With January underway, another restaurant week is on the horizon. The recent cold weather has kept us inside, so we are looking forward to getting out and trying some of the excellent menus that restaurants in the area have planned for another great restaurant week.
Besides the great food the restaurants are partnered with a local charity – this time it’s the Blue ridge Food Bank. For every meal that is ordered $1.00 goes to the food bank.
Restaurant week comes twice a year in Charlottesville, once in January and once in July. With a city that has more restaurants per capita that New York City, you won’t want to miss it. You’ll find plenty of restaurants participating in several areas of C-Ville, with two price-point options for the prix fixe menues that the restaurants have put together. This year, the two prices to choose from are $25 dollars and $35 dollars. Whichever price you choose, this is really an affordable way enjoy a three course meal and try out the best of what the restaurant offers.
Since there are so many options, we thought we’d feature a few restaurants that we recommend (and hope to enjoy) at each price point.
For the $25 dollar menu:
The Bebedero– With authentic and fresh tasting Mexican cuisine, we are sure The Bebedero’s Restaurant Week menu will be delicious. It is easy to access right on the Downtown Mall, and you can experience live music if you try it out for dinner on Mondays, Tuesdays or Saturdays. We look forward to trying out their Crispy Potato Puffs as a first course, the Pescado Bacalao (fresh, pan seared fish) for the second course, and the Mexican Chocolate Bread Pudding with Coconut Ice Cream for dessert. This menu is unique because it features a vegan option for each course and plenty of gluten free options.
Three Notch’d Craft Kitchen and Brewery– A well established brewery just 
opened a new location in town where they are now serving food. It is a unique location in IX Park area with a German Beer Hall feel. They also have plenty of TVs if you are hoping to catch a game while you are there. We’ve enjoyed what we have tried of their everyday menu, and look forward to trying their restaurant week menu. We’d love to try the Haute Cheese Plate for course one, the Steak Frites with Truffle Aioli for the second course, and the beer brownie with homestead chocolate ice cream for dessert. This menu is really making our mouths water just looking at it! It is hard to choose between all of the delicious options.
As a side note, there is even a “kids restaurant week” at Three Notch’d where they are featuring a special kids menu and activities on the 21st and 28th of the month.
The Whi
skey Jar– We love the unique, old western feel of this spot on the Downtown Mall. If you love Whiskey, it is a great place to try. But either way, their locally grown, southern food is always delicious. We think the Chicken Dumpling Soup, the Winter Squash Bolognese, and the Pecan Pie sound like a perfect winter comfort food trio.
For the $35 dollar menu:
Brasserie Saison– This is one of our favorite Downtown Mall locations to grab
a bite to eat. Their everyday menu, featuring Franco Belgian cuisine, is fantastic, so their restaurant week menu is sure to be outstanding. Though there are only a couple options for each course, we think they all sound great and can hardly choose. If you are going with a friend or loved one, you may as well order the whole menu between the two of you (there are two options for each course) and share! That’s what we’d do! But if we had to pick just one, we’d pick the fried calamari, the spicy sausage with faro salad, and the Olieballen with caramel sauce.
C&O– We have to feature this historic restaurant as one of our choices, as it is one of the long standing restaurants in town. It has several different beautiful dining spots all in a historic building. Read more about its history here. Our choices for their restaurant week menu would be the Prime Beef Carpaccio, the Artichoke Risotto, and the Meyer Lemon Creme Brulee.
The Shebeen– This South African inspired pub is near the Downtown Mall and has a unique and delicious menu. For restaurant week, we’d love to try the Roasted Butternut Squash Soup for our first course, the Braised Lamb Shank for the second, and Baked Nectarines for dessert.
It was really hard for us to choose just six restaurants to feature, as there are so many fantastic ones that will be participating in restaurant week.
Out of the list, where would you choose to eat? If we could, we’d eat at a different restaurant each day. Remember to visit C’Ville from January 19th through the 28th to take advantage of this great event and stay with us!
