I was privy to a houseguest this weekend, he a U.Va. alumnus who hasn’t spent much time in Charlottesville since being graduated in 2003. We shall call him Cristóbal.
Opportunity! I bum-rushed him with as much cVillainy as his senses—and his liver—could handle. Below is our hitlist from the weekend.
- Michael’s Bistro - this one was his choice, as it’s his old college stomping ground. I think he was happy to confirm that it’s still a great place for a beer and some healthy debate about, um, whatever we talked about.
- The Box (late night) - much has been said of their food, but the late-night scene is nothing to shake a chopstick at. Co-owner Chas was eminently welcoming and happily answered Cristóbal’s numerous questions about the establishment. And, OMFG, sake bombs; yes.
- Blue Mountain Brewery - the perfect quick-trip for the Charlottesville interloper, especially the one that likes good beer, good views, and good food. He was quite impressed and later noticed how many bars in town are serving their brews.
- The Local - we hit this one right before dinner, so it was a bit slow. Still: an excellent spot to wait out the rainstorm while sipping on suds. Still haven’t eaten there. I should get on that.
- Beer Run - Cristóbal was intrigued by the concept if underwhelmed by the current on-tap selection. He also proposed an interesting idea: allow customers to order any beer they have in-stock for in-store consumption. Not sure how this flies with ABC on/off rules, but it could bring Beer Run up to the level of something like DC’s Brickskeller.
- El Paso Market - I’ve made my case before, and I’ll make it again. This place has great burritos. Even Cristóbal was floored that such a delight was to be found in our fair hamlet, and he’s, like, Mexican and stuff. Also: a good walking food for our trek back to downtown.
- The X Lounge - not exactly my scene or his, but it had to be done. He liked it and found an interesting change of pace from the other juice joints. We skipped out after a beer, though, and I couldn’t convince him to try the $9 mac ‘n’ cheese.
- Saxx Lounge - God, I want this place to work. So badly. And the music and libations were a-flowing on Saturday night. Now if only the soundguy would walk around the room. It’s a challenging space to mix, and staying in one spot ain’t cutting it. Kudos, however, to the bands and the multiple Villains I saw. (Except parlie; oh man, what a jerk; oh man.)
- ’80s Prom - you can’t have an out-of-town guest and not take him to the one-and-only ’80s party of the weekend. We had a lot of fun. There was aluminum foil involved. I’ll leave it at that.
- OXO - what Villainy round-up would be complete without a visit to the boom-boom, pour-pour of late-night OXOdization? Further libations, good converation, and some random guy called me a douchebag, which was fun.
- Blue Moon Diner - his choice for brunch on Sunday; he chose well. Friggin’ delicious.
So that was our weekend. Where do you take your out-of-towners?
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Tagged as: '80s prom, awesomeness, Beer Run, Blue Moon Diner, blue mountain brewery, burritos, drinks, el paso, Food, michael's bistro, Oxo, saxx lounge, The Box, The Local, the x lounge, visitors
i was glad to see that your rash is starting to clear up. that was really gross.
Yeah, I can’t believe you didn’t warn me before, you know, “that night”. Dick move, parlz.
Stanley… Beer Run do allow you to buy beer and consume it on premises for a ‘corkage’ fee. I saw a sign on the beer cooler the other day but alcohol addled brain did not retain the cost. I will take note tomorrow and report back.
To answer your question about where I take out-of-towners… basically anywhere that Parlie won’t be. Works a charm.
#3: Ooh, good info, Flooze. Thanks!
he made a good call about the $9 mac & cheese. i think i’d rather pay $9 for kraft. it has flavor.
i took my mom to mas for mother’s day. it was the highlight of her life.
thanks stan the man, good read.
Saxx will work if they change their horrible name.
/why is everyone being so mean to parlie, don’t forget he’s pregnant, guys.
Beer Run’s opening fee is $1.25
@7 per bottle or 6 pack?
per bottle I believe
one hundred and twenty five coin pieces, in any currency, is an audacious request for the service of opening my beer.
re: OXO: there seemed to be quite a few, well, unsavory ladytypes last night. Did anyone else notice this/get the scoop? I don’t want to add much more bearing our slander conversation from other day in mind, but something certainly seemed to be up.
And G-bless those fellas from the future.
But not to knock OXO at all! It was an awesome time as usual.
