Taking some friends on vacation - one day we will take them to Jefferson's Monticello. They have a couple of kids - one just in high school and interested in colleges, so thought we would stop near Univ. of Charlottesville for lunch.

We did consider Michie Tavern and the new Visitors Center at Monticello, but are familiar with both and that is not what we would prefer.

As scenic as Michie Tavern is by Monticello, the fare is more like a Golden Corral wannabe, so would like to find something interesting. Last time we did this trip (with other friends), we drove around looking at places near the university until we settled on something less than memorable.

So..would love some recommendations. Thoughts?

(btw - staying at Massanutten Resort, so suggestions along that route also would be good.)

Try urbanspoon.com. It led us to Eppie's on the mall, which was pretty good and there is excellen ice cream also on the mall. Of course the mall is nowhere near the university, but we never found anything decent around there either.

Wayside Chicken is a local institution and it is fairly near the university, though a GPS helps to find it. It is a 40 year old hole in the wall specializing in fried chicken, southern vegetables, and sweet tea.

Nice lunch spots in Charlottesville include Orzo Kitchen and Wine Bar for locally sourced food and great wines ( http://www.orzokitchen.com/ ), Fry's Spring Station for great fire roasted pizza ( http://www.frysspringstation.com/ ), and Tavola for excellent italian food ( http://www.tavolavino.com/ ). Enjoy!

Nice range of suggestions, thank you both! I will get a range of possibles together and let the gang decide as we leave Monticello.

Now I have some hope...

There is no University of Charlottesville. The town is a bit small for having its own University like NYU or U of Chicago or even Boston U.

There is one "University of Virginia." Its location is Charlottesville, VA. It is NOT the University of Virginia-Charlottesville.

I like Aroma's (Moroccan/Mediterranean) in the Barrack's Road shopping center. As mentioned, Eppie's is a good choice too. If there is any chance of doing a picnic, try Bellair Market on Ivy Road. Best sandwiches in Charlottesville IMO.

Agree with your assessment of Michie Tavern.

>>There is one "University of Virginia." Its location is Charlottesville, VA. It is NOT the University of Virginia-Charlottesville.is another UVa. UVa Wise.

obxgirl - funny you mention Aroma's; was just looking at their website and thinking it looked really good.

And yes, that was just a typo; thanks for correcting. Lots of memories in Charlottesville for us - our son was born with a heart defect and spent quite a bit of time at the university's medical center. Great doctors.

No, there is one University of Virginia. Just like there is one University of Texas. Those are the flagship schools. Others are just part of the system.

Good to hear that the UVa medical center worked so well for your hobbit.

Whatever, Russ.

Update - we did indeed go to Aromas, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks to everybody for your suggestions, it was an enjoyable day.