09/05/2026
Robert Steinhilber — the man who started it all.
In 1935, Robert Steinhilber purchased the property on the Lynnhaven River that had once been home to the Lynnhaven Golf and Country Club. After years of working in the restaurant business in Norfolk, Robert wanted a quieter life in the country and transformed the property into what he called Thalia Acres.
But it didn’t take long for Robert to find his way back to the restaurant business. In 1937, he began personally building the main dining room on the foundation of the former clubhouse. Two years later, in 1939, Robert and his wife, Marion Eley Steinhilber, opened the doors to Steinhilber’s Thalia Acres Inn.
What began as Robert’s vision would become one of Virginia’s oldest family-owned and operated restaurants — built on hospitality, quality, tradition, and making every guest feel special.
Robert’s legacy continued through his family, with his children Jeanne and Steve carrying on the restaurant after his passing, and today his grandson Brady continues that family tradition.
More than 85 years later, Steinhilber’s remains a Virginia Beach tradition, still sitting on the same historic piece of Thalia land where Robert’s story began.
