What's your favorite local restaurant, and why?

And the Beer Run owners & staff are just really nice people.

i will say, i have been to some of the country's best restaurants, bobby flays, capital grille, the four seaaons in ny, boston's hungry i, dc's i richii-

but cville is a pretender- lots of places that pretend but would never make it in a city-

for my $, i like real.... places that are comfortable & themselves-

mcgradys irish pub and lord harwich- no pretense, just good food and folks . also, bizou is solid- food & staff

Maya, bc it is the best.

Bang! Always good and always has a buzz. Bijou too, Petit Pois, Mas. Charlottesville has a lot of pretty good restaurants, and a number of very good restaurants!

@ Mike, you've been to the best, but C'Ville is a pretender, yet you suggest Lord Hardwicke's and McGradys? Um, yeah, maybe you should try to find some better food in C'Ville.

Glass Haus is fantastic and would thrive in any big city. Orzo has always been solid but now the food is getting better and better. Petit Pois as many others have mentioned is quite good. Tavola is always enjoyable but I go rarely as they don't take reservations (which is fine as a policy, it just means I don't eat there as often as I would if I could make a reservation).

Belmont BBQ's chicken is fantastic.

Thanks to The Hook for posting another poll that just oozes the self-important elitism of this town. The "I've been to the best," "I moved here from (name big city)", and--of course--the classic "I love them because they use local produce."

Any column or article about food just brings out the we're-so-important in people.

Try Five Guys in Barracks Road or on the Downtown Mall. Knowing this town, they could probably really boost sales if they left the food the same, dimmed their lighting, and changed their name to "L'hommes cinq."

Ugh!

R.I.P.: Julia Child

I love Peter Chang's but is it just me or is it occasional uneven. I have had fantastic meals 90% of the time but every now and then something comes out that is not right. I have on one occasion sent something back which I haven't had to do in many years. Don't get me wrong, it is one of my very favorite places to eat but was curious if anyone else has found this to be true.

I have also have had some great meals and ginkgo chinese in the 14th street garage, Basil, Aromas, Now and Zen, and Bizou. Also the new Noodles place in Stonefield was better than I would have guessed and has the coolest coke machine I have ever seen.

@ Liberalace - NYC has tons of restaurants of all types - including some of the best in the country. It is a fact. I ate at some of them...good ones, bad ones, etc. Not self-important...just a fact. You sound like a curmudgeon. You can move away, you know?

Blue Moon and the pho place.

Love to see Duner's mentioned twice. Food, service, atmosphere are the best. 30 year anniversary coming up soon. It's a joyful place; go.

5th Street Taco Bell/Pizza Hut. You either get a personal pan pizza and breadsticks or you can opt for the full Taco Bell menu. It's the only duel fast food joint in the city!

Whoever put Peter Chang -- bet you haven't been there in awhile. Bad food with that fake crab stuff, served different folks entires at different times without comment, glasses were old pepsi plastic cups -- worst Chinese food experience I think I've ever had. Assuming Peter Chang is a good cook -- he's no longer in Cville, pretty sure.

please allow me to clarify- no offense taken

yes i have been to great restaurants- the williamsburg inn, ocean blvd., blue point grill, inn at highlands in carmel/monterey, inn @ little washington, many in boston, and nyc and chicago.

my point is- the restaurants here in cville would NOT make it in a real city- 24-48 hours tops- food is often ok @ best, service spotty, there is a bit of an attitude-

i mentioned of all places lord harwich, and mcgradys because they are what they are, no pretense- there is no being contrived, they just are what they are & i like that. the high end places here would close in a NY minute if in a competitive city environment. I know they work hard- but for example we went to thanksgiving to a local restaurant, pricing was predatory, food was awful, and sparse & service was POOR. Never again, and nor would it be tolerated elsewhere.

thanks

mike, I disagree on a few places. Certainly some of the lower cost places like Bodo's, La Michoacana, a handful of Chinese restaurants would all do well in many cities. A few others, like Petit Pois, Tavola and the Whiskey Jar would succeed in the right locations as exactly what they are now, good to very good neighborhood restaurants. No, we don't have NYTimes 4 star restaurants but we also don't have the money and population in town to support something like that, really. Glass Haus is something special and continues to grow quickly and they stack up to all but the very, very best places I've been else where. When you factor in cost of the meal, they do even better.

I am a fan of Brickoven for pizza, Riverside (North) for a burger, Little Dino's for a sub, and Jack'n'Jill for a hot dog. I also favor Wayside for take-out chicken and the fixings! Yum!

