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!).

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Popularity: 34% [?]

Dr. Ho’s Humble Pie…Read our Review!

Domino’s!

Popularity: 43% [?]

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.

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Popularity: 45% [?]

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend and went to some fun parties. I was invited to an early morning fiesta involving drinking mimosas and watching the local parade pass by. Me and the bf headed to Scottsville in his vintage ‘77 Chevy Montecarlo that morning, ready to get our patriotic drink on. We just barely made it into the town before the parade started and all the roads got closed off and so as we drifted down Main street, people were already camped out on either side of us. Then, in the middle of the parade path, the gigantic car abruptly died.

“Are you in the parade?” people shouted.

“Er, no the car just died.” we answered.

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Popularity: 39% [?]

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike

So I just got a new job that’ll allow me to ride my bicycle to work most days. Just in time for $12/gal gas season, too. I need a bike tune-up pretty badly, but I’ve never been to a bike shop in town.

Which bike shop deserves my business?

C-ville bike and tri?

Blue wheel?

Community bikes?

Performance bike shop?

Popularity: 55% [?]

Charlottesville represents a never ending brunch epic. From the crowned winner, Blue Moon Diner, to our battle between Blue Moon and Blue Grass, to our (now) slightly outdated weekend brunch guide, you will never be short options (or a line) to eat brunch on Sunday mornings.

Enter Zo Ca Lo, the place we once compared to an Opium den. As a hip little newster to town, Zo Ca Lo must have felt left out. Ok, so maybe I’m showing my age as Zo Ca Lo has been around for 5 (?) years now. Zo Ca Lo has a reputation around town; a reputation for doing some excellent Tuna tartar, gracing us with amazing cheese balls and some very solid entrées. The restaurant has not garnered a reputation for change, but we are happy to see it finally changing its M.O. after five years.

Just a few weeks ago now, Zo Ca Lo decided to open on Sundays and flex its brunch muscles to an eager Charlottesville. We published the menu if you need to refer to it during this review. Now, what did we think?

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Popularity: 29% [?]

This Tuesday was slightly out of the norm. We began at Bang. It was chock full of what appeared to be UVA students. For a Tuesday night the place was packed. This seemed a bit odd to me. We certainly are fans of the Bang atmosphere and it was in full swing last night.

Next in the line up was South Street. South Street was dead. We saw none of our fellow villains The place was so lame we left after five minutes. What was the deal guys?!
The last stop of the evening was Mas. Mas was not its usual sardine set-up. Despite the lack of a crowd all the tables, a chunk of the outdoor seating and a good portion of the bar were full. Mas seemed to have an usually large number of UVA students as well.

In general the town seemed to be bustling but other than Bang no place really seemed to show signs of it.

What was with the UVA infiltration last night? Aren’t they supposed to be out enjoying their summer fun?

Popularity: 28% [?]

Ned Oldham is an educator, writer, and musician. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Virginia in 1993, and since then has taught writing at several colleges, including University of Virginia and Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland. As a writer and musician, he has published dozens of arts features for magazines including Baltimore and the Oxford American, and released seven albums with his band, The Anomoanon. He is currently the director of the Write Place, the writing center at Roland Park Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore.

Is this guy reviewing our restaurants???

Check out his Photo here for you restaurateurs

http://www.braintargetedteaching.org/aboutus.html

Popularity: 30% [?]

I noticed that there wasn’t a review on this. You don’t have to post this, cause I know my restaurant reviews suck, plus I can’t spell restaurant [fixed by editor].

My office went there the other day, and they kindly put together three tables to suit our 10 person party. The other option was to sit outside, but it was about to rain, and the man at the door made a good point, “if eet start to rain, and no table inside, you stay outside.” They set up the tables quickly and had us seated.

The menu is short, but varied. I’ve had a few things now. The meatloaf is awesome. The pork tostada looked great, but the report was that it wasn’t totally filling. I know the fried chicken is also a good choice. Everything is presented very colorfully, and yummily. This particular time I order the special, catfish tacos. They were great. I added some Sriracha sauce, cause I like things hot. I got it on my pants. I do that.

This is one of those places that forgot to or intentionally didn’t redecorate at the end of the 80’s. or maybe the 70’s. But I like the retro feel to it. The booths, however, are a little uncomfortable. The service is excellent and very cute. I like how they work together and that no one server has one table. The lunch prices are a little higher than other places ($8-12) but the food is totally worth it, in my opinion.

How about some other reviews of this place?

Popularity: 35% [?]

Some of you have been talking about the Washington Post article on Charlottesville titled “If It Tastes Good, It’s in Charlottesville.” We even planted a few cVillain spies in the slide show! Jane Black got around town, alright. But, I’ve got to call her out on some inaccuracies in her opinion. Sorry, Jane, had to get a little Villainous on this one! You get a lot of stuff right about Charlottesville dining, but let’s be real here!

1. Rev Soup: “A bit grungy but cheerful, with a menu of comforting and, more important, cheap soups and sandwiches.” NOT CHEAP. Who ever said Rev Soup was cheap?! Some of the soups are amazing, but good luck getting out of there on the cheap.
2. Albemarle Baking: “I tasted two pastries on my first visit, and they were so good that on my second I ignored the No. 1 rule of food writing: Never eat the same thing twice. One was an Alexander, whose delicate, sweet crust.” STOP RIGHT THERE…. Albemarle Baking does make amazing baguettes, but their pastries are NOT delicate. They look delicate but I would never rave about the pastries.
3. Mas: You missed some of the best dishes! What about the artichoke goat cheese dip, the bacon wrapped dates or any of the smoked tomato/beef dishes!?
4. Hamilton’s: “long a standard for its simple American food and attentive service. The menu offers nothing terribly surprising..” I need to double check this, but didn’t Hamilton’s just launch a pretty wild dessert menu?
5. Hot Cakes. “Getting tuna sent back because a lot of you like to eat it in a stage of a hockey puck.” Where’s the love, baby? Did you forget little old cVillain deserves credit for that comment? Next time, give us some kudos! We have the full note posted! My favorite line: “Tired to see those snobby ladies eating steak with Iced Tea, asking ice to put in a delicious glass of Sancerre” … You can read the full French A-Hole with Principle article RIGHT HERE!

Did I get it right? Oh, and for some really good restaurant reviews, check out our restaurant review page.

Popularity: 35% [?]