@11: oh yes indeed unsavory types. I was there, for one, though I prefer to think of myself as unsweet as opposed to unsavory. Also there was a lady there that couldn’t stop her head from colliding with the bar or her belly from jiggling under her cropped halter top. yuck.
tangential relevance: dust tonight was great! thanks for the pbr, truman sparks. I owe you one.
Wow, talk about a departure, there was a rumor on here this past week about OXO closing, and its now been confirmed. Done. Over. Not sure if they’re doing dinner tonight or not, but thats it… nothing after today, or maybe yesterday?!? Don’t know who’s buying and what changes they’re going to make, but…. wow.
@14: Wait, what?! I pick one Saturday to not go to OXO, and now they’re closed? WTF?
@14,15
AYFKM?
Yes, Saturday night was indeed awesome. I waited at Mas for the typical 1.5 hours waiting for a table, and unfortunately, another engagement made it impossible for me to actually eat there. I hate that place, I don’t know why I continue to go.
The bands at Saxx were excellent. Kudos to those guys and girl. I agree about the sound, but I think typically that place has quieter music (being a jazz and blues club). The mix might be easier to control in that case. Also, I noticed that the amps weren’t mic’ed, so the sound guy would’ve had trouble controlling those levels. Regardless, it was a great time. I really like that venue.
why is everyone being so mean to parlie
See, he can’t read English, so it’s okay.
@14: Somehow I knew you’d be the one to run to the internets, running your mouth. Nice.
is that a confirmation of said rumors, Shen?
Confirmed. Everyone have fun with this one.
So OXO is really closing, huh? WTF?!
Lilith would have NEVER allowed this to happen.
@21: That sucks. Sorry to all the villains who lost jobs. Any of you plan on staying when new ownership reopens? Who’s going to fill the midnight-2AM void?
/what about the firecrotch.
Oxo closing?!?! Suffering suck-ass-atash that blows! I feel sorry for Nay and Doof. I will miss your late night awesomeness. I can’t believe you got NO notice. That’s wrong. Maybe new owners will keep everything the same but give you each a raise. Well this Saturday we’ll regroup at Zinc for SP to the C. Maybe we should start our own club with S Dot.
http://cvillain.com/2008/06/16/goodbye-oxo/
Went to The Upstairs for the first time this weekend. Drink list is fantastic. Deserves more people at the bar.
@26: Do they have 50 year-old Glenfiddich?
I heard they have 100 year old triple malt Glenmorangina aged in 1000 year old coconut tree barrels, early extracted and infused with frankincense and mer (sp?)
*not to forget it’s cold fusion processed, blessed by virgins and poured into solid diamond bottles
Myrrh, Thor.
But otherwise, that was funny. I heard all the servers are unicorns, too.
Unicorns?
Oops…Unicorns?
And they float in the air, while wearing gossamer around their ‘corns, speaking in Shakespearean tongues, gently smelling of white rose and lavender.
And they serve tartare made of b-yo’s umbrage.
@27 Not sure. A bunch of freaking old whiskeys, 95% of which I can’t afford. But they do have flights (of liquors!), and a cocktail list the likes of which you won’t see anywhere else in town.
@34 My umbrage tartare must be paired with either Finnish, or Latvian waters, otherwise I will not… wait.. what?
My favorite places to take out of towners in no particular order:
UVA Grounds - When it’s sunset and the weather is nice and the students aren’t around; it’s a really pretty place to walk around.
Jinx’s BBQ - For a true off-the-beaten path experience.
Farmer’s Market - To buy food for our eventual grill out.
Walk up and Down the Downtown Mall - Get Splendora’s, maybe stop in a Gallery or two.
Ten or ZoCaLo - For Late night drinks.
For Food - If they are international, bring them to 5 Guys for sure. Otherwise, Mas.
Friday’s After Five - If it’s going on.
Box - Have to agree with the late night.
I take my outta town guests to the Mcgregor Room at Alderman library because all my friends are nerds. We also went to oxo so I could show off my VIP, but now I guess that’s done.
also, I went to the box late night with one of my aforementioned friends and we freaked out. Old dudes playing not great music really, really loudly. maybe it’s good when there aren’t bands?
I take my outta town guests back outta town. The might catch teh smug.
“Jinx’s BBQ - For a true off-the-beaten path experience.”
y’all finally said something about jinx’s that i can’t disagree with.