We have some good restaurants in Charlottesville, but if someone asked me my top recommendation, it would have to be the Ivy Inn. It is consistently Charlottesville’s finest. It’s the kind of a restaurant you would take a special client or the place where college grads gather for an historic reunion. It’s also a place you take your wife of 53 years out to dinner for our anniversary, and I did just … [Read more...]

It was a typical Sunday night for the Brewers. We couldn’t decide whether to eat leftovers, toss some burgers on the grill or maybe order a pizza. That’s when Nancy said, “How about fried chicken? That’s not fair. If anybody ever mentions fried chicken during a conversation about food, all bets are off. Nothing, absolutely nothing will ever be able satisfy an appetite after “fried chicken” comes … [Read more...]

The Barn. That pretty much says it all. Anyone from Charlottesville or anyone ever associated with the University of Virginia knows that “The Barn” means the Aberdeen Barn, one of Virginia’s finest steak houses. The Barn was conceived and opened in 1965 by George Spathos. I first visited this iconic steak house in 1967. I was the Men’s Buyer at Leggett Department Store at the Barracks Road … [Read more...]

If you don’t want to go out to eat, you can always do a take-out from your favorite restaurant. Or you can cook and make a dish exactly like they do at your favorite restaurant, and save money and travel time. I like Outback Chicken – cooked on “The Barbie”. It has a little kick, spicy but not overly so. It’s good on a sandwich, pasta, in a salad or just by itself. I had a hankering for … [Read more...]

Going out to eat has become a real treat, not a normal activity. There are still many folks who won’t even consider eating a meal in a restaurant. Not the Brewer’s. We don’t go out often, but we enjoy each occasion as something special, not a given. The safety and care of each restaurant we have visited has been most impressive. You are safer in a restaurant than at Lowe’s, I can vouch for … [Read more...]

We’ve eaten out a half dozen or so times since Covid shut down our way of life, but it’s a little ironic. A restaurant these days is one of the safest places in the world. They do this 6-foot thing to an extreme and everything is routinely sterilized, including the wait staff. Well, not really, but they wear masks and gloves that would keep any germ at bay, and they are extremely conscientious … [Read more...]

I stopped by Harris Teeter last week to pick up a melon and as I passed by the seafood section, I saw that they had Red Argentine Shrimp, so I quickly bought a pound and a half. I first ran into these delicious prawns a couple years back – also at Harris Teeter. These, I believe, are the best tasting shrimp on the planet. They taste an awful lot like lobster, but not as strong, They also have a … [Read more...]

There is a number of great places to get a hamburger in Charlottesville, but one of the best (and often overlooked) spots is Martin’s Grill at Forest Lakes. They are known for their hamburgers and they have them all the way from a single burger to a Quadzilla with 4 patties, and all cooked on a stove top grill. My understanding is that Ryan Martin,  the founder of Martin’s grill, once worked … [Read more...]