Where to Eat near Half Moone Cruise Terminal

Wagyu burgers on Granby Street, open from 11am seven days a week

Order: A plain cheeseburger at $9.49 and crinkle cut fries at $3.99, both from its own published menu. The kitchen asks you not to request lettuce and tomato — the burgers are made simple and basic on purpose.

Pro tip: The cheapest sit-down meal within walking distance of the ship, and open every single day from 11am, which in downtown Norfolk is genuinely rare. Four minutes on foot means you can feed everyone and still be back at the terminal inside quarter of an hour.

The breakfast answer — a diner and juice bar on East Main Street, open from 7:30 AM daily

Order: Breakfast, and plenty of it. The diner runs a juice bar alongside the griddle, which is the easiest way to get something green into a child before a week at sea.

Pro tip: Downtown Norfolk barely does breakfast — Waterside District does not open until 11 AM seven days a week — so this is the one to plan around on boarding morning. It serves daily from 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM, and it is a five-minute walk from the ship.

A rooftop beer garden above the Hilton with a river view and a kids' menu

Order: Order off the kids' menu for the children and let the adults work through the tap wall — this is the only restaurant in our Norfolk set that publishes a kids' menu of its own.

Pro tip: Weekend brunch runs 9am to 3pm on Saturday and Sunday, which is the family-friendly window; live music runs Wednesday to Sunday and the room gets louder as the evening goes on. Go early with children, and enjoy the fact that the view over the Elizabeth River includes the ship you are about to board.

Korean fried chicken on Granby Street, open every day of the week

Order: The double-fried chicken, which is what the chain is built on. The restaurant describes itself as a family-friendly establishment offering an affordable casual dining experience.

Pro tip: Open seven days from 11:00 AM, which makes it one of the safest bets on a Monday — the day that closes several of the better rooms downtown. Later on Thursday, Friday and Saturday if your sailing is the next morning and you want a proper evening first.

Exactly what the name says, on Granby Street — and the whole menu is a children's menu

Order: The Gooey at $10.75, which is the house grilled cheese and the one the kitchen says most children order. Tomato bisque to dip it in is $4 for a dipper and $7 for a bowl.

Pro tip: Its own FAQ answers the two questions you were going to ask: asked whether it has a kids' menu it says the whole menu is kid friendly, and asked about gluten-free bread it says yes. It takes no reservations and puts the average wait at 15 to 20 minutes. The catch is the calendar — closed Monday and Tuesday, and it shuts at 4PM on Wednesday and Thursday.

Seafood and steaks inside an 1873 church — the building alone is worth the walk with children

Order: She-crab soup at $10.00 a cup, which is the local dish, and the broiled seafood platter at $35.00 if you are splitting.

Pro tip: Open seven days, with lunch served from 11am to 4pm, so it works before an afternoon check-in as well as the night before. Its own page says reservations are recommended at all times — with a family, make one, because the converted church has fixed seating and no room to squeeze an extra table in.

A street-level seafood room and raw bar in the Hilton Norfolk The Main, open seven days

Order: Oysters from the raw bar. The room describes itself as shellfish, seafood and spirits, and the raw bar is the part that runs straight through the afternoon when the kitchen switches over.

Pro tip: The single most reliable table in Norfolk on a boarding day, because it serves lunch every day of the week from 11:30am and there is a raw bar menu covering the 3pm to 5pm gap when most kitchens here are shut. If your check-in appointment is late afternoon, this is the room that will still be open at 2pm on a Tuesday.

The city's long-running fine-dining room on West Main Street, and the closest restaurant to the terminal

Order: Whatever is seasonal and local — the kitchen describes its menu as the very best of the Chesapeake Bay region, and that is the part worth ordering rather than the imported end.

Pro tip: Closed Sunday, and dinner only every other day from 5PM. That makes it the night-before restaurant rather than the boarding-day one, and it rules it out entirely for a Sunday sailing. Three minutes from the terminal means you can eat here and still walk back to a downtown hotel afterwards.

A steak and chophouse on Brooke Avenue, open seven nights

Order: A chop. It is a steakhouse in the traditional sense and the menu is built around the grill rather than around anything else.

Pro tip: Read the house rules before you book. Its own site requests no children under the age of 12, and requires business casual dress in the dining room, listing hats, sweatpants, athletic attire and t-shirts among what it does not allow. That makes it a good adults-only night out and a bad idea with the family in tow.