It all depends on what you're looking for, doesn't it?
Mel's is great for basic comfort foods, especially on a 70 degree sunny day for sitting outside. The Shebeen is great for nice atmosphere and a bit out of the ordinary cuisine. Aberdeen Barn for the hot beef injection. Barbarian Chef for the big group of adult out of town guests. The town is loaded with restaurants and many of them are overpriced, all hat, no cows operations, but I can't name them without having my post deleted for libelous content. For my money, I'll go with the ethnic restaurants to avoid boredom and $10 entrees masquerading as $30 entrees...

Try Pomme-Gordonsville. The place is beyond awesome. The drive to restaurant and through Keswick offers peace and gorgeous views. The spot on main street is a real winner.

What qualifies a place as "ethnic?" Staff? Owner? Clientele? Mel's serves burgers and Beer Run seems to have an entirely Hispanic kitchen crew.

i should have also included Bodo's , the food is good and a good value & they really know how to get you in and out efficiently. I'd also like to speak up for 3 notch'd grill in crozet- excellent food, innovative, good owners and staff. top notch wine list w/out being predatory on pricing.

I am a native of C'ville. I was born here and I've lived here all my life. There are restaurants in here that are good, many have been mentioned on this page. One of my favorites that I don't think has been mentioned is Tip Top on Pantops, especially for their breakfast. On the other hand, I find it extremely annoying that I have to drive an hour or so out of town whenever I want to eat at an Olive Garden, a Cracker Barrel or Texas Roadhouse. What is really just pitiful is that C'ville doesn't even have a Bojangles, a Popeyes or even Long John Silvers and Golden Corral. Sure, they're all chains. So what? They're all great places to eat and they thrive in other communities, but for some unknown reason the powers that be thinks that C'ville is so "special" that we can't have these. Could it be that these places would put some of these here today, gone tomorrow local joints out of business? Anyone who thinks chain restaurants don't do well in C'ville needs to go to The Outback Steakhouse or The Wood Grill on a Saturday night and see how long the wait is. Even though it's good, there's only so many times anyone wants to eat at the Wood Grill and C'ville certainly does not need any more Chinese or Mexican restaurants. Those people who don't like and want to eat at a chain restaurant have the choice not to. Those of us who do, don't have a choice, other than to settle for what's here or take a road trip. Those who enjoy the local places, more power to you. There's certainly nothing wrong with that, but C'ville seriously needs to step things up and offer the same dining options many of us regularly drive out of town to enjoy.

@ TiredOfCville - wow, just wow. There are a million places to experience homogenized America and you can move to anyone one of them. Can't tell if you are trolling or not, but enjoy your McFood. So much fail in these comments...

There used to be a Bojangles, a Long John Silvers and (as WhoaNelly noted) a Golden Corral in town....they all closed. The only reason they closed is they didn't do enough business to afford the rent the property owners wanted. The local joints ran them out of town, in fact.

Dear Cville,

Please outlaw all of Charles choices. Not a menu item on the entire list that cannot be made at home with a few minutes work. You want overpriced, it is all of the above with no creativity.

You never hit Continental Divide, or Tavola etc.

Charles: no.

Local places that do better and cheaper than all of the chains you mentioned: Eppie's, Blue Moon Diner, The Local, Beer Run, Continental Divide, South Street Brewery, The Shebeen, Boylan Heights, The Whiskey Jar, Lemongrass, Fry's Spring Station...

And that's just off the top of my head.

