Good for Families

Crozet Pizza 

crozet-pizza-01When someone says they love or hate a fine French restaurant, dissenters will shrug and disagree. Maybe they’ll say they don’t understand what the fuss is about. When conversation turns to beloved or be-hated drinking holes, the response is the same. But when it comes to pizza or hamburgers, prepare for thermonuclear war. No other cuisine is so dangerous to discuss, and if you observe such a belligerent cuisine conversation in progress, you’re likely to find Crozet pizza at ground zero.*

In the 90′s, things were relatively peaceful. Some people said Anna’s was the best around, but the rest of us thought that the quaint little place just west of town was far superior. As Crozet pizza’s… Read More

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German Chocolate Ice Cream at Chaps

Chaps German Chocolate Ice CreamIt’s currently 92 degrees out with the usual June humidity adding an extra level of discomfort. And yet I’m choosing to sit outside on the downtown mall, withering more in the sun with every passing moment. Why subject myself to this Virginia heat? Because soon it will make a cone of Chaps ice cream even more delicious and appreciated.

Chaps isn’t about espresso chile sorbet or ginger passionfruit gelato or mini mochi toppings or anything else fancy. It’s about ice cream, pure and simple. The ice cream is handmade, the flavors are classic, and the setting looks like the Peach Pit grew up and went through some rough times. Chaps is… Read More

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Tip Top Breakfast 

tiptop - 9It doesn’t require a lot to make my weekend mornings happy ones. No alarm clock, a nice cup of coffee, hearty eggs, and some fried potatoes go a long way. Tip Top seemed like a sure bet given its constantly crowded parking lot on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Counter seating and cozy booths for classic diner ambience? Check. Swiftly delivered food at bargain prices? Check. Friendly service? Check, with a big “what can I get you, sweetheart?” and smile. All the elements were in place.

The food, sadly, was not. Now, let me say up front that people we’ve talked to are big fans of the Tip Top lunch… Read More

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Bodo’s Bagels 

bodos - 07If you live full-time in Charlottesville and have a mouth and haven’t had a bagel from Bodo’s you should be the subject of one those psych experiments at UVA where they pay you $10 to breathe through a juice-box straw for an hour while asking you questions about whether you think you’re… Read More

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Riverside Lunch 

riverside - 1We were out celebrating a friend’s birthday the other night and after a few beers the guy sitting next to me said, “Crozet Pizza and Riverside are the two most overhyped restaurants in the Charlottesville area.” I bit my tongue and told myself to find a happy place and then I asked… Read More

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Arch’s Frozen Yogurt 

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I remember when frozen yogurt first arrived. For me this was at a deli in Dayton, Ohio called “The Upper Crust.” At the end of the counter there was a huge metal machine that looked like something out of a 50′s science-fiction movie. You pulled the handle and out came pale pink strawberry goodness similar to ice cream but fluffier, and good for you too!
Fast-forward a few years and several hundred miles to Charlottesville in the mid-90’s. I’m at UVA with a really bad haircut… Read More

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El Agave 

img_0136If you’ve taken any road trips in the last 10 years, you’ve surely noticed the Mexican restaurants popping up like Mexican jumping beans in all but the most far-flung reaches of this nation. For years I passed them by with a snicker, imagining the diarrhea-inducing dog food that they must serve at such places. Don’t get me wrong — I felt similarly about many truck stops.

Which goes to show how much of a snob I can be… Read More

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Doctor Ho’s Humble Pie 

dr hos - 5Dr. Ho must have gotten his degree from the University of Damn That’s Good! The pizzeria is about a 15-minute drive south from downtown Charlottesville and well worth the trip. Although it’s easy to drive by the exterior, the inside feels homey with a dash of hippie. The menu has a… Read More

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The Tavern 

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One of the charms of Charlottesville dining is that the most uninviting exterior can conceal some of our town’s most delicious treasures. Like the carpenter’s chalice in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The Tavern is one such diamond in the rough… Read More

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