The infamous cheese jar with breadstick.Sometimes you can only take so many organic vodka drinks and fusion tapas at swanky places downtown. You need something different for date night. You need the Aberdeen Barn. The Barn is a Charlottesville classic that takes you back to the days when the drinks were strong, the steak was red, the lettuce was iceberg, and one only heard rumors about people called vegetarians that lived in California.

On our recent visit, we got gussied up and headed to the red barn off Rt. 29. The hostess led us into the dimly lit room that was awash with white hair patrons and bow-tied waiters. We tucked into our cozy booth and took a look at the simple and short menu: meat with some seafood as an afterthought, and vegetables meant only to add a color balance to the dripping red on your plate. The most complicated part of ordering was deciding between the four potato varieties.

A balanced meal of filet, onion rings, and baked potato.My favorite part of the Aberdeen experience is the tub of cheese spread and breadsticks that arrives at the table after you give your order. Delicious and disgusting at the same time. The tub of fattening things is a theme of Aberdeen, as our salads were accompanied by three giant tubs of dressing. No fancy Sesame-Ginger Vinaigrette here: just the classics of Ranch, Blue Cheese, and Thousand Island.

The main course could only offer more tubs. Along with our nicely charred tenderloins, dinner came with an industrial-sized vat of sour cream and an entire tub of bacon bits for our potatoes. After polishing off our steaks, we headed to the Barn’s “Sportsmen’s Lounge,” which, incidentally, is the only sportsmen’s lounge I’ve ever seen with a piano bar. Swept up in the moment, we ordered a couple rounds of White Russians and bopped our heads along to the Barry Manilow tunes. True, the steak isn’t the best in town, but the food is classic and the setting is a little slice of retro heaven.

Jed says: “No better place in town to celebrate old-fashioned disregard for vascular health.”

award_star_gold_3 16Rating: Erin: Jed:

thumb_up 16 iconPros: Piano bar, old school food and class.

thumb_down 16 iconCons: Your wallet and arteries will take a hit, vegetarians need not apply.

money_dollar 16 iconPrice: Entrées $26-46, Sides $3-6.

car famfam 16 iconParking: Lot.

phone 16 iconContact Info

2018 Holiday Drive
Charlottesville, VA 22901-2893
(434) 296-4630
aberdeenbarn.com


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newspaper 16More Info

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