@Charles: Thank you! So glad to know there is at least one other person who's stuck in this city full of snooty, uppity, I'm-better-than-you-are types who think they are the only people that live here. Yes, Cville once had a Bojangles, a Long John Silvers and Golden Corral. I remember them all very well and patronized them. If their food was so "crappy" as someone commented, these companies would not be in business at all in any locality. The problem with the ones C'ville had here were a combination of poor management and lazy unmotivated workers, certainly not lack of business. I, like many others, got disgusted with the poor service we got from them so no wonder they closed. There's several others in town where the service is pathetic. The local places here certainly do not offer anything "cheap" compared to any chain, plus chains have company standards of quality and cleanliness that local joints often choose to ignore because they can. Not saying all the chains are perfect, but trust me, most of you would be shocked to go into the kitchen of some of these local places and see some of the ways food is handled and stored before it gets to your plate. Like I said, I was born and raised here. My family has been here for generations. I've seen everything this place has to offer and this is my home so no one better tell me to 'move somewhere else if I don't like it.' The majority of the people that want to hold back any kind of sensable progress in this town, especially anothing that would cater to the average working person, are from some other place, typically from states north of Virginia where, from what I understand, are all such wonderful places to be that it just baffles me as to why they didn't stay where they were and not come down here and live amoungst us "locals" here as I have often heard us natives referred to as being. Seems there is never a problem for this town to get places like, most recently, Trader Joe's with all of their over-priced items (yes, I have been in there one - more than enough) that most people don't want, and only go there just to be seen as if to be impressing somoene. It's kinda embarrassing to have guests come to visit from out of town who want to go out and eat somewhere and one of the first places they'd say would be "let's go to Olive Garden" and they look at me in disbelief when I tell them that the closet one is an hour drive away. They don't want to eat at some local place they're not familiar with. People in C'ville need to get over themselves and realize that there are people here who do want the same things that the rest of "homogenized America" likes. Other cities have these because they are popular, successful and enjoyed by millions every day. It's funny how C'ville is all about Thomas Jefferson, who was historically a progressive man. If Jefferson was alive today I'm sure he would say, what the hell are they doing to my city? Let those of us who want the chains have them. Those who like them will go there and those who like the local joints can go their. It's about having a choice, something C'ville is severely lacking for many years.

Tired of Cville. I'm glad that there is someone else who feels the same. I've lived here for 23 years. Whenever I leave Charlottesville and return and have a chance to compare it to
somewhere else I'm always glad I live here. I feel the introduction of more chain resturants
would enhance the good quality of life we already enjoy here. Lynchburg which I believe is
comparable in size to Cville has considerably more chains and choices.

When you are stuck in a town with nothing but chains, and where all the food tastes the same and it doesn't matter if you went to Outback, Olive Garden, Logan's Roadhouse or Golden Corral (and yes it all tastes the same), you will appreciate the variety you can get from what's available here.

For the life of me, I don't know why anyone would go into an Olive Garden except if they wanted an unlimited salad bar. The "Italian" food there is not italian, and is extremely poor quality.

In a blind comparison between Olive Garden and Fellini's, I'd bet even the most die-hard bland eater would approve of Fellini's pasta before the Olive Garden. I'd also bet they haven't gone down there because they are too scared to walk more than a block for parking, and maybe its because they're not in good shape from eating processed chain food all their lives.

I'm glad all the existing chains are up on 29. It creates a district of places I don't have to visit or shop, and segregates people that I generally with whom I wouldn't have anything in common.

If I wanted to eat at a chain restaurant all the time, I'd find the cheapest place to live in America, and move as close as I can to a Wal-Mart.

For what it's worth, there are 2 small diners in Belmont that are worth mentioning. Foxs Cafe and Brenda's Restaurant at Moore's Creek.
Both have pro's and con's.
Fox's Cafe has really good home cooking food, is clean, but no late afternoon or evening hours.
Brenda's has Southern style cooking, friendly service, is clean but the food prices have gone
up which will push some customers away. They're only open on Thurs-Fri evening.

for tiredofcville and charles: i'm confused. are you saying that the supervising bodies of the city of charlottesville and/or the county of albemarle are actively trying to dissuade these chain restaurants from coming here? that seems ludicrous on the face of it. there are SO MANY chain restaurants in the area, and a couple more just opened at stonefield (burton's grill and noodles and company). are we supposed to feel at fault because there isn't an olive garden here? why is that our fault? maybe you should petition them to open a restaurant here. i'm sure the city or county would welcome them with open arms. i'd love to see the case you make for the conspiracy of "powers that be" that are keeping your favorite chains from opening here. because there is none to make, as far as i'm concerned.

