Restaurant Week is just around the corner
For the second time this year, Restaurant Week is almost upon us! More restaurants than ever are participating this time around, so go ahead and start making your reservations and loosening your belt. Beginning Saturday, July 19, and continuing throughout the week until Saturday, July 26, 35 Charlottesville restaurants, including old favorites like C&O and newbies like Zinburger, will be offering great deals to diners in our community. Each will offer a three-course meal for a fixed price of either $16, $26, or $36. Like last time, $1 from each meal will be donated to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, an organization working to eradicate hunger in Central Virginia. Every $1 that the food bank brings in provides four meals to help feed the needy. A full preview and the menus from each restaurant, plus an in-depth look at the complicated web that connects Charlottesville’s chefs and restaurateurs, will run in next week’s C-VILLE, so don’t forget to grab yourself a copy. For more information, visit the Restaurant Week website at www.charlottesvillerestaurantweek.com.
Winning wine
Charlottesville’s own Jefferson Vineyards took home a Double Gold Medal in the 2014 San Francisco International Wine and Spirits Competition. Beating out more than 4,500 entries, the most in the competition’s history, the local winery secured the highest title in one of the country’s largest and most respected wine competitions. The winning wine, the 2013 Viognier, is carefully crafted with hints of coconut, peach, apricot, and honeysuckle.
South Mountain? Blue Street?
Last week, the owners of South Street Brewery announced via Facebook that customers had until 12pm to come enjoy a beer for the last time. The next morning, rumors were confirmed—Blue Mountain Brewery has purchased South Street, the oldest brewing establishment in Charlottesville. According to a press release, South Street will be closed until mid-September, while the new owners renovate the space, revamp the menu, and prepare for a new, refreshed line of beers. New owner Taylor Smack was the brewer at South Street for five years, and he promises to honor “the traditions and spirit that have made South Street so great all these years.”
Bye, guys
Last week we shared the news that Five Guys Burgers and Fries was down to two Char-lottesville locations. As of last Monday, the Downtown Mall spot’s windows are covered in paper, and a sign on the door notes that the other two locations—in Barracks Road Shopping Center and up Route 29 in the Hollymead Town Center—are still open for business. Coran Capshaw had stock in about 90 Five Guys franchises across the country, including the one on the Mall, and he’s selling all of them back to corporate. Word on the street is that a women’s clothing store will take over the space.
We’re always keeping our eyes and ears out for the latest news on Charlottesville’s food and drink scene, so pick up a paper and check c-ville.com/living each week for the latest Small Bites. Have a scoop for Small Bites? E-mail us at bites@c-ville.com.