Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Swing by Alexandria (because it's totally in the way. It's only, like, 3 hours away from Charlottesville! See, so cloooose) and have as much Dairy Godmother frozen custard as you'd like. This friday-Mon, their flavors are Pumpkin Pie, Bee Sting and French Kiss. Aren't they appetizing sounding? Don't you want some? Yes, Yes you DO. Then, you can swing by Artfully Chocolate for all sorts of artisanal choco. You can go there to eat choco (feed the belly) AND look at art (feed the brains!)

@lorelei: Ooh noes, 3 hours is too far for ice cream...:( BUT IT SOUNDS AWESOME! Wah.

@jenberger: Thanks for the recs! I tried Marco and Luca on my last visit and YEAH, AWESOME! Also had a burger from Chaps, but didn't try the ice cream. Dooh. I shall do that ...hey, I could do it tomorrow! Sweet. And I didn't know about that chocolate shop; gotta check it out. And bagels! And stuff! I'm gonna explode, aren't I?

I agree on Continental Divide on Main Street. I don't recall that it has a sign other than the neon one in the front window that says "Get In Here." Try the tuna tostada. I went months ago, and have been thinking about it ever since. Also, check out this article from the 2007 edition of Images of Charlottesville. I am the editor of the 2008 edition, which we have not yet published, but this article outlines several other great places to eat: http://www.imagescharlottesville.com/07/Charlottesville_Restaurants_Range_from_International_Cuisine_to_Southern.php

For a great lunch, I heartily recommend Revolutionary Soup (http://www.revolutionarysoup.com/ ). They have wonderful homemade soups and sandwiches. It's located on the downtown mall, which is--as other commenters have said--the best place to start. Petit Pois, a decent French bistro, is also located there. La Cocina Del Sol in nearby Crozet has a very nice, southwestern-inspired Sunday brunch. It's about a 20 miniute drive from downtown c-ville but it's well worth it. If do you decide to splurge, would definitely go to the Ivy Inn (http://www.ivyinnrestaurant.com/). I happened to be down visting family in Charlottesville a week ago and had an excellent meal there. And if you really want to splurge, there's always the Palladio restaurant for dinner. They also do a cheaper, but still very good lunch. Lovely view there, as it's located in the middle of Barboursville vineyard.

James mentioned La Cocina Del Sol in Crozet; the owner, Alex Montiel, has just opened a C'ville outpost and an accompanying Brasserie on Commonwealth Drive (just off Hydraulic). The Crozet restaurant has always been enjoyable and produced great food; I have not yet visited his new places in C'ville.

I also echo the recommendation for Petit Pois, though it's especially nice when the weather is good and you can sit outside on the Mall.

I worked in C'ville so I didn't have many opportunities to eat dinner there, but had lots of lunches. The two places that I think are good, but a bit out of the ordinary are Sticks and Everyday Cafe. I recommend checking them out for lunch.

Sticks is a kebob joint with 2 locations in C'ville. I've only been to the one near Pantops. I enjoyed the chicken with cilantro/lime sauce and feta as a sandwich with a side of hummus.

Everyday Cafe is an odd recommendation. It's a sit down eatery located in a gas station -- a phenomenon I've encountered only in C'ville. I am always on the look out for a good Caesar salad and for the money Everyday has got surprisingly good grilled chicken Caesar salad. It's got a strong garlic taste -- if that puts you off, don't bother with Everyday. Part of the experience is the location, they've got two cable tvs on in the eating area and free broadband access -- so it's perfect if you need to catch up on the news and get on the internets.

As I think about eating in the area, up the road a bit on Route 29 is the Bavarian Chef (25 minutes from center of C'ville). It's a bit pricey and I've only eaten in the upstairs seating area which is a bit dingy. All-in-all though, the food is good (the portions are huge) and there's a great selection of beer.

Further up Route 29 in Culpeper is It's About Thyme. It's pricey, but worth it. Always a great meal.

Northeast of C'ville is a small farming town named Gordonsville. For one of the best cheesesteaks outside of the Philly area, stop by Fabio's. Order a cheesesteak with raw onions and pepperoni (no lettuce, tomato, or mayo). It's probably a 1/2 hour drive from downtown C'ville, but most of it is through Keswick, which has got some beautiful farms and vineyards.

