As a former bar employee of many years, I bend backward like a pretzel to make sure my kids aren't "those" kids in a bar/pub. Thanks very much for your insight and suggestions.

We're staying at the Brooklyn Bridge Marriott so generally looking to be below 42nd st.

Edited to say, but holy cow, that menu would be right up our alley. Good call.

Kind of a combination of the usual tourist requests. I've noticed that many of the best beer places in Manhattan and Brooklyn are bars and not appropropriate for an 11 and 9 year old. Places like Rattle and Hum and the Ginger Man have great beer and serve food, but the food is meh (I've heard). It seems like the one place that could fit my description is the Blind Tiger in the village, but it's small and frequently mobbed. I'm looking for both lunch and dinner options and realize when I say dinner, I'm in there no later than 7:30 p.m. with kids out of deference to those who prefer an adult atmosphere when having one.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Anybody know where I can get my knives sharpened in Cville? I used to get them done at the Seasonal Cook in the Main Street Market but with the ownership change they just offer "DIY" access to an electric sharpener.

Thanks, I appreciate the replies. I'm not sure if the carts will outvote Kenny and Zuke's for Sunday lunch ...

Hey all. My family will be in Portland next month from a Saturday afternoon through Tuesday evening. With so many other food options needing to be checked off, it looks like Sunday lunch is the only opening we have to try the food carts aside from random snacking. I know most if not all of the downtown food carts will be closed, but can anyone suggest some decent ones that might be open at that time? Thanks.

Thanks very much for the suggestion of SPTR. I neglected to mention that I had been there for lunch as well. Like my love for Standard Tap, I'm struggling with my inclination to try new places versus going back to somewhere I KNOW will be good.

I'm heading into Philly for a couple of days next week and I was thinking about exploring the different gastropubs for food and beer. My one concern around dinner time, especially in Center City, is that these places are all a bit small and don't really take reservations. I was specifically wondering about Khyber Pass Pub and the Resurrection Ale House. For lunch I'm free to roam the city and plan on hitting Birra, Royal Taven and/or the Memphis Taproom. I've gone to Standard Tap, North Third and Prohibition Taproom in the past and enjoyed them all. However, my wife will be at a conference during the day and doesn't really want to stray too far from our hotel/Center City for dinner.

Will we have a long wait on a Thursday or Friday night at those two places or other Center City gastropubs? Any help is greatly appreciated.

FYI, it's the Barbeque Exchange in Gordonsville. Where the chef influence comes out is that all of the sides are delicious.

My favorite purveyor of beef and chickens at the market is Davis Creek Farm. They are usually located on the side street on the east end of the market.

Most non-chain places in Cville aren't all that big. A solid choice that would have room and something for everybody would be the Timberwood Grill. It's up 29 North a bit across from the Hollymead Town Center. An eclectic American menu:

http://www.timberwoodgrill.com

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Timberwood Grill
3311 Worth Xing, Charlottesville, VA 22911

Probably the best new to me beer I tried on my trip was Crooked House IPA by Dark Horse. Other highlights were Dreadnought, Gumbalhead and Apocalypse Cow by 3 Floyds (btw, the food at 3 Floyds was incredible), Headhunter IPA at Fatheads, Cumberland American Pale Ale, and Matilda by Goose Island.

Anybody familiar with the chili parlors of Cincinnati? I'll be there with family for one night later this week and figure I should try either Skyline or Gold Star. Are they like restaurants or more like take-out joints with counter service and plastic seating? Are some locations better than others? I'll be staying just across the river in Kentucky if that helps.

Any other suggestions for solid, non-national chain fare for family travelling with two kids under 10?

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Gold Star
219 S Winemiller, Batavia, OH 45103

You probably don't get it in NC yet, but Blue Mountain Brewery in VA puts out a very hoppy pale ale in cans called Full Nelson. Good stuff.

Thanks all for the replies. I'm planning on hitting the Three Floyds brewpub for lunch on the way back. I had the Alpha King in Chicago about 5 years ago and like others have mentioned, it was available for a tantalizingly brief time in VA. We do have access to the great beers of Bells and Founders, although probably not the seasonals which I'll have to look out for.

I'm driving from Virginia with the family to a wedding just outside Chicago. Aside from Goose Island and Great Lakes beers, what other local beers should I be on the lookout for?

Unfortunately the Shebeen has developed some real service issues and the food has become very inconsistent. You can still get a good meal here, but it's a bit of a roll of the dice.

Another excellent casual (very casual) lunch or dinner option is the Barbeque Exchange in Gordonsville. This is by far the best barbeque within 50 miles of Charlottesville and indeed the best I've had in VA. What makes this place different is that everything on the menu including side dish options is really good.

Depends on what you're looking for. Solid brewpub food and good beer can be found over at South Street, two blocks south of the theater/mall. Right on the mall I think your best bets moderate price-wise are Bizou or Escafe for modern takes on comfort food. More upscale would be Hamilton's for modern American or Zocalo for Laton-inspired food.

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Bizou
119 W Main St, Charlottesville, VA 22902

Zocalo
201 E Main St, Charlottesville, VA 22902

FYI, Mas, The Local, Tavola and Beer Run are all within a 1/2 mile of each other in the Belmont neighborhood. Plus H&H and Maya sit side by side on W. Main St. One more place I'd thrown in there for a date night for mom and dad on the pedestrian downtown mall is Zocalo, which is excellent Latin-inspired food.

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Zocalo
201 E Main St, Charlottesville, VA 22902

The owner is a serious chef at one of the local inns; this is his "fun" project and probably explains why the sides are all so good.

That's a very good list. I would add Tavola, The Local and Beer Run (K, seriously)

Churchkey in Washington DC - a bit too swank but amaing beers that you can try in a number of sizes.

Alas, Italian is one thing that Charlottesville doesn't do that well. The best Italian food/pizza place is a retail outlet, Mona Lisa Pasta on Preston Ave.

The closest to the Neopolitan style where you can sit and eat are two slice joints on the downtown mall, Vita Nova and Christian's. Plenty of other good food in Cville, Italian is the one place where there is significant room for improvement.

Thank you, this is exactly the type of info i was looking for!

I'll be attending a family reunion in the area a month from now and we'll be staying in Nyack Friday and Saturday nights. What would be a good inexpensive to moderate place to have dinner with my wife and two boys under 10? No real limitations on type of food, just need a place that won't be too much of a bar scene, although we hope to eat early (before 6:30).

Thoughts?

My wife and I are coming into town soon with our two boys (8 and 6) and would love to eat at one of the many great gastropubs. If we tried to do this on a Friday night before 6, does anybody see a problem with this? Between Standard Tap, N. 3rd, Prohibition Tap Room, Royal Tavern, Kite and Key and other ones, does any get an early drinking scene that may make dinner with the boys a bit awkward? Are any more conducive to families than others, given that we are out of there by 7 at the latest?

Ah, Blue Mountain. Great beer and the food is much better than you'd think it would be.

Think you're referring to the Belmont neighborhood. The only brewery in town is South Street, which has decent food but is not open for lunch. Maya, locavore/Southern, Zinc -french bistro are also very good in Cville on W. Main St.

Thanks everyone for the great advice. After presenting all of these options to my lovely wife, she perused the on-line menu at Little Owl and declared that since it wasn't THAT expensive, we could go to a similarly priced place after all. We've been to (and loved) Lupa, so we settled on Perilla and lucked into reservations at 7:15 p.m.

Thanks for the great back-up plan of Di Palo's just in case Despana doesn't work out!