Couldn’t find this on your Food page, even after a site search, so I figured it was news to someone. I was over at Barracks Road and found a longtime Charlottesville institution, Casella’s Italian restaurant, closed and vacated. The sign on the window says, Tara Thai, which is the name of a fan-damn-tastic Thai restaurant in the Short Pump mall near Richmond. The couple of landlord-looking people inside, who unlocked the door and chatted briefly, confirmed that it’s those same owners. We can always use more delicious Thai food, I say!

[special thanks to the birdie who sent this in!]

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Tomorrow C-VILLE will publish its 2008 Best Of Awards for Charlottesville, so I’ve decided to publish our food winners list as well as analyze some of the winners from Daily Progress’s Reader’s Choice (which was published about 3 weeks ago) in one fell swoop.  Last year we did our own superlatives which we think are much more accurate (although biased and not democratically chosen).  As seems to be the case with any reader driven contest, the larger the place, the larger the voting power of their customer base/employees. Oh well.. that’s why you have snarkers like us.  Feel free to critique!

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This is the final “Week O’ Charlottesville Lunches” article. I will feature my favorite lunch places around the downtown mall. Monday, we covered Eppie’s, Tuesday, Rev Soup, Wednesday, Feast, Thursday, Bodo’s Bagels, Today, Hamdinger’s!

I looked through our archives for a Hamdingers review, but alas, none could be found.  I recall there being at least three street vendors serving variations of hotdogs on the mall a few months back.  Only one remains and today, Hamdingers sets up the stand near Central Place across the overpopulated row of pashminas and crap jewelry.  Look for a fancy silver cart with a slightly broken umbrella.

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This is the fourth “Week O’ Charlottesville Lunches” article. I will feature my favorite lunch places around the downtown mall. Monday, we covered Eppie’s, Tuesday, Rev Soup, Wednesday, Feast, Today, Bodo’s Bagels.

I don’t know if it’s possible to talk about lunch in Charlottesville without mentioning Bodo’s Bagels. As much as a staple the Downtown Mall is to Charlottesville culture, Bodo’s is the same to food. The bagel place has been around for many years and has three locations that serve the same menu.

You go to Bodo’s for cheap, high quality food and quick service. I know this one actually may require a drive for some, but it’s close enough to the mall to warrant it being one of my favorite lunch joints.
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This is the third “Week O’ Charlottesville Lunches” article.  I will feature my favorite lunch places around the downtown mall.  Monday, we covered Eppie’s, Tuesday, Rev Soup, Today, Feast!

Since we covered a local food paradise yesterday, I thought it would make sense to talk about another supporter of the local food movement.  Feast, while not directly on the downtown mall, sits about 5 minutes away from the Federal Courthouse.  Don’t complain about walking there.

Feast excites me each time I visit.  Feast prides itself on offering high-end everything.  It’s part retail, part restaurant and you can find everything from artisan meats and cheeses to local produce to bulk olive oil. I digress. This is a lunch review…

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This is the second “Week O’ Charlottesville Lunches” article. Yesterday we covered Eppie’s, today, Rev Soup!

Sure, we may have made fun of the small apples at Revolutionary Soup, but if you’ve been living in Charlottesville for longer than 3 weeks, you should know about this place.  Sure, its underground location on 2nd Street across from the movie theater may dissuade you from a visit, but have no fear, my friend.  Also, you shouldn’t call it Revolutionary Soup… you should call it Rev Soup, because if you don’t, everyone will know you are a dummy.

Rev Soup makes a serious effort to fill its menu with local items.  It’s hard to go in there and anonymously report on this stuff, but if you look on the pillar on the main counter,  you will be amazed at how much of the menu is actually produced nearby.  Now we all know Charlottesville residents are suckers for local food items (and should be), but when I go to a restaurant, my first thought is the food.  Service, Ambiance, Local Food, etc., are a close second.

So, how is the lunch?

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Stanley first introduced us to La Michoacana (MEE-CHO-KANA), a taco, burrito and small Mexican grocery establishment several weeks ago. I had neglected to visit, but I got a chance to go last night.  It’s located right up the street from Richmond Camera on East High Street.  I didn’t know what to expect.

La Michoacana is open from 11AM until 9PM everyday except for Sunday when it closes a little earlier (need verification).  You walk into what looks like a little house or small office. It doesn’t really seem like a restaurant with two small tables and grocery racks in the middle of the store. You can purchase standard mexican grocer items such as limes, tortillas and other sorts of things.

Don’t get me wrong; the place is clean and well lit, so it’s a little nicer and more inviting for us who may be turned off by the backroom of El Paso. The menu is in English and Spanish, so you don’t have to pretend to know what you are ordering. We tried a burrito and chicken, pork and beef tacos.  La Michoacana had a selection of fresh salsas available to add to your meal. We tried them all.

The burrito was rather plain with just meat inside and beans and rice on the side.

The Tacos?  »Read More

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Two facts:

1.  The Tavern (on Emmett) been closed since at least Saturday, with a sign on the door about re-training. (Although I haven’t looked today.)

2.  The Health Department report. Do you ever look at the Virginia Dept of Health Restaurant Inspections site? Huuge time-waster. Anyway, the most recent report for the Tavern was extremely negative [link].

Those are the facts.

Here is the speculation:

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A birdie just sent in this craigslist ad which puts the Italian Deli up for sale for $120,000 :

Italian Deli for sale on Main Street, in the heart of the UVA campus. Across from UVA Hospital. Great walk-in and catering business

We don’t know why this is for sale, but the rumor is Pacino’s didn’t make enough money.

/go figure

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I saw this blog post on the myspaces and it is whack. It’s entitled “Kissing Meateaters” and it gets more and more ridiculous the more you read. I love the chick who says her boyfriend gets the “hand block”if he so much as even touches ketchup. I’m veg but I seriously would not be freaked out kissing a carnivore. I mean, I’m not jamming my tongue down his throat and tasting his dinner or anything. It’s funny how preachy and full of it some of these extreme veg people are. Please note the chick whose hubby can’t be veg because he’s in the military and the crazy guy who starts screaming that meat-eaters are Nazis. Guess he’s never heard of the Godwin law.

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