In the "Corner" district of Charlottesville (anyone can tell you how to get there) there is a sandwich restaurant called Little John's. If you walk around behind this restaurant, there's a place called "Just Curry" that serves great vegetable, chicken, and beef curries; the owner is from Guyana and so has slightly different curry recipes than what you would normally think. I think right now they have goat and lamb too. A little hidden, but great food. Cheap as well.

On the downtown mall, towards one end (the end where the post office is located) there is a restaurant called Bashir's Taverna. They're only open for lunch from Tuesday through Friday for lunch (11-2) and dinner on Friday and Saturday night. They serve Mediterranean cuisine (the owner, Bashir, is from Algeria, and his wife is from Brazil, so their influences are pretty varied), with a focus on North Africa. The food is absolutely GREAT, a very different place from the other restaurants in Charlottesville. On Saturday nights there is almost always a belly dancer as well.

Farther north on route 29, there is a restaurant called Kyoto in a shopping center called Rio Hill. Though both Japanese and Chinese cuisines are served, their Chinese food has to be some of the most authentic I've ever had; nowhere nearly as greasy and sweet as most Chinese restaurants are. They also serve up dim sum items throughout the day, although the dim sum rarely lasts past mid-day.

If you want ice cream, just across from Rio Hill, there's a place called Kohr Brothers that serves froze custard, great as an alternative to ice cream.

Also, if you're willing to make a short drive, just outside Charlottesville there's a place called Blue Mountain Brewery (just search online for it). It was just opened by the ex-Master Brewer of a brewpub in Charlottesville, who also took his award winning beers with him. They serve up all their artisanal beers along with a nice bistro menu made from local ingredients. Well worth the drive.

Hope you read this in time!

Wow... I had no idea this community had such knowledge of the Charlottesville area. I live here and have sadly not had the opportunity to sample much of what is offered. Interestingly though, most of these restaurants have cropped up within the last 10 years. Maybe I should try to get a babysitter and attempt some of these new places.

As a side note, I think the Atomic Burrito shut their doors last month. I could be wrong though.

I didn't eat quite as much as I should've due to time constraints and things being closed when we weren't expecting (euh, New Year's Eve = bad, and late at night = bad), but here's a quick rundown of stuff:

Spudnuts: YEAH TASTY DONUTS! The apple cinnamon was my favorite. Although I really liked...er, the plain and glazed and everything else.

Aqui Es Mexico: Pupusas!...were quite good. Maybe not the best I've had, but still awesome. Had some kind of shrimp huarache that was also..awesome.

Feast: Hello, free cheese samples, I love you. And they caused me to buy a chunk of some awesome cheese. Also got olive oil and honey.

Saigon Cafe: Not bad. It was open late and everything was pretty cheap. GOOD COMBO!

Gearhart's Chocolate: I bought a box that I'm still going through. So far, so good.

Albemarle Baking Co: I only tried a baguette from here and by the time I ate it it had been sitting out for a while. But I ate it with the cheese from Feast. Which made it awesome.

Sticks: Went here on New Year's Eve after the other places we wanted to eat at were closed. :( Tasty, juicy meat on sticks (I got the lamb); tis a good thing.

Lee's International Grill: Went here last Friday late at night after driving around the city and finding out that the places we wanted to go to most were closed. WE SO FAILED. Anyhoo, another cheap and tasty place with gunormous portions. My bowl of dan dan mein was like...a bucket. Or more bucket-like than I had expected.

Milano: I don't drink coffee, but I suppose they make good stuff. I got some gelato for the heck of it, which was hit or miss. Best flavors seemed to be the pumpkin and the rose champagne, although it was too rose-y for me.

I didn't get to go to the Downtown Mall! -__- And I was really close to it (was staying in an apt off University Ave), so I don't have a good excuse in regards to that. However, I've already been to Marco and Luca last year, which was indeed awesome, and Chaps for a burger (but I didn't try the ice cream or the new donuts, so I still fail).

I stepped inside Revolutionary Soup on Friday but didn't get anything since I figured I should save my stomach for dinner. Which was a bad idea since we ended up eating late and my friend got a sandwich that looked reallllly good. Argh!

Next time I go back I gotta check out the Downtown Mall. The Bavarian Chef was also recommended to me by a friend and ...I need more donuts.

Thank you all for your suggestions!