My dh and I, along with another couple will be visiting the area for five days at the beginning of June. We had a difficult time finding rooms for the weekend because of HS graduation. We ended up at the Holiday Inn Monticello. Not really what we wanted, but it will have to do. Any suggestions for a good steak restaurant? We are also looking for suggestions for a place with good southern cooking (maybe for breakfast). We are also interested in the local pubs, and going to the local breweries and a few wineries. Possibly doing a little hiking would be nice! I am sure I will be back with more questions soon. Thank for any advice! Tammy
Questions about our visit..
Hi Tammy!
I%26#39;m not a Charlottesville native but travel there regularly for business. I%26#39;ve enjoyed lunch at McGrady%26#39;s Irish Pub and Restaurant. Both the food and service were great. Regarding wineries, IMHO you%26#39;ll be visiting one of the best areas in Virginia for wine. Some of my favorites around Charlottesville are First Colony Winery, King Family Vineyards, Veritas Winery and, of course, the Jefferson Vineyard. Be sure to try one of the wines made with our Virginia native Norton grape. I%26#39;ll defer to the locals for a great steak and home cookin%26#39;.
Enjoy your visit!
Questions about our visit..
Oops, I forgot to include this link for information on the wineries. Here you go!
http://www.virginiawine.org/
Tammy,
For some hiking ideas, there is a recent thread on the Charlottesville forum (4/10/09) titled ';Hiking trails near UVA';. If you haven%26#39;t already seen it, there are several good trails mentioned. Hope this helps.
Happy trails
Tammy,
Sorry that you had such a hard time finding a place to stay, the HI Monticello is not luxury by any means, but should be clean and is in a pretty good location for seeing the sights.
To answer your dining questions, for a good steak meal: I am probably not the best one to answer this question as I don%26#39;t eat beef, but will give it a go: there are a few chains in town that are steak houses, I would chose the Aberdeen Barn that is off of Rt. 29 near Hydraulic Road for a celebration type meal. We also have a Outback Steakhouse, also on rt.29 and a Topeka%26#39;s Steakhouse, 250 East. I am not sure if you are familiar with our downtown pedestrian mall area. It is here that you will find our local favorites, many of them feature outdoor seating areas on the mall and a festive atmosphere. I have noticed while dining at Petit Pois that the steak frites looks and smells amazing. I would think that you could find a good steak at many of the restaurants in this area. The mall restaurants run the gamut from very casual and inexpensive to very, very nice and expensive. I would suggest a walk on the mall just to take a look at the menu%26#39;s and to see what is available. One additional thought just occured to me, Duner%26#39;s is located several miles east of the city and likely would have good beef options.
As for southern cooking, I am not quite sure what to recommend, but a few things come to mind. The Bluegrass Grill and Bakery is located a half block off the downtown mall and is known for it%26#39;s homestyle breakfasts. If you are planning on visiting on a weekend, be prepared for a wait, there is also convenient parking in either a garage or lot next door. On Saturday mornings the farmers market is also just up the street. The ';Nook'; on the downtown mall is also a good breakfast spot. Another option, but pretty touristy is the Miche Tavern. A buffet is available that features fried chicken, brunswick stew, stewed tomatoes and the like. Miche Tavern is located just down the mountain from Monticello.
As for the breweries and taverns, I would check out the South Street Brewery, which is just steps from the Bluegrass Grill and again off the downtown mall. The Starr Hill Brewery is another good option, it is located on Main Street between the downtown mall and the Univeristy of Virgina. There is another new estalishment in town called the ';Beer Run'; which I believe features local brews as well as beer from farther a field.
Hiking options abound in this area, I recommend a google search. There is a great walk up the mountain to Monticello that begins near the intersections of Rt%26#39;s 20 and 53, with ample parking. If you want to drive a bit to hike, Humpback mountain is a great hike. We are just half an hour from the Blue Ridge parkway and all that it has to offer. Sugar Hollow to the west of the city is a great place for a easy hike as well.
I think the suggestions already given for the wineries are good, I am not sure if they will be doing it again this year, but in the past King Family Vineyards hosted sunday afternoon polo matches.
We have two local weekly newspapers that are full of wonderful info on local events and restaurants, both are available online. They are: Cville and The Hook.
Hope that you have a great trip, let us know if you have more questions.
Good suggestions given above. As already stated, look at previous posts regarding restaurants, breweries, and hiking. There are a lot of choices for each, depending how far you want to travel. Crozet, west of the city has two breweries and monticellowinetrail.com will describe in detail the wineries and events occurring that weekend. On Fridays, the Downtown Mall has ';Fridays After 5';- a free concert at the ampitheater which is the opposite end of the mall from the Omni. You can get beer or wine there and sit and watch whoever is performing. There will be a lot going on along the whole Mall which is a lot of fun.
As a Massachusetts native, and prior to moving here, I thought of Charlottesville as the ';south';, but because of the University of Virginia and many companies that have global connections, we have more of a metropolitan flavor when it comes to restaurants. Other than the chains where you can go anytime, we really don%26#39;t have a restaurant known just for steak that is great. That being said, we have a wonderful variety of restaurants that do serve beef and previous posts list them (my personal favorites are Escafe and Savour- but we do try a different place each week). There are several inns in the area that may offer a ';southern'; flavor to dinner or breakfast, eg, Clifton Inn, Keswick, and Boars Head. In addition to the South Street Brewery, you can walk around the Corner, near UVA, and check out places like Michael%26#39;s Bistro. It won%26#39;t be too crowded with students.
We have incredible hiking opportunities and to add what%26#39;s close to C%26#39;ville is the Shenandoah Parkway with multiple trails.
Laura
Thanks for all the great advice. We are looking forward to our visit in a few weeks. One of the things we are considering is the Arcady wine/brewery tour. It sounds fun, but is a bit expensive. Anyone done this tour, and was it worth the $125 a person fee?
I personally have never done that tour nor do I know of anyone who has. Although it is a bit pricey per person, you won%26#39;t have to worry about how much you sample and they%26#39;ll pick you up from various locations. The cost to sample at various wineries is low, but if you%26#39;re going out to western Albemarle County (where the breweries are) you won%26#39;t have to worry about getting lost on the rural roads.
If you haven%26#39;t yet, also check out: monticellowinetrail.com
Have fun!
Laura
Downtown Grille has reliably good steaks, and enjoyable ambience, casual elegant. Pricey.
I%26#39;ve had good steaks (both Hanger and Rib-eye) at Bizou Restaurant. Everything I%26#39;ve ever had there is real good. It%26#39;s a well run kitchen.
Try to get to Bashir%26#39;s for tapas.
Best breakfast in town for my money is Tip Top Restaurant.
connecting database
