Having made a comment on the forum about others’ experience at Maya, I thought I’d contribute my own review and see if we could get more reviews of the place. In case you haven’t heard, Maya is a new restaurant in Charlottesville that serves a menu of Southern American food. It occupies the space formally held by Southern Culture and is co-owned by Rockstar Ted and the Chef from Boar’s Head.
Nice to feel welcome during a first visit!
Maya was bustling when we arrived, but not terribly busy. There were open tables both inside and outside. So much for “reservations recommended.” After being acknowledged by the host and a waiter, bartender Ted Norris (formerly of Zocalo and Ten) called hello from the bar.
Our server was a cheerful, energetic redhead who was knowledgeable, and quick to check on details when one of the wine aficionados in our group quizzed her on the wine list. We neither felt rushed nor neglected. The lag time between her visits was perfect.
Drinks were excellent, as I expected they would be. It’s no wonder C-VILLE readers have voted Ted Norris “Charlottesville’s Best Bartender” time and again. I had a martini called a “Tantric Sidecar.” It was heavy on pineapple, but not overly sweet. I joked that I could have skipped dinner altogether and just had more than the two I managed, had I not been expected in the office the next morning.
The momentum came to a screeching halt when the food arrived.
The salmon cake, a little larger than a silver dollar, was cooked too long. The result was a bit too much crunchy toughness than you’d expect from a breaded cake. The sauce with the cake was excellent, though. The salads consisted of three leaves of lettuce with a sprinkling of cheese. I suspect even Nicole Ritchie would have been disappointed with the amount of food. It was a bit paltry for $6. The cornbread was adequate, but could have been much better, and the accompanying five or six stalks of mini asparagus were cooked within an inch of mush. One member of our group ordered something that was no longer available (already out of an entree at 6 PM?), so she ordered ribs instead. They looked excellent, with meat almost falling off the bones, but she wasn’t happy with the seasoning. I had a taste and thought it was fine, though admittedly haven’t eaten ribs in about 15 years, so I’m not the best judge. The whipped red potatoes were fantastic, as was the zucchini/yellow squash side (very pleasant seasoning).
Our server asked how we liked the meal and we asked if she wanted feedback (after all, they’re probably still working out the kinks) and she said yes. We told her our thoughts and she took them to the chef, who then offered us dessert on the house. It wasn’t necessary, but it was a nice touch and it let us sample the interesting dessert menu.
We tried the chocolate cake and the strawberry shortcake. I personally think chocolate cake at a restaurant should be a “oh my gosh, this is amazing” thing. That wasn’t the case. It was good, but nothing I’d find myself craving. The strawberry shortcake was forgettable. I found myself wondering if they had sugared fresh strawberries to let them sit in their own juices or if they had used canned or frozen strawberries. I’d hate to think the later. The cake was a little dry.
I have to say I wasn’t too surprised at the prices. I feel I had an okay meal and excellent drinks for a reasonable price. Had I ordered more expensive food, I might have been more disappointed.
I wouldn’t write Maya off just yet. Give it time… the bar is clearly the strength at the moment, but the menu is interesting and I’d love to see if the food gets better once they have a little more time to settle in.
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Tagged as: Cocktails, Restaurants, Restaurants/Bars
Having grown up staging my own “videos” to her father’s music, I’m embarrassed that I misspelled Nicole Richie’s name.
This is good stuff. Just a general observation about desserts– from my experiences and those of my friends in the service industry, I can say that a lot of restaurants make them in the morning or the night before, giving ample time for cakes to dry out. Mousses, cheesecakes, ice cream cakes, and bread pudding are supposed to be refrigerated or frozen to be kept fresh, so they’re often better. I’ve stopped ordering “death by chocolate” cakes everywhere. I’m sure Maya’s strawberries were done in-house.
odd - I was just talking to my friend this morning and she was describing her experience at Maya last night, and it started to sound very similar. When I cut her off and started reading the article, she started finishing sentences for me!
“A” says “hi”
FYI- It’s co-owned by the Chef from Boar’s Head and Peter Catiglione (sp?). Several of the bartenders are not ownersd but do in fact have an equity.
They had a hell of a time with the worst government agency in Virginia, the ABC. If ever an agency needed to be Republicanized off the planet! Maya had bought it food and was ready to go when a “small” glitch at ABC killed their chance for Graduation Weekend and forced them to sell their food at cut prices priro to its spoiling…
For information about Maya in general (ownership, pre-opening activity, etc.), see this entry Iron made a few weeks ago.
I’d love to see more reviews…as you can see from my entry, they are very mixed.
Hey Upstart,
I went there this weekend, but didn’t eat. The service was fantastic, and the drinks were good, but no one was there. The patio has a lot of potential, but it needs a crowd!
Summer is a tough time to open a restaurant I think. Hope to try the food soon.
I may or may not have eaten there last night. I chose to order a meal I would not normally eat, to put it to the test. Ingredients were fresh, well presented, and portioned appropriately. My drink was creatively designed, aesthetically pleasing, and, thank God, strong. Next time, I’ll order a meal I’ll probably like a lot more, like my friends did. (Don’t know what I was thinking on that one.) I’m looking forward to the traffic scenery being more pedestrian and less vehicular. I like the interior, but the patio feels like Southern Culture without that distinct smell of onions sauteed and fried in bacon fat. Love that smell. Kind of made me wish I was Home! I got to go back in the spring… Come on, Maya!
I’m pretty sure the Salmon cake was shrimp and my wife sells the strawberries to MAYA so I know they are fresh. Christian Kelly co-owner of MAYA was once the chef of Clifton Inn never the Boars Head.
Thanks for the correction, 2206. It was, indeed, a shrimp cake, not a salmon cake.
By the way, I had heard that there would be live music at Maya and it appears that they are moving in that direction. Local masher DJ Deep See will be spinning on their patio next Wednesday from 9 PM ’til midnight. Sounds like they’re trying to get that crowd Thor thought was missing on the patio!
[…] started 3.5 years ago?). I can remember many a night and many a Mojito sitting at the bar. Ted (now at Maya) used to serve us drinks, the Bar was accessible even on crowded nights and the atmosphere was dark […]
Ya the crowd is key. How did those events go? Any updates on Maya?
We were at Maya this past friday and overlapped with an art opening by a new artist in town, sandra a morris.
We had eaten at Maya over the summer and commented on the art, thinking how great it looked in that space.
Now that there’s more of it, we like it even more.
What a great aesthetic they have created here.
Also, the tenderloin melted in my mouth. It was perfect and our server, Russell, was great.
The place was jammed when we left and it seems like a great mix of people.
One of the owners, Peter, was front and centre making sure everyone was being well looked after.
A very positive experience.
We’ll go back.
[…] to explore for cocktails: X-Lounge, Ten, Maya, Bang, Zo Ca Lo, Blue Light, […]
[…] tubers, the sunburned and inordinately drunk people you see in packs of 10 getting a late dinner at Maya on Saturday night, and being really loud about everything. And you know what? They earned it. […]
[…] you recall, one of our Charlottesville Villains visited Maya during its opening weeks. Maya rests across from the train station in the district we […]