Charlottesville Restaurants Range from International Cuisine to Southern
baggby’s gourmet sandwiches, blue ridge café, charlottesville, culture, food, mike and ann lapanta, restaurants, rhett’s river grill & raw bar, ruckersville, shawn hayes,
While Mr. Jefferson would certainly delight in Charlottesville’s fine dining scene – full of chic‚ trendy‚ multi-star restaurants – he would also be particularly pleased at the area’s wide array of down-home eateries.
Despite being in a region with an international appetite‚ the good old American family restaurant is alive and well – and thriving – in the Charlottesville area‚ and its Southern roots run especially deep.
“The restaurant business in the Charlottesville area is healthy‚” says Shawn Hayes‚ owner of the Blue Ridge Café. “I’ve heard that something like 51 percent of meals are eaten out these days‚ and I’d say that we’re right along those lines. That’s a lot of dining out‚ and there are a lot of good places around here offering a lot of different‚ and very good‚ menus.”
Now in its 12th year‚ the Blue Ridge Café‚ located a few miles north of Charlottesville in Ruckersville‚ is one of the area’s more popular family spots. Hayes calls it “an American grill with an international flair‚” and his lunch and dinner menus live up to their billing. French dip sandwiches are among the most popular items‚ along with New York strip sirloin steaks‚ crab cakes and beer-batter fish‚ which Hayes says is probably the most popular dish his café serves. The Blue Ridge‚ open seven days a week (with a popular Sunday brunch)‚ also offers a wide variety of Virginia wines.
On the other end of the dining spectrum is Baggby’s Gourmet Sandwiches‚ owned by Mike and Ann LaPanta and their sons Jonathan and Jason. With two locations in Forest Lakes Shopping Center and on the Mall in downtown Charlottesville‚ diners can order from a variety of freshly made sandwiches – the Navajo chicken and The Remarkable (a turkey breast) are two of the favorites – and take it with them‚ eat outside or dine inside.
“The name [of the restaurant] comes from the actual bag we put the sandwich in‚ “ explains Mike LaPanta. “The menu is on the bag‚ we fill it out for what you want‚ and we deliver the sandwich in it.” Baggby’s‚ now in its 14th year of serving sandwiches‚ soups‚ salads and desserts‚ is open Monday through Saturday for lunch only.
“It’s just darn good food‚ and it keeps bringing them back‚” says LaPanta.
North of the downtown area‚ on Seminole Trail‚ is Rhett’s River Grill and Raw Bar. The menu at Rhett’s ranges from steak‚ barbecue‚ burgers and salads to its fresh seafood specialties of oysters‚ shrimp and Prince Island mussels. True to its Southern heritage‚ among Rhett’s appetizers is a dish of fried green tomatoes covered with a garlic cayenne sauce. Rhett’s is open seven days a week and also features one of the area’s most popular Sunday brunches.
“The university brings in a lot of people to the Charlottesville area‚ and everyone wants to enjoy a good meal while they’re here‚” Hayes says. “On some weekends there will be tens of thousands of people here‚ and we’re fortunate that we’ve got such a good choice of restaurants to handle everyone.”
Story by Danny McKenzie
Photo by Wes Aldridge
