Welcome to Charlottesville VA, a place I consider wine country of the east coast and a beer drinkers paradise. This college town offers a lot for their students , specifically in the area of quality beverages. Where I went to school the only options were PBR and mystery beer night. I'm not complaining trust me, just trying to convey the abundance of quality alcohol you can consume when in this lovely city. BUT if you couldn't tell by the title, we first must eat! Here are the spots I hit up over my 2 day stay.
* I attached their yelp links in the header so you can check them out further if you like what you see!
Bodo's Bagels
So there are a few Bodo's in the downtown area, we were staying close to the University Ave location. Even at 7:30 in the morning this place was packed. It made me feel like I was in college again, a ton of hungover 20 somethings discussing the nights drama. But back to the bagels, they are steamed and delicious. They seemed really light and fluffy, this could be due to them being steamed, but I honestly don't know. Unlike some bagels they weren't too big either and I actually ate my entire bagel sandwich. Not to mention if your going on a wine or beer tour during your travels this is a great way to start your day before the drinking begins! Eggs I think help with hangovers so it's like a preventative measure! I went with a sausage, egg and cheese on everything and I tried their herb cream cheese. The cream cheese was good, but intense, I ended up taking a bunch off since it just didn't need a lot!
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| Perfect size! |
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| Here is the counter, as you can see there are about 5 trays lined up ready for orders and this was at 7:30 am. |
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| I'm obsessed with everything bagels, but this one has the herb cream cheese. Really good, but like I said before very intense flavor and I would have asked for less or on the side. |
Snowing in Space
Let's talk nectar of life... coffee. If your into Nitro coffee or have never tried it you need to check this place out. They also serve booze and have a multiplayer Pac Man game in the back, fun for all!
Located off of Main St, Snowing in Space had about 8 nitro blends on tap and also hot coffee and espresso! You can get their nitro iced or hot and they have a ton of different flavor suggestions. For those tea lovers don't feel left out they have some options for you! For those in need of some probiotics you can revive your stomach after some strong coffee with their on tap kombucha. One thing I loved was their specialty drinks, like Nitro coffee floats! This is a must for any coffee enthusiast and let me not forget you can buy their coffee by the can it was everywhere in the city so that to me is always a good sign!
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| Their Cafe Au lait was great and a nice switch up from all the Nitro I had drank! |
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| I kept it simple ording GimmeDat with coconut milk. |
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| My mom ordered the Nom Nom with vanilla and cream. She is officially a nitro brew addict! |
South Street Brewery
I know this post is supposed to be all about food, but this brewery had some great wings and it's never a bad thing to have some food while you drink! The pizza was also a popular item on their menu, but I figured with all the bagels I ate cutting a few carbs couldn't hurt. We tried the BBQ and the Thai they were pretty similar, the Thai being a bit spicy but nothing you can't handle! This place also has a huge bar and is super clean which is always nice! It's on the outer rim of the downtown historic mall area off of ... you guess it South Street. This location is also a great area to park if your driving downtown! Check out their website or yelp cause they have a ton of daily food and drink deals, something I wish I had done before going!
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| BBQ on the left, thai on the right! |
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| Clearly I'm pleased! |
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| I wish they had given us celery or carrots, it's always nice to have something green to at least fake health consciousness. |
Public Fish & Oyster Bar
I was the luckiest girl on this trip and it was RESTAURANT WEEK in Charlottesville! I love a good restaurant week cause you get to try so many things for a quarter of the price! Our first stop was Public Fish & Oyster Bar off of Main St. and it did not disappoint! The tasting menu consisted of a starter, main and dessert. For my starter I went with the shrimp and octopus cocktail and it was so fresh! I loved how they served whole mini octopus, it was fun to freak my mom out! She went with the clam chowder and it was out of this world. It had a great bacon flavor and wasn't too rich. Never-mind the fact they gave you a whole bowl, not a little dinky cup but a whole bowl! I was impressed! For my main I went with the mussel and fries, again very fresh and a huge portion. I went with the Fra Diavolo, the sauce was spicy and thick perfect for bread dipping and scooping with the shells! My mom went with the daily fresh fish which was seared yellow tuna, with watermelon and pickled jalapeno. Her option was a much lighter options, but it didn't not disspoint with a wonder blend of spicy and sweet flavors. To end the evening we both ordered the Key lime Pie and it was so good I forced myself to eat it
( I was so fully by this point, but I kept going strong) cause something so tasty couldn't go to waste! I wish I had room to order oysters cause they were selling like hotcakes! They had already old out of 3 kinds of oysters by 5:30. Clearly this was a good choice.
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| Oh I forgot to mention their cocktails were beautiful too! |
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| I had to finish the bowl! |
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| so much food!!!!!! |
Orzo
Restaurant week part 2 an Italian affair!
This was the best way to end the day after drinking wine for 5 hours! Surprise, surprise this too is located off Main St. (clearly the street to be on! ).Their tasting menu consisted of a starter, salad and main course! I started off with the 18 month prosciutto di parma, simply put prosciutto on bread with mozzarella, parmesan cheese and pesto drizzle . My mom went with the fried mushroom balls also called crispy mushroom arancini. The portions were nice and made it easy to share and not get too full before the main course. I would suggest the mushroom arancini, who doesn't like deep fried cheesy mushrooms? We both chose the caesar salad, which was great because honestly it was the only green thing we ate all weekend! I ended the meal with the beef & pork bolognese, she opted for the risotto "caprese". The sauce was flavorful and chunky, which I love. It was nice to have both the pork and beef flavors, neither overpowered the other. The risotto was wonderful as well, a creamier/ richer option!
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| My cocktail: Pomelo Basically a nicer cranberry vodka |
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| They also served some fresh bread with hummus, a combo I've never tried until now. |
Trader Joe's Buffet
When we went wine tasting we brought a nice picnic platter from Trader Joe's, it was nice to have our own food so we didn't have to pay for overpriced cheese and crackers at the winery. It also allowed us to eat throughout the day, I can't eat heave and drink or I fall asleep. Even if you do opt to eat at the wineries, trust me some do have good food, you should totally bring some snacks!
Carter Mountain Orchard
Our final food stop is about 20 minutes outside downtown Charlottesville and is basically heaven on earth. At Carter Mountain Orchard you can get wine, cider, peaches, apples, donuts and more. Really all the good things in life! Since we just swung by on our way out of town we just bought a bunch of stuff from their general store, but I plan on going back to go apple picking this Fall. Bold Rock cider also runs out of this orchard. You can go with a tasting flight or glass and can buy everything under the sun when it comes to their cider! Let me not forget to mention there is a wine tasting room that also offers a WINE SLUSHY!! I wanted to get one so bad, but we got there when they were opening and the slushy machines weren't ready yet but they sounded damn good! You can spend the whole day and they offer a ton of cool events like movie showing and live music at night! No matter how long you stay in Charlottesville you need to go here you won't be disappointed!!
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| Did I mention the view?!?! I'm pretty sure that is down town Charlottesville... pretty sure.. |
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| Peach cider donuts, peach cider and some super cut woven bags. |
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| Oh and I got some cider :) |
Part 2 my Charlottesville adventure is coming up so stay tuned! It's the only you really want to read, all about WINE & BEER!
Comment below if you like what your reading! Check out my Instagram izzababy9 as well!
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