Little birdies are starting to drop interesting tidbits into our boxes over the past few days, and this has to be one of the most intriguing ones.
Apparently, rumor that an Irish pub could possibly be coming to the old A&N/Obama space on the DT Mall have been prevalent for some time, however this round seems to have a few more gossipy tidbits attached to it.
Current rumor is that the space will be subdivided into multiple slots for businesses, and at least one of those is going in the ‘upscale Irish/late night music’ direction. And if you think late night music and Belmont, you get Bel Rio, and at least one of the owners is apparently the driving force behind this.
If so, this would be the fourth restaurant among the pair, as C&O, Bel Rio, & most recently Cantina all have Jim & Dave behind the wheel in some fashion.
Nothing solid in terms of a time line, and we are pouring over the Board of Architectural Review, which the last entry related to the space was dated September 16th, 2003.
Anyone else heard something solid about this?
Related posts:
- A Month, A Week, And A Day…
- Two more downtown reviews
- Birdie Power: Downtown Mall Steak House Confirmed
I hear the Box is opening soon.
Littlejohns was going into the A & N space, and there is lots of work going on next door in the old Grand Furniture spot. Littlejohns was being required by BAR to open the side windows back up and remove the support pole on the front corner. After a week or so of lots of hard work I think they stepped back and said…. “TO MUCH work needed and too expensive to upfit for F and B.” Sadly, things went downhill pretty quickly.
A&N was a very odd place…
I miss Barnaby’s Pizza and The Caravan (Home of the Hump-Burger). I also miss when The Riverside was in the old place where that god-awful CVS on Long street is located now. Filthy and lovely! Not a family joint like the one on High Street is now. Might see a fight or two. Coldest Budweiser in town and when Old Man Sieg came in he bought the whole damn place a couple of Bud’s on his tab.
That was back before Charlottesville became, “The University of Northern Virginia at Charlottesville”…
I miss OXO.Still.
^ I quadruple that. It was my favorite place in town for food, and then I found out about the nightlife…
the nightlife took it down several notches, for me
Thurston:
Your nostalgia may be clouding the accuracy of your memory. Barnaby’s pizza was nasty, and the Hump-Burger was grotesque. Plus also nasty.
Nothing like my favorite: The Hickory Chip barbecue joint, at the intersection of 10th and West Main, where the Hampton Inn is now. I admit that it was eventually padlocked by an enraged Health Department inspector, but DAMN that was tasty stuff.
Speaking of Irish pubs, etc., anyone doing anything special for Arthur’s Day?
Hawkins:
I was only a kid. I not yet traveled extensively and eaten any really good shit back then. When did that barbecue joint go away? The first time I had a piece of Pizza in NYC when I was 10 I forgot all about Barnaby’s.
Back in the seventies the old greek lady (Ginny) that owned the College Inn would prepare my family delicious meals that weren’t on the menu. That was the good old days. She would make them at home and bring them in in tupperware. Man.
Thurston:
I think the chain and padlock went onto the door of the Hickory Chip in about 1982. I don’t think it had been open for very long. Maybe a year.
I wasn’t there when it closed, but a friend was, who claimed that the health department person was yelling about “immediate danger to public health.” He’d eaten about half of his hickory-burger, which was a burger covered in divine chunky pork barbecue.
So he had to make a terrible decision: eat it, or toss it? On the one hand, there was the health department guy howling about sanitation. On the other hand, it was the best burger he’d ever tasted, and there weren’t going to be any more hickory-burgers, maybe ever.
He ate it, and survived.