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.
»Read More

Popularity: 56% [?]

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?

»Read More

Popularity: 53% [?]

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.

»Read More

Popularity: 49% [?]

Bonefish Grill came to Charlottesville many months ago, but I had neglected to visit for several reasons.  First off, it takes 20 minutes to drive up 29N to the Target strip mall.  Secondly, it looked very chainey.  Thirdly, I had never had a good meal in any strip mall, period. Finally, finding good seafood in Charlottesville basically meant following the wholesale truck from Seafood@West Main.

Needless to say, my expectations of this seafood oriented place were grim.  My dining partner assured me that Bonefish could impress me, despite the long drive.  I trust very few people’s opinions on Charlottesville restaurants, but I trusted this person a lot more than most,   so, after some negotiating and a glass of wine, we made the long haul up 29N (in the middle of a thunderstorm!).

»Read More

Popularity: 36% [?]

If you recall, one of our Charlottesville Villains visited Maya during its opening weeks.  Maya rests across from the train station in the district we unintelligently call “Midtown.” As a restaurant serving Southern American influenced cuisine, Maya didn’t get a lot of praise initially, but I think that it is due for a re-evaluation.

»Read More

Popularity: 47% [?]

We had the pleasure of attending Taste This at Alumni Hall yesterday evening.  Most of Charlottesville’s finest restaurants showed up to strut their stuff, serve small dishes and give us a really good opportunity to choose some of the best food in the area.  While cooking under Alumni Hall conditions meant limited kitchens, eating while standing and, overall, madness; the event was nonetheless a success.   We pick our favorite dishes from the event and have a slideshow (it’s all after the break).

»Read More

Popularity: 62% [?]

This praying mantis picture is amazing. I know lizards are a fine delicacy in the praying mantis world and we are proud of our local hunters.

Best comment gets a foot massage and free lovin’ from Scowly.

[via jcunwired’s flickr]

Popularity: 22% [?]

Mark Bittman writes for the New York Times and is a big proponent of changing the way people think about food, by explaining that there are many things wrong with the overproduction and overconsumption of beef and junk food, from not just a personal health perspective, but from an global health perspective as well.

He makes an interesting point in “Re-Thinking the Meat Guzzler:”

But consider: an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.

Vegetarians, you have to watch the video that I’ve included in this post, so you can tell your “meat guzzling” friends that you are greener than them. Everyone else, watch the video because it’s very interesting to think about how your consumption of mass produced meat impacts not just animal feelings, but also the environment.

»Read More

Popularity: 29% [?]

On May 17th and 18th, this Friday and Saturday, Charlottesville will face The University of Virginia Graduation Weekend 2008. If you haven’t noticed, zombie week is really just calm before all hell breaks loose. In fact, graduation weekend is such a hellish time, that UVA even has an office devoted to it called (cue deep scary voice) “The Office of Major Events.” I’m not kidding, check out the website. I heard they wanted to name it Office for Hell on Earth, but that offended the religious right.

Oh and if you want to graduate virtually, you can even watch a live internet broadcast run by the Office of Major Events.

So despite this impending nightmare, Charlottesville residents, future worker bees and their relieved parents all storm Charlottesville like it’s June 6th, 1944, only this time it’s May 17th, 2008 and we’re going to call it G-Day. Why do they do it? Who knows, but maybe we can help you out a little…

»Read More

Popularity: 30% [?]

So I embarked on an odyssey last week (does that sound too serious?), to find out about cville’s vegetarian offerings. Given some of the comments on the posts related to this, let me clarify what that means. I was not looking for vegetarian ONLY restaurants, just places that, lets says you took a date to that happened to be vegetarian, he/she would be quite happy. So all of you hippies take a hike, this is not the post for you.

»Read More

Popularity: 61% [?]