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A Bite at the Biltmore

Trip to newly renovated Corner restaurant fails to impress

Like many University students, I thought not having a meal plan while living off-Grounds was a brilliant idea. Instead of spending ungodly prices for each "delicious" meal Newcomb Hall provided me, I would instead make healthier, tastier options for my meals at a much lower cost.\nLet us just say those meals have yet to be created. My personalized meal plan consists of peanut butter and jelly for lunch and leftover pasta for dinner. The only time I even used the oven was to make my friend's birthday cake, which I am pretty sure I was one minute away from burning.\nTherefore, when I recently went for dinner with a friend at Biltmore Grill on Elliewood Avenue, I was excited about the prospect of a real meal. The Biltmore underwent a renovation this summer, opening again in time for the new semester.\nWhen we arrived outside the Biltmore, however, my friend and I were confused as to whether the restaurant was actually open. Evidently, the Biltmore decided on a soft opening for the first few weeks of school, and the giant banner outside indicated that the grand opening was taking place the next day. The pile of trash outside the entrance did not help our confusion.\nAfter finding men in Biltmore T-shirts with whom we could inquire, we eventually discovered that the restaurant was indeed open for business. My friend and I were seated immediately and chose to sit outside because of the nice - and for once, not stifling - Charlottesville weather.\nThe outdoor seating features wooden benches, plastic picnic tables and fairly comfortable metal chairs. The area is decorated by smaller trees and was protected by a built-in wooden overhang. The crowd was fairly meager when we arrived, but by the time we left, the outdoor area was almost completely filled, save for one table.\nThe Biltmore's new menu is short, featuring one side for food and the other side for drinks. The revamped Biltmore seems to emphasize their drink options. Our waitress asked us at least five times if we wanted to try the "$5 frozen drinks" or stick around for happy hour at 8:00 p.m.. My friend and I were not old enough to order any, but the people around us seemed eager for the cheaper drinks and appeared to enjoy them.\nThe Biltmore's food selection is rather general, offering the usual sandwiches, burgers and salads. Most prices on the menu run between $7 to $10.\nTo start, we split the spinach dip for $7. It was at our table in less than five minutes but arrived completely refrigerated, complete with small chunks of unmelted feta on top. Although I am not exactly a food connoisseur, I have never had refrigerated spinach dip, and after trying the dip with the tortilla chips and small bread pieces provided, it was obvious the dip was supposed to be heated.\nWe asked our waitress if they could reheat it for us, and she gladly complied. Yet, when she returned, the dip was not even lukewarm. Notably, it took her longer to bring out the reheated dip than it did to bring the original version in the first place.\nFor the entr

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