We've all been there: The kitchen cupboard is bare and you've got a craving for dining out, but you're strapped for cash. Luckily, in Charlottesville, a budget doesn't have to mean dining at a sketchy Chinese joint or the Golden Arches. Great food is possible no matter how many (or how few) bills are in your pocket. With this in mind, we set out to find the most delicious food possible on the most modest budget.
Normally, when we think of the Downtown Mall, we think of expensive, trendy restaurants, but lurking around the corner from Hamilton's or the Downtown Grille frugal eaters can satiate their appetite as well. Some of these wallet-friendly spots are even among Charlottesville's best-loved restaurants.
Our first stop was Marco & Luca's dumpling shop, which has moved from a tiny hole-in-the-wall to a more spacious locale in York Place. These dumplings are the ultimate bargain find: for a mere $2.50, you get six pork dumplings in a tangy dipping sauce. A dollar or two more will buy you hot & sour soup, sesame noodles or a steaming pork or vegetable bun. We loved these dumplings, which are pan-fried pot-stickers: the dough somehow manages to be crispy and tender at the same time, and the pork filling is juicy and flavorful. We also split a pork bun, a steaming-hot round of fluffy dough enveloping morsels of pork in a sweet and spicy sauce.
After those delicious appetizers (which set us back less than five bucks), we packed up and walked to the brightly-lit shop front of Christian's Pizza for our main course. At almost all times of day, you will see rows of happy people sitting along the windows, contentedly munching on generous slices of pie. And they should be happy: Christian, whoever he is, makes one helluva pizza. The crispy, thin-crust pizza dough is rivaled only by the sheer wealth of toppings you can order: artichokes, tortellini and pine nuts can all be found gracing the tops of these pizzas. We sampled two of their delicious varieties. One featured chopped fresh spinach, sautéed mushrooms, garlic, tomatoes and feta cheese on a light tomato base. The other had sautéed spinach, artichoke hearts and mozzarella on a pesto base. Both were excellent; the textures and flavors of the toppings complemented, rather than competed with, the delicious dough. And best of all, one enormous slice will only put a small dent in your wallet. At $3.50 each, just try to limit yourself to one!
Any perfect dinner must end with dessert, and in that spirit we walked up the Mall to Splendora's Gelato. We were struck first by the décor: posh and playful at the same time, luxurious chocolate-colored booths were offset by the rows of candy-colored gelato calling to us from the display cases. Although the more disciplined can opt for single, double or triple-scoop cups or cones, we were drawn to the Splendora Sampler: mini-scoops of eight different flavors artfully arranged on a frosty palette-shaped dish (a steal at only $5.75). All were delicious -- gelato is inherently luxurious, since it contains less air than regular ice cream and is therefore denser and creamier. The flavors run the gamut from the traditional (chocolate) to the wild (Jack Daniels). Our favorites included dulce de leche and pomegranate, which packed a ridiculously intense fruit flavor into a tiny scoop of gelato. Accompanied by a shot of bracing espresso, the gelato hit the spot.
See? We told you it wouldn't be that hard: for less than $10 per person, we ate our way through the equivalent of a three-course meal at three different restaurants just a stone's throw away from one another. So in the future, don't think that a filling, tasty meal has to come with a hefty price tag. In Charlottesville, budgeting can be a beautiful thing.
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