Today I start a feature on my favorite lunch places near the Downtown Mall. I will feature 5 hot lunch spots each day this week, updated before lunchtime.
We’ve reviewed Eppie’s in the past as part of our Veggie Tales. I am not a vegetarian, so you should listen to my opinion, because it means a lot more.
Eppie’s sits in the heart of the Downtown Mall with a little 10 foot wide entrance, you may have missed. Next to the Tea Bazaar, the Southern American influenced “fast food” place should not be missed. I say “fast food,” only because Eppie’s does the factory line, but the food is far above and beyond the crap which we typically refer to as fast food.
Again, brick interiors have a strong place in my heart and the vibrant lime green/lime decor lightens up the restaurant despite having no windows except for in the front.
The menu, which rotates daily specials (but does not change for dinner), offers simple food items with a southern charm. Don’t expect aioli, but do expect jerk chicken and mac & cheese. Eppie’s has a very diverse menu for a lunch joint. Between pasta, giant salads and chicken salad sandwiches, you can find pretty much anything to fill your belly. It’s hard to recommend something, because you have to be in the right mood.
I totally love the pumpkin bread, the dark meat jerk chicken and the mac. I am compelled to do the iced tea thing, just because of the southern spin. I like the salads, but sometimes, I wish they had better dressing options. If I go with anything other than the salad, I never can finish my plate, which is a good thing. I typically spend between $8 and $13 for lunch.
Lunchers, beware. If you try to go between 12:10 and 12:45, you will face a long line. So, enjoy your lunch, don’t forget dinner is usually never crowded and let us know what you think!
Popularity: 49% [?]
Tagged as: Charlottesville, dining, Downtown, eat, eppie, eppie's, Food, lunch, mall
What about prices? Us wealth-challenged people need details.
You can get the “small” dark meat jerk chicken with 2 sides for $7 including tax. Their collard greens are the best I’ve had in Cville.
Eppie’s is an incredible value and I eat there constantly, because my apartment is very, very close. I highly recommend chicken and almost any of the sides. The pasta can be on the boring side. The salads are good, depending on which one you get, but not stellar and not as good of a value as the chicken. I also find the cornbread contains corn kernels which invariably adhere to my molars with a cement-like ferocity! Also, to nit-pick a bit, I somehow preferred the white menu to the new black menu. Don’t know why. I also haven’t tried the sandwiches that I hear they have these days…
@1, added.
“I’m not a vegetarian so you should klisten to my opinion, because it means a lot more.”
Nice, Thor. You are lucky I’m too overwhelmed with Meat World cramps to e-Kick your ass for that.
@2, 4: Thanks!
great idea, thor!
i would like to refer you to the cvillains’ list of favorite restaurants/dishes. there you will find two excellent lunch places listed on mine.
and yes, thanks echo for prices.
Thanks for the kind words Thor (and Echo). Regarding the line, it can be long at times. I try to encourage people to decide what they want before they step up to the register (i.e. in the 5 minutes you’re standing there), which helps the line move. I’d expect to wait 5-7 minutes in line if the line is to the door. But once you do order, it should be less than 5 minutes to get your food. Do feel free to call ahead though.
Lulu, lunch/dinner should be about $7-9. Less if you’re drinking water, more if you’re drinking soda/beer/wine. Or if you just got a couple of sides, you’re looking at $4.
If anyone else has questions (why do you do this, how do you do that), I’m happy to answer them here. Adios.
@5, at least i’m e-ating well.
my only nit to pick with them is i am one of those people who does not like chunks of corn in the cornbread. it’s still delicious though.
i tend to stick to 1 or 2 dishes at places .. i’ve had the jerk chicken, and i’ve had the cheese stuffed tortellini. both are excellent.
@5: Thor carries around a big hammer all the time, trying to compensate for something I guess
I somehow preferred the white menu to the new black menu.
I recommend the Jim Crow Strips with a side of Burning Cross Buns.
/knows what you mean, just couldn’t resist.
@12 jeezus, this post just turn the sharpest turn in the history of cVillain!
@9: Is that supposed to be a comeback?
No one can jack a thread like yo. I challenge anyone here to a thread jack off… wait. That sounds wrong. Please disregard.
Sorry dan, lets get back to your corny side dishes.
i love, love, love eppies. but jeez thor, you must not eat very much. the meals aren’t exactly huge. not saying they’re small. & not eating as much as me is probably a good thing. but i hate in reviews when people say stuff like “it was big enough to split” or “i always have leftovers” & then it turns out to be exactly meal-size.
Portion sizes are entirely subjective…..the question really is where you lie in the general pop for meal sizes. I think Thor writes along the lines of the European style of eating….where one doesn’t stuff themselves silly. Does anyone else disagree with Thor’s portion opinion? Or has Orchid opened a new can o’ worms?
@12: Yeah, that didn’t come out how I meant it in retrospect. I guess I should clarify that Eppie’s recently purchased a new menu board that is located above the cash registers. The old one had a white background and the new one has a black background.
Vanillanut, Thor is about as European as my ass.
I would agree that is as European as your ass. It seams you really missed the mark on that one. Take a wheatgrass shot and wake up a bit, its almost noon!
@19, 20 … NORDIC, not European.
/seriously people?!
@20: Um, take another look at your typo-filled comment and then tell me who needs to wake up.
wat r u talkeeng abowt?
@16 - really? I think their portions are HUGE and I have never (until now) heard anyone disagree with that assertion. Sure it’s subjective but a 20oz. serving of chili borders on ridicules for anyone who’s not a professional athlete.
