Judging by the length of the grass, University Grille closed about a month ago.
PHOTO BY LISA PROVENCE

Charlottesville has one fewer Greek diner. After five years, University Grille on Ivy Road has closed its doors, as evidenced by the overgrown lot, shuttered windows and empty parking lot.

In a building that used to be Hardee’s, University Grille billed itself as a family restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Its windows enticed with “pancakes & waffles,” “milkshakes,” and “Greek salads.”

Last time we checked in with the University Grille was in April 2006, when a customer reporting seeing a bus tub full of water fall through the ceiling onto a woman’s head while she was eating breakfast.

“I turned to see a woman sitting at a table with three other adults and a small baby and she was completely drenched with water, ” reported customer Jonathan Lord. “The woman was soaked, like she’d jumped in a pool. And I think her glasses were broken.”

As far as we know, no more bus tubs of water fell on unsuspecting customers at the University Grille before it closed its doors. The Grille had many regulars, who loved their chicken souvlaki sandwich and gyros, as well as their hearty breakfast, served until 2pm on Sundays, which surely served as a welcome cure for many a hangover.

The Hook was unable to locate the Grille’s owner, and the management firm that handles the property at 2025 Ivy Road, as well as the nearby 7-11, had not returned a call at press time about what will next take over the prime location.

June 18, 9:20am: Misuse of less/fewer corrected, courtesy of orchid.

Comments(2)

Winemaker Quincy Steele hosts a wine dinner at the Clifton Inn on Wednesday, June 24 at 6pm. Served up by chef Dean Maupin. $68 per person. Here’s the menu along with the wine selections:

First Course

Potato Crusted Carolina Red Snapper with

Caramelized Shrimp Veloutè and Tomato-Basil Compote

06 Steele Chardonnay California

Second Course

Tortellinis of Duck Confit in a Rich Mushroom Duck Broth with Aged Pecorino

06 Steele Pinot Noir Carneros

Third Course

Dry Aged Prime New York Strip

Maitre d’ Butter, Garlic Chips, Grilled Oyster Mushrooms and Kecap Manis

07 Writer’s Block Grenache  and 06 Writer’s Block Syrah lake county

Fourth Course

Albemarle Cherry and Almond Tart with Warm Dark Chocolate Sauce

and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

06 Writer’s Block Zinfandel

Comments(0)

Doing the Retail Relay: Shop online and young men in lime green shirts will put the goods in your car.
PHOTO COURTESY RETAIL RELAY

Tired of making up a grocery list every week and trudging off to the store, or stores? Local start-up Retail Relay, an online grocery store, wants to relieve your pain.

“Shopping habits can change if there are good reasons,” says Ted Corcoran, Retail Relay’s marketing director. “We’re allowing customers to remove a couple of the pain points in that process. Gradually, people are learning that shopping online for ten to fifteen minutes with a nearby delivery beats spending an hour or two on the same task.”

Basically, you make your shopping orders online and then pick them up at designated times and drop spots during the week. Currently, shoppers on RR can browse food offerings from 18 local stores and farms, including Charlottesville-owned vendors, Reid’s Super-Save Market and feast!, plus the newly added Cheese Shop in Stuarts Draft. You can also get stuff from Trader Joe’s. Soon prepared foods from Hotcakes and Revolutionary Soup will be available. RR has also added greens and such from Virginia’s Bounty, an online store with produce from local farms.

Lately, though, the RR folks have realized that shoppers like the idea of picking up their groceries right where they work. That’s why they’ve partnered with Martha Jefferson Hospital, first creating a drop off spot at MJH’s Locust Avenue location, and now another one in the Outpatient Care Center parking lot at Peter Jefferson Place on Route 250 East.

“Connecting this to work,” says Corcoran, “that’s what people seem to care about.”

“When Retail Relay caught on with everyone at the hospital in town so quickly, (more)

Comments(0)

Former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne spent an hour at James “Jinx” Kern’s tiny eatery on Market Street the afternoon before his show at Charlottesville Pavilion.
PHOTO BY ALTERNA2/FLICKR-FILE PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO

“My buttons are about to pop,” declares James “Jinx” Kern, owner of Jinx’s Pit’s-Top Barbecue, the little barbecuery on East Market Street.

“We were wrapping up the lunch hour today, and suddenly someone walked in who looked remarkably like David Byrne.”

Indeed, arriving on bicycles, Byrne and his band showed up to try Jinx’s tasty barbecue, and even bought several orders of ribs and barbecue for later, perhaps to fuel up for their show at the Pavilion tonight.

“There’s an irony here,” says Jinx. “Back in 1985 I dated an ER doctor who was crazy about me because she thought I looked like David Byrne. That’s how I became a Talking Heads fan.”

As luck would have it, (more)

Comments(6)

Blue Moutain Brewery owner Taylor Smack (left) greets his new beer tank. Smack says he expects to be brewing 62,ooo gallons of beer by the end of 2010.
PHOTO COURTESY BLUE MOUNTAIN BREWERY

In the late 1990s, fresh out of college, future beer-maker Taylor Smack landed his first real job at a local Internet start-up called Value America. The experience quickly cured Smack of any desire to climb the corporate ladder, as he toiled away creating ads for laptops and outdoor grills that featured “sales gnomes” perched on products, and watched from the front seat as avarice consumed everyone around him. One Christmas during that time, someone gave him a home beer-making kit.

Three years ago, after getting his Certificate of Brewing Technology from Chicago’s Siebel Institute and making beer for both Goose Island brewpubs in Chicago and South Street Brewery here in town, Smack opened the Blue Mountain Brewery in Afton with his wife, Mandi, and his friend and partner Matt Nucci, another casualty of Value America, who went on to do business development for Greenberry’s Coffee and Tea Company.

Last year, Blue Mountain brewed 27,500 gallons of craft beer, and this year Smack expects to brew 45,000 gallons. Already, Smack’s draft and bottled beers are in over 100 restaurants and stores across Virginia. By the close of 2010, Smack expects to be brewing about (more)

Comments(0)