baconfat: Anyone that has lived in Cville for as long as I have knows all about it's silly politics. The on-going 'pissing match' regarding the Meadowcreek Parkway and the US 29 bypass are prime examples of what I speak of. Whether or not is is true or not, and I cannot confirm, however, there was a wide-spread 'rumor' shall we say, that Cracker Barrel wanted to come to Cville a few years ago. They wanted to build on 5th Street near I-64. Every Cracker Barrel located near an Intestate highway puts up a tall sign that can be seen by drivers while passing by. It was said that Albemarle County fought them tooth-and-nail and would not allow them to put up their tall sign like they do everywhere else until finally, Cracker Barrel gave up and built the one over in Waynesboro, one that I frequent. There's also been talk for quite some time about one coming to Zion Crossroads, but no sign of that as of yet. At least Zion Crossroads is in Louisa County where the powers that be seem to think progressively enough to have allowed Walmart, Lowes, Sheetz, and one of the best IHOPs around, all bringing jobs and tax revenue to the communty as well as the convenience to the residents of the area. Remember when Walmart wanted to put a store on 5th Street and what a fight that was? If it wasn't for the fact that I was born and raised here and still have family here, Cville would be one of the last places on earth I would ever relocate to. It has always my home, but there have been times, the the formentioned, when I have been embarrassed to admit that I am a resident. I have often thought of leaving the area, but I am ready to retire and I don't want to have to uproot everything I've worked for and accumulated all my life and leave the family I have behind. One other thing, if Cville can get these mostly unheard of places like Noodles and Company, Burtons Grill and Jason's Deli, why can't we get other well-known places? I just don't get it. I'm not knocking any of them, especially Noodles and Company and Burtons Grill since I have not tried either. I have been to Jason's Deli and I really didn't care much for what I got when I was there. I'm sure I could find something else on the menu that I would like better so I'm not going to judge the place on that one time. My apologies for my long slightly off-subject rant, but after all, I am indeed tired of Cville.

"Walmart, Lowes, Sheetz, and one of the best IHOPs around" -definition of progress, so sorry we're too backwards for you...

"I am a well educated individual and have an occupation that allows my family and I to live a comfortable life." Oh the irony... If there isn't a name for a statement where someone claims to be educated while making obvious grammatical mistakes, well there sure ought to be. There is a word for a claim like that coming right on the heels of a barely coherent rant like that one posted at 7:18, but the bot will reject my post if I use it.

Finally, mumbling about some nefarious conspiracy to keep the common man from cheaply filling his gut at chain restaurants is exactly the sort of thing my crazy uncle might do. Must be something about uncles? Could just be crazy people though. Ockham's razor and all ya know.

Noodles and Company, Burtons Grill and Jason's Deli are setting up locations here because A. Someone who has just built a shopping center that they want to market as "upscale" has hired someone to seek out tenants who can help create that image. B. Those restaurants have management personnel who think that our market is a good fit for them. C. Someone else who has the cash to invest in a franchise and who wants to play with the persons mentioned in both A and B thinks they can make some money by making that investment.

There is no "we" that can't get middle to low brow focused chains to locate here and there is no "them" that is stopping it. It simply doesn't make sense and the failure of Long John Silver's, Popeye's, and others demonstrates that. Sure they offer consistency as was noted above, but clearly not enough people value the benefits of consistent mediocrity as much as they value the friendly service and much better food choices they can get at places like Bodo's.

We're quite lucky to have the choices we have locally. If you don't value that, just pop something frozen into your microwave and you can have chain quality any time you want it.

"The Black Hand of Dragas" would be a great name for a punk or goth band.

I feel that if our local officials are in fact throwing petty stumbling blocks in the way of any chain locating here be it resturant, retail, travelservices they are doing the community a great disservice. Think of jobs lost, tax revenue lost quality of life enhancements. The benefits would have a domino effect. Residents would not have to travel an hour or more to shop and eat out at a place they really want to patronize. It would also draw people from surrounding communitys ( Augusta, Madison Culpeper etc etc) to shop and spend money here. Charlottesville is a great safe place to live, but there is also considerable room for
improvement.

@Charles: Well said!

There you go, just like my uncle again Tired. Sort of at least. Instead of a 2000 word "paragraph" Uncle Jerry put it all in a single sentence.

If anyone is coming off as dictatorial its you with your repeated should this and should that. If you choose to eat junk, then eat junk. It isn't anyone's responsibility to help you do that. What do you want, a county Junk Food Czar to ensure that restaurant chains locate here? Maybe a new ordinance requiring shopping center developers to have at least one low budget feed trough that meets with your approval? Really, if high priced fast food what you think this area "needs" then get out your wallet and make the investment to bring it here. Can't fail right?

The Shrimp and Grits at the Whiskey Jar is a special, but a frequent one so far as I can tell and it's just what you want shrimp and grits to be in my opinion. Quite tasty.

Risotto....not on a regular menu that I know of since Rococo's closed up shop.

@ Christian - I highly recommend the shrimp & grits at Hamilton's. I love to go there for lunch on Saturdays when it is offered at $11. I haven't tried the Whiskey Jar's version but have enjoyed other dishes there...I'll give their shrimp & grits a try next time.