It opened in 1970. It opened at a time when there weren’t that many restaurants in Charlottesville. There were no McDonald’s, no Hardy’s, no Burger Kings, no Domino’s. But Lord Hardwicke’s was now open, and our good friends, Joe and Theresa Davis, went with us to check it out. The place had an English theme. Their signature dish was Fish & Chips. I tried that while Nancy had French Onion Soup.
The food at Lord Hardwicke’s was good that night, it was been good throughout its 46 year run and it was good Sunday night when we ate there one last time and said goodbye.
It’s hard for a restaurant to be consistently good for over 4 ½ decades. Restaurants are like super novae; they flame up and then die out. It’s an eroding process. The owners cut back on expenses a little. The night manager lets sloppy service slide. A cook is hired who doesn’t know how to get the timing down. But throughout all these years, Lord Hardwicke’s has had great food at good prices, and the service, with very few exceptions, has been excellent.
For example, our server Sunday night was Kat Ardleigh. My wife Nancy and some old high school friends eat at Hardwicke’s once a month and always ask for Kat. Kat knows the names of all the girls and which wines and cocktails they prefer. When Kat took orders for as many as a dozen customers, she never wrote anything down and always – always – got every order perfect. Having servers like Kat is one of the reasons Lord Hardwicke’s has had such an amazing run.
Their food – the best Reuben’s in town, dynamite burgers, crispy fried oysters in season and exceptional pizzas – was consistently excellent.
But all good things come to an end.
Sitting on extremely valuable property within walking distance of UVA and fronting Emmett Street (Rt. 29), the old Hardwicke’s building will soon be leveled and replaced with a new, franchise-type restaurant. The newer facility will be bright and shiny with lots of televisions to set the theme. They will no doubt have a hip menu, but they will soon fade into the sterile world of the Appleby’s, Outback, Ruby Tuesday’s. Chili’s and the like.
It will be truly sad to pass by the place where my family has enjoyed 46 years of great meals, great times and great service.
Goodbye, Lord Hardwicke’s. We will miss you.