I can. Known as "The Friendly City", it's a medium size city with a population just over 50k, nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah Valley, with a historic downtown, incredible public parks, and lots of charm. It's also a college town with both James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University; Bridgewater College is just down the road. Harrisonburg is a city that welcomes people from all over the world (according to the local newspaper, there are at least 77 languages spoken by students of Harrisonburg public schools, making it one of the most diverse student populations in Virginia). Centered in the Shenandoah Valley, it soaks in the beauty in the surrounding rolling hills and the Blue Ridge mountains. This Guide is about the places I love and what makes Harrisonburg, and the surrounding Shenandoah Valley, special to me.

Entrance to Taste of Thai, first Thai restaurant in Harrisonburg.

Great places to grab a bite to eat

There are a lot of great restaurants and places to grab a meal, here are some of my favorites:

  • The Little Grill - I've loved going to The Little Grill since I was a college student. It's always had an eclectic and fun atmosphere, and my favorite blueberry pancakes. For a time it became a worker-owned co-op, but recently the original owners have returned, but it has always been a place to find incredible food and hospitality.
  • Kline's Ice Cream - serving frozen custard, which is a lot softer than your typical ice cream. They always have Chocolate and Vanilla, but check there website for the flavor of the week. Their Oreo milkshake is the best I've ever had!
  • Thomas House Restaurant - down the road in Dayton VA, this family-run restaurant is the best place to get country-style home-cooked meals.
  • Lil' Guss': Jess' Quick Lunch was a Harrisonburg landmark, famous for it's hot dogs and chili (a previous governor of Virginia mentioned he always made a point of going there when he was in town). I went there many times with my dad and brother. Sadly, they closed their doors a few years ago. However, recently I was happy to learn from my neice's husband that their legacy continues as Lil' Guss' just down the road in Grottoes. Lil' Guss' carries on the tradition of Jess' famous hotdogs and chili, among other delicious greasy foods.
  • El Sol - some of the most delicious authentic Mexican food I've ever tasted! Their original location was a short walk from my parent's church downtown, but around ten years ago they moved to what was once a Chinese restaurant, and my favorite thing is the mural of panda bears now wearing Mexican style sombreros.
  • Taste of Thai - The first Thai restaurant (that I know of) in Harrisonburg and still one of the best I've ever been to. ToT instilled my love of Thai food.
  • El Charro's - has long been my family's go-to place to get dinner.
  • Mr J's - best bagels and bagel sandwiches south of the tri-state area. Recommended sandwich: the "Chicken Charlie."

Coffee shops

  • Merge delicious coffee and snacks; located right next to Gift and Thrift near EMU.
  • Greenberry's erving great coffee, pastries, and sandwiches; located just across the street from the old Harrisonburg High School (now part of JMU) on High Street. Recommend item: blueberry scone.
  • Magpie's Diner (featuring coffee from Chestnut Ridge Coffee Roasters)

Minuture model of historic Silver Lake Mill just inside the front door of Thomas House Restaurant in Dayton, VA. The acutal mill is the location of the Virigia Quilt Museum. Minuture model of historic Silver Lake Mill just inside the front door of Thomas House Restaurant in Dayton, VA. The acutal mill is the location of the Virigia Quilt Museum.

