Main Street Market

On West Main St. between 4th and 5th streets there is a large purple building on the south side of the street. This is where you will find the "Main Street Market." We first heard about this place when it was featured in a Washington Post article about food in Charlottesville ( see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/05/06/ST2008050601974.html). There are some great vendors in the market.

The Albemarle Baking Company has some truly delicious bread. We have had a few of their loafs, and plan to have many more. They make different bread everyday, so check out the menu on their website to see all of the good stuff that is available each day. I also intend on going there in the morning for a cup of coffee and a pastry. The bread we have had so far is pain de campagne, pear buckwheat, and olive thyme. All delicious!

There is a fishmonger and a butcher in the building. We have had the fish and meat on multiple occasions, and it is good stuff. There is an excellent display of wild caught fish everyday, along with other goodies like sushi. I am not sure where the butcher gets his meat, but I would assume its from somewhere close by. I will find this out and update the post. We like to cook at home, so the butcher and fishmonger will be frequent stops for us after work.

The grocer there, FEAST, is a little on the expensive side, but they have local food and a lot of gourmet cheeses and meats. There is also a sandwich shop in FEAST that looks delicious, although also a little pricey. We will try it out soon though, for sure.

There are a few other vendors in the market that we have not checked out yet, so we will update once we know more.

The website for the Main Street Market is:
http://www.charlottesvilleonline.com/cville/Shopping/MainStreetMarket

AsianExpress

We got Chinese take-out the other night from AsianExpress. It's on Main St. close to the hotels and Amtrak station. We have to agree with the rating given in "The Best of Charlottesville" - the food was good and pretty cheap. I am big fan of lo-mein and AsianExpress made it really well. They also serve sushi - which we'll have to try next time.

There seem to be a wealth of Asian restaurants around, from cheap takeout to more upscale pan-Asian or Indian. Hopefully we can find a Thai place as good as our favorite place in DC (Regent Thai), but that is a very high standard. I think next up for Asian is another visit to BANG! or a visit to one of the Indian places on the mall. But in the meantime, AsianExpress will probably become our go-to cheap take-out place.

helpful information

helpful information about Charlottesville courtesy of the UVA Law School

Christian's Pizza

The first night in our new house - we picked up some highly recommended pizza from Christian's. We got sausage, peppers and mushrooms and it was delicious. I was especially surprised by how good the pizza was reheated. Charlie has been back several times and ordered by the slice for a cheap lunch. " I haven't had a bad slice yet", he says. Christian's is named in Charlottesville's Best Of and we would agree. There is a shop on the Downtown Mall on the west end close to the Omni and there is also one on the Corner (14th and University). Enjoy!

Rapture on the Mall

We went here one night with some new friends of ours and had a very nice time. The place was busy, but not too crowded. We were able to grab a bar table, drink $2 PBR's, and watch the Olympics on a couple of flat screen TVs. There was a large dance room in the back that was completely empty, but that may have been because we were there a little early. There was a good mix of people there, and the place seemed pretty unpretentious overall.

A few days later I went there with an old friend for lunch on a weekday. They have patio seating out on the mall, which was nice. The selection of sandwiches was impressive. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with roasted red peppers and jack cheese and other assorted goodies on it. It was delicious. The fries that came with the sandwich, although a little too salty, were also very good. For some reason I did not expect the food to be that good, but it was. I recommend this place for a bite to eat or to get a drinks with friends.

Sandwich shops

Take it Away - behind the Corner on Elliewood (near some fun bars) is a small sandwich shop. While the menu only lists simple deli meat options, what makes the sandwich is the awesome house dressing - don't get a sandwich without it and if you do, at least get it on the side. The shop offers sprouts, cucs, and watercress as your sandwich toppings (no traditional tomato, lettuce, onions) and you do have the option to add cheese. Don't forget to pick a fun bread option! With toppings a sandwich will run you about $6. Probably my favorite sandwich shop in a while. There are some seats inside and you have the option to bring your lunch to the grounds right across the street.

The Market at Exxon - Up 29 is an Exxon gas station (prices for gas aren't too bad either) with a little white shop that sells wonderful sandwiches. You can get the Thomas Jefferson that has a great herbed mayo, cranberry sauce and turkey. There is also The Birdwood that has turkey, avocado and chipotle mayo. The combos sound a little funny bute every sandwich I have had there so far has been great! Sandwiches run about $6.50 and don't forget to get a frequent buyer card that allows you a free sandwich after purchasing 5. There are even seats inside so you can enjoy your "pit-stop". There is another "The Market" on Ivy Rd. on the right as you head west out of Charlottesville towards Crozet.

Zocalo

We had brunch on Sunday the 3rd on Zocalo's cute patio. Unfortunately the brunch menu isn't listed on the website (www.zocalo-restaurant.com) but the menu that is listed looks fabulous and worth another try not during brunch hours. Zocalo is right in the middle of the downtown mall next to a little french bistro Petit Pois that we are planning on trying too. The waitress was super friendly and the food was wonderful. Charlie's mom ordered an arugula salad with strawberries and a vinaigrette that she loved. Charlie had "The Scramble" - eggs, onions, mushrooms, spinach - delicious. And I had a smoked salmon entree. The salmon pieces were layered on matza crackers, jalapeno cream cheese (very light) with some greens, tomato, and a drizzle of some green oil concoction (possibly jalapeno again). It was delicious and had a little kick to it that made it interesting. The food was definitely a little more costly but didn't break the bank. And the vibe of the place was fun and quirky. Charlie and I are looking forward to checking it out again and maybe going even for the bar and to soak in the atmosphere. My favorite part: the bathroom - be sure to check out the sink!

BANG!

Betsy was out of town on Tuesday night, and I went to a place called BANG! with some friends near the downtown mall. We sat out on the porch, which was very nice. The menu is Asian fusion. I had the "Sixty Second Sirloin" and also tasted some of the food my friends ordered. The sirloin was excellent, but the Chicken Satay was a little dry and flavorless. For the most part everybody loved their food and had a good time. The one strange thing is that the average plate size was a little between a normal entree and a tapas style plate, and it seemed that there was a lot of variation in plate size. Where in a tapas place I would usually order 3 or 4 plates, I think ordering 2 plates is about right at BANG! The atmosphere was very nice, especially out on the front porch where we sat. I will definitely bring Betsy back here because I want to try some of the appetizers and more of the entrees, especially their take on Thai cuisine, and also because the atmosphere was great.

Trash

So, if you live in the City of Charlottesville you need to buy a sticker for your trash can in order for your trash to be picked up from the curb. The city site (www.charlottesville.org) has a map and schedule of trash pick up days. Charlie picked up two can stickers and some bag stickers at City Hall (right on the downtown mall) and said that everyone there was super friendly. The trash can stickers or "annual trash decals" run you about $95 for a 32 gallon container. The decals are labeled with your home address so they are non-transferable. The city also picks up recycling with your trash and you don't need a sticker for your recycling bin.

Hi!

I'm Betsy and I'm Charlie. We just moved from DC to Charlottesville at the end of last month and are hopefully starting to figure things out and get settled. Charlie is starting a PhD program at UVA in Economics and Betsy has come along for the ride. We hope that over the next several years, Charlottesville will become our home and we will be able to explore as much of it as we can. When we started looking at Charlottesville "things-to-do" it was hard to get a general idea of what was around and what in Charlottesville would become the "things-we-love"...So we're going exploring and you are invited to come along and share thoughts, ideas, and new things for us to try.