A margarita at Ventana is an entirely different and superior species than the frozen neon green concoctions in salt-crusted glasses you see in chains across America. The delicious and sophisticated flavors include tangerine, habanero, jalapeño, and seafoam, but I think the cucumber margarita is the cream of the tequila crop.
It’s the rare tequila drink that makes you feel refreshed, but this Ventana concoction is the alcoholic equivalent of a cucumber eye mask at a spa. The flavor is fresh and tangy with the breezy cucumber flavor balancing perfectly with the tequila zing. It’s topped off with Ventana’s sea foam, which should be patented and served with margaritas worldwide. The frothy foam with… Read More
While Ten is undeniably one of the tastier restaurants in town, it doesn’t scream “bargain dining.” You can eat sushi flown in from the Pacific while sitting at a swank bar that feels more New York than Charlottesville, but you’re going to pay a premium to do so. Or so I thought, until a recent visit to Ten when we discovered their tasting menu. 
The restaurant Bang has more martinis than a UVA football game has bowties. They tend to cater to a younger female audience, with a reliance on fruity flavors and a naming scheme that involves Sex and the City characters, but most deliver a solid alcoholic punch as well. For me, however, a sordid college past that involved mixing anything alcoholic with Snapple Kiwi Strawberry has made me wary of the Bang classics, as I’ve avoided any overly sweet drinks in my wiser, more mature years. So I was pleased to find a new favorite after giving the martini menu another try on a recent visit to Bang: the Honey Ginger martini, which consists of Ketel One vodka with ginger simple syrup… 
If it’s Tuesday and the weather is brisk, there are few better lunch options than Eppie’s fabulous turkey chili. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Eppie’s, the downtown lunch staple offers up consistently good comfort food: the portions are large, the prices are low, and the menu appeals to kids and office workers alike. There’s a different lunch special every day, but for my lunch Tuesdays are king. The made-from-scratch turkey chili is tomato tangy but still has a good kick. It comes with a delicious cornbread wedge (filled with real corn pieces) and a healthy serving of cheese or sour cream on the side. This is no puny soup cup but an enormous bowl that will… 