Things to do in and around town

  • Purcell Park and the other city parks offer endless fun - Purcell Park, named after my mom's family (her dad built the first playground there, and her grandfather donated some of the land), will always be a special place to me. When I was visiting my grandmother I'd run out the backdoor down to the playground which featured an old Navy jet converted into playground equipment with a slide coming off the side of the cockpit. Purcell Park is also where I often walked with my dad on the trails through it's beautiful rolling fields when the weather was nice. I also loved going to Hillandale and Westover parks. When I was a kid we would walk through the woods (before all the housing developments were built), from our summer camp at Hillandale Park to the Swimming Pool at a Westover Park. The city parks of Harrisonburg really can't be beat.
  • Speaking of the parks department: The Cecil F Gilkerson Community Activity Center, or what we just called "the Rec Department" - located in Westover Park, is the best deal in town...Just $60 a year to be a member for city residents (or $120 for non-residents)! Featuring an Olympic size pool and a separate diving pool (that is covered in an inflatable dome and heated in the winter).
  • Walk the beautiful trails at JMU's Edith J Carrier Arboretum. The Arboretum, or as I like to call it, "The woods behind Costco", is one of the most prestine and beautiful natural spaces to explore.
  • If the weather isn't ideal for outdoor activities, you could catch a movie at Harrisonburg's Regal cinema. I've seen some great ones there!
  • Visit the Rockingham County Fair the third week each August, to take in the sights and smells of award winning art, food and animals! Or enjoy the games, rides, and musical performances. I saw the Beach Boys play there in 2008 (with tractor racing in the background).
  • Watch the Harrisonburg Turks take on other teams in the Valley Baseball League.
  • Play a round of golf at Bridgewater's Sandy Bottom Par 3 golf course.
  • Gypsy Hill Park is a unique park in Staunton VA, featureing a minuture train, a pool, a pond with lots of ducks.

The performing arts

Hiking and the great outdoors

Harrisonburg is literally surrounded by mountains, national forests, national parks, national parkways, campgrounds, and thousands of places to hike and just be in nature.

Museums

  • Frontier Culture Museum - See and experience how different communities built homes and lived in early colonial America in a large open-air museum with recreations of various cultural homesteads; located just down the highway in Staunton VA.
  • Learn how to make quilts and the history of quilting at the Virginia Quilt Museum
  • Learn about the interesting history of the area at the Rocktown History Museum.

Hardy Boys and other books on a shelf of the Green Valley Book Fair. Hardy Boys and other books on a shelf at the Green Valley Book Fair.

Interesting shops

  • Green Valley Book Fair - over 30,000 sq. ft. of discounted books located in the middle of farmland just south of the city - they offer a wide range of discounted books (some with slight misprints, or that were just overstocked). They are now open year round, but used to be open for just a couple weeks a handful of times a year (which made the anticipation of going all the more exciting). Probably half of my book collection came from the GVBF.
  • Gift and Thrift is an incredible thrift store, attached to a fantastic used book store (Booksavers), located just down the street from Eastern Mennonite University. You can find just about anything, from perfetly good used golf clubs, to beautiful handmade furniture. In the bookstore I've found s great selection of books and Blu-ray movies. All proceeds support Mennonite Central Committee's work.
  • Harrisonburg Farmers Market - open April to November, Tues and Saturday 8am to 1pm. A great place to find local produce.
  • ACME Fireplaces - I'm adding this one for nostalgia ... before we had a Blockbuster Video, we had ACME Fireplace and Video. Before that it was just a fireplace and stove store. Then in the 80s when video rentals were in demand it became a video rental store (that also sold fireplaces and stoves). After the decline of movie rentals (tHaNks Netflix!) it went back to just selling fireplaces and stoves. But it is worth noting that this place had the most incredible selection of VHS movies to rent. This is where my college roommates and I would go to find the weirdest films like Prayer of the Rollerboys, Cave Girl, etc. Growing up my dad would often take me there to rent Nintendo and Super Nintendo games. Ah, memories ;) So, if you happen to need a fireplace, this is a great place to get one! And if I had a time machine I'd go back and check out their amazing selection of movies, many of which are probably lost to time...
  • The Valley Mall not quite as cool as it was when I was growing up, but it's still a fun place to spend time. A snow day off from school for me meant spending my allowance at Aladdin's Castle playing arcade games, getting a slice of pizza at Roman Delight, going to B. Dalton Books, and maybe watching a movie in the attached movie theater. Those places have all disappeared, but there is a great Books-a-Million, and an Auntie Anne's now. I just miss that it used to have a great arcade and movie theater!