Seanchai's Profile
Gastropubs on Thursday/Friday night
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.
Gastropubs on Thursday/Friday night
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.
There is now good barbecue in Central Va
FYI, it's the Barbeque Exchange in Gordonsville. Where the chef influence comes out is that all of the sides are delicious.
Help me sift through the Charlottesville City Market
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.
Restaurant recommendations in Charlottesville, Va.?
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
Midwest beers to look for?
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.
Cincinnati Chili Parlors
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
Canned Micro's
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.
Midwest beers to look for?
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.
Midwest beers to look 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?
Restaurant recommendations in Charlottesville, Va.?
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.
1 dinner and two lunches in Charlottesville/Wine Country?
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.
charlottesville dinner
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
Charlottesville question
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
Barbeque Exchange in Gordonsville Virginia
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.
Charlottesville question
That's a very good list. I would add Tavola, The Local and Beer Run (K, seriously)
Favorite Beer Bar Ever?
Churchkey in Washington DC - a bit too swank but amaing beers that you can try in a number of sizes.
Authentic Italian in Charlottesville?
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.
Nyack - non-chain dinner for family
Thank you, this is exactly the type of info i was looking for!
Nyack - non-chain dinner for family
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?
Philly Gastropubs - Early Friday night w/kids?
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?
Trip to Shenandoah Valley
Ah, Blue Mountain. Great beer and the food is much better than you'd think it would be.
Trip to Shenandoah Valley
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.
Looking for a less expensive Friday night option
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!
Looking for a less expensive Friday night option
OK. I've been doing my research for several months now for a brief trip to NYC next month. I grew up in Queens but haven't lived in NYC for over 20 years, but still come back to visit about once a year. II've decided that this trip will have a west Village focus if possible (already have done the EV and the LES trips). We're coming in late Thursday afternoon (around 3:30 p.m.) and leaving Saturday around 2 p.m.
The tentative plan is to hit Momofuku Noodle for late lunch on Thursday ( I know, already straying from the plan) and have reservations for Little Owl at 9 p.m.
Friday I want to go to ino or inoteca for lunch (missed it last time due to 24 hour bug), make our way over to Bleecker and graze our way to dnner in the West Village. Since Little Owl will be our splurge for the trip, I'm thinking about a less expensive option for dinner on Friday. The problem is, most of the less expensive places don't take reservations and I figure Friday night can be pretty tough for walk-ins. Considering the following:
Malatesta
Arturo's for pizza
da Andrea
Crispo
Casa Mono
Bellavitae
Saturday morning the plan is to either hit a deli (Sarge's is near the hotel) or one of the 24 hour Chinatown places (NY Noodletown maybe). Since we have a 6 hour train ride, we'll look to hit Despana or someplace like that to get some great sandwiches to go.
Thoughts?
OK, who makes their own mustard?
Looking for a pommery-style mustard in particular that has a little kick. I love the texture of these mustards but they tend not to have much bite. Any recipe posted would be greatly appreciated.
OK, who makes their own mustard?
I visited a local brewery the other week and they had a delicious house-made ale mustard. I would love to make some of my own but can't find any good recipes. Thoughts?
ino vs. inoteca - how do they differ?
I'm looking to have either lunch or brunch at either one and was wondering if there were any qualitative differences besides ino being much smaller. Is the food much better at one versus the other? What's the vibe or scene at each?
Friday night dinner - Center City w/kids
This is a bit of a tricky thing. I need a backup plan in case my Friday dinner plans fall through while my wife and I visit Philadelphia with our two boys under 7. If it was just my wife and I, we would love to eat at one of the many great gastropubs Philly has to offer. In fact we are going to Standard Tap with the kids on Thursday. However, Friday night, with kids, that may not be the best option (maybe if we go early?). I was thinking of one of the south Philly Italian places like Marra's, but that is a long way from our hotel near Locust and Broad with potentially cranky kids. What would be a good choice in Center City with moderate prices (under $20 entrees) in a non Chuck E Cheese atmosphere? I mean, on our big trip to Philly we don't to eat in a generic food court or at a run of the mill place we could eat at anywhere, but at the same time we want to eat somewhere where smaller kids wouldn't be out of place. Food cuisine doesn't matter too much as long as we can some little thing on the menu the guys can eat. Any thoughts?
C'ville for Bachelorette dinner and wineries
In addition to Zocalo (which is a great rec), I would suggest Maya (http://www.maya-restaurant.com/ ) on W. Main St. I was very impressed with every thing we ordered at this upscale Southern, meat and two place. I think the vibe is similar to Zocalo, although it's a much smaller place.
