Ventana means “window” in Spanish.  Rightly so, this little restaurant has big windows and a big vision for Charlottesville’s mexican cuisine.  I’m not going to lie, I heard many things about this place being pricey.  Dollar signs aren’t something we associate with Mexican in this town.  Between “eating” at Guadalajara to dining at the much better Aqui Es Mexico and Michoacana, I don’t think anything comes close to the prices at Ventana, but does the food live up to its price?

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Popularity: 15% [?]

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

Popularity: 58% [?]

Dependable Zo.Ca.Lo…what do you have to offer to those meat weary folks? Apparently just one dish, an amazing dish I have never had before in my life. The lone vegetarian warrior on the entrees menu is the “Black Bean and Corn Relleno”. I really didn’t know what to expect, I just read the description: smoked tomato grits, smoked pico, cilantro buttermilk honey”, figured it was cool to eat and ordered. I should warn you, this isn’t some “I am on a diet so I am trying out vegetarian food” type of dish. This thing definitely has healthy quantities of butter and cream…perhaps French cuisine had an affair with a Mexican damsel from the south and many years later Mr. Frenchie comes back to town to find out he has a lost daughter…this is his little chalupita.

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Popularity: 39% [?]

You know, I think back to my days as a wee little Nordic God of Static and I always wonder, what would life have been like without Continental Divide? It would have been a lot different, that’s for sure.

Charlottesville’s own Continental Divide hides at 811 W Main Street, across from the Amtrak parking lot and next to some stores that escape my memory. It really does lurk in the shadows. While it may seem reasonable to look for a sign that reads Continental Divide, you shouldn’t. What kind of restaurant hides their sign for the eager public? They have some serious balls.

Do look for a neon green sign that reads “Get In Here.” What about the food?

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Popularity: 5% [?]

Good morning! I made a restaurant index manually, and it took me hours! Please enjoy!

One note: I will eventually attribute each review to the proper author. Right now, the reviews are all attributed to the author of the post they fall under. For example, if I wrote a brunch review as a post, and Thor posted a comment about a restaurant I did not mention, the link to Thor’s restaurant will still be attributed to me. I just wanted to get these posted! When you search for a restaurant on our site, it will search only the posts; a comment search must be done separately. This index is a composite of posts and comments…

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Popularity: 8% [?]

I headed over to El Paso within minutes of reading about it on cVillain, and I just finished writing about it on my blog. I also snapped a photo of the menu for those of you that haven’t been yet:

Hopefully the cVillain collective can answer these questions:

I’d really like to know what’s going on with the rest of the menu. For example, under Burritos, they list Regular, Super, and Platillos. Also, Papas sound intriguing, but I have no idea what they are. Finally, does anyone know what their Quesadillas are like? Hopefully someone can save me from my ignorance.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Aqui Es Mexico is a little hole in the wall Mexican / Salvadorian restaurant in Belmont. It hides next to a laundromat and a Mexican grocery store on Carlton Ave. You wouldn’t notice it unless you read about it here or happened to be drunk in midday and stumbled half a mile from Mas (now, that would be pretty difficult considering Mas isn’t open for lunch).

Just tell them cVillain sent you!

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Popularity: 7% [?]