Brunch (assuming weekend, but answers might be different if itâs during the week):
Guajiros: Cuban brunch; go before 9:45 if you donât want to wait on a weekend)
Chickadee: Sandwich-heavy, has some brunch plates on the weekend. Changing its format soon to be not as much of a restaurant anymore , so get it while you can. Get the cinnamon roll if you go on the weekend.
Oakhurst Inn Cafe: Modern American brunch, love their little cozy space.
Belle: Sourdough-focused with its breads and donuts. Can be super busy on weekend
Taqueria El Comalito: Not a traditional brunch (chilaquiles are a breakfast food though) but they do open early on the weekends and I am committed to gassing this place up. Ask if they have quesabirria.
Bizou: Iâm kinda back and forth on how much I like it there, but definitely more of a traditional American brunch with some fun other stuff.
Had brunch at the new Milk and Honey over the weekend (RIP Ralphâs) and can report that it was actually pretty good. I loved Ralphâs for sentimental reasons and the beer was perfectly good, but the reality is the food was mid to bad and pricey on top of that (plus, thatâs the place which served us the most unnerving beverage Iâve ever had a restaurant). Milk and Honey is around the same price point, but the food is actually good and Charlottesville is light on good brunch places.
Oakhurst Inn is always great but the parking is just a nightmare if the garage is full.
Oh, yeah, I might have told this story before, but had dinner there with younger daughter a couple years back. I ordered a beer and she ordered some kind of lemonade. Drinks took forever to arrive, after we finished appetizers, and I think my beer was warm or something (donât recall, but I remember something was off about it). But my daughterâs lemonadeâŚ
At first we thought it was water with ice because it was clear, but we realized it was very slightly opaque. Also, it was thick, like syrup. I tried tasting it and it had zero taste, not even like water, except very slightly sweetened, with an off-putting syrupy texture.
Finally, after I had the sip and gave it back to her (she wasnât trying it), we noticed that it was very slowly pouring itself up through the straw. We just stared at it for a minute, and after it started making a little puddle on the table we called the waitress over.
I pointed out that it wasnât the lemonade we had ordered. She nodded and apologized, and as she went to take it away I asked her what it actually was. She looked at it, looked back at me, nodded, and then left without saying anything, never to be seen again. They never brought my daughter another drink, and when another server eventually brought the bill I had to complain to have it taken off our bill.
We tried this out yesterday before the concert based off your recommendation. LOVED it. Only weird issue we had was the wife ordered street corn with her empanadas, for some reason it didnât come until WELL after we had finished everything else. But she said it was great so worth the wait. Also kicking myself for not seeing the quesabirria call out, thatâs her favorite.
âdue to circumstances beyond our controlâ is the phrase that got an eyeroll from me as well. I donât expect them to say âitâs because we ran our business poorlyâ, but they could just say nothing.
Shouldâve gone out guns blazing in their letter. Something like this:
Honestly, our customer base sucked. You people are the reason weâre going out of business. We tried to take advantage of your nostalgia for your youth with crappy sandwiches, but you ungrateful schmucks refused us. Go to hell.
, so get it while you can. Get the cinnamon roll if you go on the weekend.