Small digression - I’ve always found that long lines are the best testiment to a place’s quality, so unless it’s an issue of slow service (cough the flat cough cough), I find it amusing how much Charlottesvillians hate to wait to eat, whether for lunch or dinner. I guess it’s just the result of having so many options, but geeze - 15 minutes is nothing when it’s the difference between real food prepared from scratch and made to order vs. pre-assembled if not microwaved meals that are ready for grab and go. You get what you pay for - both in time and money.
@24: My only complaint about having to wait in long lines during lunch is that it limits how far from work I can go. Otherwise, long lines usually means good food.
does eppie’s do take out orders you can call ahead for?
Huge fan of Eppies here. Eat there regularly.
I am going to have to go with Thor and Lys here - the portion sizes don’t necessarily LOOK like they’re huge, but I’m always more than full by the time i finish eating whatever I ordered.
The long lines can be annoying, but I rarely am there for lunch that early. And the food is worth it.
I don’t think anyone has mentioned that they’ve got a nice half-shaded area of the mall to sit outdoors as well, so you can get away from the sun or a slight drizzle pretty easily depending on the time of day.
hate you all…I am reading this and can’t help but fantasize about their delicious gazpacho, yet I am stuck behind a desk.
I’m stuck under a truck… and it hurts
Mmmm jerk chicken ahahhh it’s dabomb.com get some!
Eppies is awesome! They give you way too much food for a reasonable number of pennies. And if Chad Day will ever get us our CVSSC discount cards, those nickles will go even farther, instead of being trapped inside the sock with his name on it. Just kidding, Chad.
@31 the discount cards are currently sitting in the DHL facility here in Charlottesville, so I should be getting them sometime today, and distributing them either this Thursday if we have a McGrady’s happy hour, or Sunday at the fields. sorry for the delay.. for some reason, the printer stopped offering rush shipping.
@ 30…nice diction…hearing ‘dabomb.com’ making a comeback puts a smile on my face
I adore the Santa Monica Salad. Tho I usually get the corn bread instead of the pumpkin bread. (I must not have serious dental work issues because I love the kernels of corn in my corn bread.) And with a side of Mac & Cheese, it’s a VERY filling lunch or dinner. It’s usually pretty slow at dinner time and one night, the staff shared their cookies with us, which was very generous.
I LOVE eppie’s! I go there all the time to get the Daily salad with chicken— it’s a huuuuge portion and is very resonably priced. I’ve tried of their items on their menus and have yet to be disappointed. Plus, their staff is always super-friendly and accommodating– I also recommend getting the PBJ off the kid’s menu (which yes, is open to all ages) and instead of jelly, get bananas and honey, jummmmy
Glad to hear/read there’s so many fans out on the Internets. In re: to various points,
For better or worse, the corn in the cornbread is here to stay. You can, however, sub pumpkin bread or garlic bread for any of the dishes that normally come with cornbread (and vice-a-versa). Also, if you’re a vegan (or just not bread inclined), you can sub beans or rice or fruit for the bread.
Portions. We try to give you a good bit of food. I don’t want to be known as that place with the gigante portions, but I also don’t want you to feel that we’re skimping. If you order an entree, you should feel sated afterwards.
Pastas. I’d agree that the pastas are boring when compared to the rest of the menu. I think they’re pretty good, but they’re certainly not as “exciting” as Jerk Chicken, Gazpacho, etc. Also, our pasta is not as good as Mona Lisa Pasta’s (they have awesome, fresh pastas–take some home!). That said, I’m not trying to be the fancy Italian restaurant people think C-ville’s lacking. I’m just trying to give you good, simple pasta at a decent price. Our sauces are made from scratch. Ditto the turkey meatballs. And fresh steamed broccoli with Alfredo sauce is pretty sweet. Every pasta comes with homemade garlic bread (and I personally think it’s our best bread).
We welcome call ahead orders.
And if you didn’t know, Kickballers and other social sporters get the following disco: free drink if you’re alone and buying food, or if you’re getting more than one meal (item), the cheaper is 50% off. So if you and your friend come in together for lunch and dinner, one of your plates is half off.
After reading all of these, I have decided:
A) Great idea Thor. I’m interested to see where the rest of the week takes you.
B) You should have saved Eppie’s for Friday because you’re going to have a hard time beating it.
I went into Eppie’s last Thursday to get lunch. With no one in line ahead of me, I panic rushed my order and asked for the tuna salad sandwich. I hate canned tuna. But, I stuck to my guns, and giiiiiiiirl let me tell you, that ess is good! I don’t think I’ve got the stones to order it anyplace else. I like to think of this as that special little secret that Eppie’s and I share behind closed doors. I think that’s what Charlie Rich had in mind.
please note i was NOT complaining about the portion sizes being too small; rather, i was complaining about thor complaining that they’re too big.
didn’t anoop do a week’s review of eppie’s specials?
Eppies is pretty good and they do a good approximation of the Big Mac as a lunch special but there is only one good place for a true Big Mac: Burger King!
Chick Fil-A also does a pretty good lunch. So does Jack N Jill.
Hey, don’t want to threadjack, but I don’t know where else to find this info, and this is at least about food…
Has anybody actually been to the taco truck? I hear it lurks in Southwood trailer park, but I went looking for it and couldn’t find it. Is there some trick to finding it? Is it only certain days, times? Do you have to be introduced by somebody’s brother?
@40: i think they might be out of the truck and in a house on high street at la michocana… on the right heading from downtown to pantops near the joy gas station…
I love the giant grapes in the curried chicken sandwich.
@8/36: I just want to say that I find it admirable that a local business owner is involved in local discussions (cVillain). To be open about your business and open to criticism from patrons, while being willing to use local media (cVillain) to spread the word about your business, makes it much more likely that I will visit your restaurant. More owners need to grasp that a little community involvement goes a long way, something you already seem to grasp.
/end praise
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