The Charlottesville 29

What is The Charlottesville 29? At its core, it is an insider’s guide to Charlottesville’s essential restaurants, answering: if there were just 29 restaurants in Charlottesville, what would be the ideal 29? More background here.

Whether you’re visiting Charlottesville for the first time or a longtime resident deciding where to spend your hard-earned money, the guide helps to decide where to go and what to order when you get there. For each entry, it explains why it made the list and also includes ordering recommendations from the restaurant’s own chef/owner as well other chefs and personalities around town. Before you go to Tavola for example, learn what chef-owner Michael Keaveny suggests eating there, as well as dishes other chefs say not to miss. The latter suggestions come from archives of Five Finds on Friday, a weekly list of five favorite food items in the area, picked by area chefs and personalities. The guide includes hundreds of favorite dishes from the archives.

How do restaurants make the list? Entries are chosen annually by me, the longtime restaurant writer for C-VILLE Weekly. Food is my passion, and I have eaten thousands of restaurant meals in Charlottesville over the past 25 years. Selections are based strictly on my assessment, as there is no advertising on the site. Nor has it ever made a penny of revenue.

Restaurants on The Charlottesville 29 are easy to spot around town because they display a 29 window decal.

You can find the 2018 Charlottesville 29 here, and the 2019 Charlottesville 29 announcement will begin in February. Meanwhile, check back here next week when top Charlottesville chefs name the best thing they ate all year.