It’s getting so that we actually have to look where we’re going when we walk along the Downtown Mall. No more staring at our shoes hoping to avoid tripping over the grout-thirsty uneven bricks. The bigger danger these days is walking smack into the chained-off alfresco dining area of one of the Mall’s many restaurants […]

We at Restaurantarama have been telling you about some major shake-ups and shake-downs in the local dining scene. We’ve been dropping big names and getting all philosophical about hot spots closing and hip new joints burgeoning. Well, this week we are relieved to tell you about a person you’ve probably never heard of and a […]

Just when we were getting used to all the hip new dining joints on W. Main Street (so-called Midtown), along comes someone with an idea to up the sleek, modern, cool factor on the Corner. What’s next, a martini bar in the Meadowbrook Shopping Center? Asian fusion at the Tavern? There soon may come a […]

The waters are getting rocky here in the Charlottesville dining scene, and it’s not just the little fish that are getting swept out with the tide these days.

It was the start of summertime, and enoteca—the new Italian wine & panini bar in the old Vavino space—could not have picked a better date—June 21—to celebrate its grand opening. While the sunlight lingered on the longest day of the year, Restaurantarama guiltlessly sipped prosecco frizzante (that’s sparkling wine with just a whisper of bubbles) […]

Get hoppy: Taylor Smack, Mandi Smack and Matt Nucci (left to right) are cultivating the main ingredient for their Blue Mountain brews coming this fall. Picture this: You’re relaxing with friends on a balmy afternoon and enjoying the Blue Ridge Mountain views while you snack on a plate of cheese and charcuterie. You’re swirling your […]

Usually, Restaurantarama is interested in food before anything else (natch). As doggedly as bears seeking honey, we sniff out all that is fried, fricasseed, boiled, baked, chopped, tossed, smoked, steamed, poached and pickled in this here town of ours. However, once in a while we must pause to consider that restaurants are not only places […]

Restaurantarama has been dying to tell you this for quite some time: Revolutionary Soup is coming to the Corner!

We have a new dining experience to tell you about: It’s called eating at home. O.K., eating at home is not really Restaurantarama’s forte. If left to our own devices we’d be scarfing down mac ‘n’ cheese in front of the TV every night like the rest of America. We much prefer the more civilized […]

You could think of Megan Headley and Marisa Catalano as young restaurateurs bursting with idealism (“It should be pure joy to go to work,” says Headley of the attitude she hopes their staff will sport) or as savvy and well-traveled foodie pros with the backing of a major local developer (that would be Coran Capshaw). […]