Harrisonburg's restaurant scene is its most surprising quality. The combination of JMU's student population, a large and diverse refugee community, and a general local enthusiasm for good food has produced a concentration of independent restaurants that would be noteworthy in a city twice the size.
The ethnic food, in particular, is remarkable for rural Virginia: the city has excellent Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Somali, Mexican, and Afghan restaurants, fed by the communities that have settled here since the early 2000s. Court Square and the surrounding downtown streets are the main restaurant district.