We’ve written stuff you haven’t read. Why not bring it back? Originally published August 17 at http://cvillain.com/?p=207.
I’ve gone to the bar at C&O on weekday nights, late, several times in the past few months. I’m sorry to rat out the secret hideaway, but a cloud of mystery (and smoke) has taken hold of the bar…
Who are these attractive people?
The men wear faded plaid shirts over undershirts that look like they were retrieved from dressers in their childhood bedrooms. (Or else they found them in a Bleecker Street vintage store and paid $100 and often wish they’d kept their pubescent church group tee shirts for adult subversive wear.) Their jeans look like they took no less than 15 minutes to squeeze on, with shimmying and hopping and stuffing and zipping and all. Their hair is disheveled and long-ish. They cut it themselves. (Or else they pay $50 for it.) They smoke Reds. They look cool. The women wear gauzy dresses over their wormy legs and sit with their chins resting on their palms, elbows on the table. They drink and smoke what the men do, and they, too, look cool. Are they dating? (Or else they reject dating with all traditional gender-based social practices, discussing Freud while night languishes into sunny summer days.)
What do they do?
Are they bassists for the neo-emo bands that open for soon-to-be-sold-out emo bands that have videos on MTV? Do they airbrush supermodels in between their own supermodeling shoots? Do they sew stuff? They have the “starving artist” thing going on, but they’re at the bar of one of Charlottesville’s oldest and finest eating establishments, where adults who do not “stick it to the man” often eat. They look like they’re starving, but they have money. And they’re still sticking it to him.
Why C&O?
Is it the perfect mustard vinaigrette on the salad that comes with comforting late night food? (No, even salad has too many calories for those jeans and chin rests.) Is it the appeal of a dark, intimate bar space with chairs that can’t be moved without hitting more chairs? (No, it’s really hard to move.) Is it the beer selection? (.) Is it the smoking allowance? (Then why not Blue Light?)
Tell!
Note to C&O: keep it up, I love the place, your food has been wonderful for as long as I’ve been there.
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Tagged as: C&O, Restaurant, Reviews
“…why not Blue Light?”
Because Blue Light sucks and is for n00bs. Everybody knows that, lilith
and because way back in the day, your choices were Miller’s, Eastern Standard, and the C&O — each with their own demographic (with some crossover with restaurant employees/musicians).
C&O is a classic. Relatively newbie bars like Blue Light will never come close.
What do you think of the way they control the crowd? (they don’t let people down if there’s no sitting space). I love it when I’m lucky enough to secure a spot because you don’t have to fight through dozens of bodies like you have to in most other places
Because unlike the Blow Light, C and O is not a place to see and be seen, it’s just a relaxing place to have a cocktail. And because they squeeze that delicious fruit juice directly into your drink…yummy.
Oh, gawd, yes. C&O’s gimlets are heavenly.
i love Vodka with cranberry….
mmmm, or the greyhounds with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice!
@2 anno domini: A loud amen from an old timer.
i went for the first time to WWC(Wild Wings Cafe) yesterday..really like that place (only matter of the fact that i was alone:-()….but thts k….
I know that some of you cherish it, but the single thing that keeps me from frequenting C&O is the smoke. Otherwise, love the drinks, love the basement-ness and old school-ness. (apparently my vocabulary needs some stretching.)
Barry rules. Elaine rules. But the single thing that keeps me coming back is the smoke. Delicious.
Being new to the C&O as an new employee. You will never meet nicer people and people who take care of you! Dave, Elaine, Christy and the rest of the crew there rocks! “C”hill “O”ut