Charlottesville

Sadly, the romantic getaway to Montreal that my husband and I had planned for our fourth anniversary trip will not be happening because of babysitting issues. I had every meal planned and everything!

The new plan is to drop the toddler at Meme and Poppa's house in DC and drive down to Charlottesville for the weekend. It was the most interesting spot we could come up with in reasonable driving distance of DC. But I still want to eat fabulous food, so I would love some recommendations on where to eat in town, out of town and on the road from DC to C-ville. Thanks in advance.

(Thoughts on lodging and activities are also welcome. I am considering Clifton, the Country Inn, the place where there was that deadly fire in 2003. Fun!)

Well, it's hardly romantic, but I've had *awfully* good food at Ludwig's:

http://www.ludwigsrestaurant.com/index.html

I mean, it's pretty authentically kitsch, but then... what else *could* it be?

And here's a review or two:

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-29709 ... _reviews-i

Geo
PS. We'll hold your Montreal tables for you. Sorry!

Here's a good thread with some recommendations for food. I enjoyed my time visiting, and would have even more if my wife would have been with me. The area is beautiful.

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=1262&sid=a7cf809f0f2f6c14d138edc2b38562c4#1262

If you're looking for something romantic, but a little spendy, you should definitely make the trip to The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, VA. OUTSTANDING food, gorgeous inn. The restaurant has been written up all over, and lives up to the hype...but it ain't cheap. (Don't know if it's okay to post web sites, but here it is, just in case: theinnatlittlewashington.com

If you want something a little funky and off the beaten path, Crozet Pizza in Crozet, VA (outside of Charlottesville) is an absolute find. As absurd as it sounds, you definitely want to call ahead to 1) make a reservation and 2) make sure they're open. The guy who runs the place is a character, and known for closing up shop as soon as the magic # of pizzas for the day has been sold. He holds a limited number of reservations for sit-down, and only makes a certain number of pies for takeout.

Directions: Route 240 downtown Crozet across from the railroad station. (12 miles west of Charlottesville.)
Address 5794 Three Notch'd Road
Crozet, VA 22932
Phone (434) 823-2132

FYI, if you Google "crozet pizzza", there's a Charlottesville Tourism site that gives these details.

Happy eating! A friend knows the area well, so if we think of anything else, I'll post more.

Some useless but ironic food-related trivia about Crozet, VA: About the only other thing the town is known for, besides Crozet Pizza, is the Conagra Frozen Foods plant there.

Thanks for the replies. Sadly, we have now pulled the plug on C-ville because Clifton was fully booked for a wedding and no other place appealed to me quite as much.

We're now going to the Eastern Shore of Maryland, so I will have to start a new thread asking for Eastern Shore recs. Thanks again.

As a resident of Cville, I can say there's a lot of good food in town, but nothing really great. A couple of recommendations:

The Ivy Inn - very good regional fine dining
Continental Divide - small funky place with tasty southwestern food and many tequilas
The Shebeen - - South African braai/pub with interesting choices

The downtown pedestrian mall is a lot of fun, especially during good weather with many pleasing dining choices. It's a great place to visit and live, just not a food mecca (espcially for Mexican )