Bar Tomas — Restaurant in Charlottesville

To echo some of the previous comments, it was as though the woman at the counter was extremely irritated at everyone who came in. We were ignored for about 5 minutes (not even a hello) and then when she eventually came over she just said "What do you want?"...not the warmest breakfast environment, but not the end of the world. What was absolutely a killer was the food.

Before we get there, let's talk about the menu. There are no paper copies, so you have to rely on the chalk board. The titles on the chalk board were written by someone that cares, but the menu looks like it was written by a rushed child who was intent on making sure no one can understand what they wrote. And, our friendly hostess seemed to be irritated when every customer that came in commented on an inability to read the menu. See the attached picture to see what I mean.

Now, onto the food. The place is called Quality Pie, so I figured I'd start with a piece of apple pie. Despite being told it was made earlier that morning (it was only 930 at the time), it came out of the fridge (why would you refrigerate a fresh pie that you expect to sell that day?), but even though it was cold, it totally fell apart on the plate. The crust separated from the filling and it became a pie mess. The hostess/waitress noticed this, attempted to smoosh it back together, and, not thinking I noticed her doing that and failing, decided to try and cover it up with whipped cream.

How did the pie taste? It tasted as though it had been dressed with vinegar. Look, I know properly made apple pie has a touch of vinegar in it. But, you should not think you are eating vinegar pie when it's done. Without having a 50-50 ration of heavy whipped cream to pie, it was entirely inedible. Like, bad bad.

We also ordered an apple fritter, beignet, at chocolate chip cookie. The cookie had decent flavor but was extremely stale. At least it tasted good. As to the fried treats, there is a special arrogance to serve fritters and beignets cold (items that take 30 seconds to fry fresh). There's a reason no where else serves them cold: it is disgusting. It would be like offering someone McDonald's fries three hours after they were made. Why wouldn't they just fry them fresh for people?

My wife also paid $15 (!!!) for what turned out to be the most horrendously made salmon lox meal we have ever had. They basically took a piece of old rye bread, smeared some cheese spread on it, took a handful of undressed (why?) greens, a piece of store bought lox, and a mangled egg and called that a meal. The egg (see attached photo) somehow overcooked the yolk while leaving runny whites. That's bad execution to the point that it would be hard to replicate. But, replicate they did as the woman sitting behind us sent her eggs back to be recooked for the same reason. We spared ourselves from having another interaction with the hostess/waitress and took it home for our dog to eat.

Positive: The coffee was quite good, according to my wife. Although, in a first from a breakfast place, they charge you extra for refills. It was as though they wanted to make sure that exactly zero of the experience there was good.

On a beautiful saturday morning, it is no surprise that this had to be the only breakfast place in town that was virtually empty. Now we know why. We wasted $29 dollars on poorly executed food, felt uncomfortable the entire time, and left entirely...

Missed the mark.

It was our first visit today after having it in mind to try for a while.

When you walk in the menu was half way down the bar. Unable to read really well from where you order. Because of the size, we couldn't step past the group of people sitting down eating to see it better. It didn't help the menu was written badly, really unorganized. It's fine that it's a small place and it's busy, but put the menu where people order and make it make it more readable.

So we asked what sandwiches they had, and the lady taking our order said she didn't know. I asked her, "is that Chorizo Iberico I see?" She said she wasn't sure and they like to write items in Spanish so she couldn't tell. It's fine it's written in Spanish, but you guys have to know what you're selling so you can tell us at least. She explained she had pork shoulder with potatoes and a pesto sauce, it sounded great so we ordered it. I saw Tortilla Espanola (Spanish omelette) so said I'll take that too!

We honestly weren't 100% sure if we were getting a sandwich. But the ingredients sounded on point.

The Tortilla came out. It was drizzled with olive oil and black paper. It had no onions from what I could tell, just potato and egg made up the tortilla. Most of the flavor of a classic Spanish omelette comes from caramelized onions. So unfortunately it had very little flavor, other than the pepper and olive oil. The potatoes were cut and placed in the omelette dauphinois style. Thin and horizontally layered. This meant the omelette had an odd texture when you cut in to it and ate it. Unfortunately I think it was also microwaved, because it was scorching hot on the inside and tepid warm on the outside.

No one makes a Spanish omelette like my mother, I admit it, and I wouldn't begrudge any place that didn't make it as well as she does. But this really wasn't a Spanish omelette like I'd ever tasted. Bland, odd textured and unevenly hot meaning all I could really taste was the black pepper and olive oil on top.

The pork shoulder (Iberico) came out and it wasn't a sandwich. But it looked appetizing. Hunks of potato and pork shoulder, tossed in oil, smothered in a pesto type of sauce with a fried egg and sour cream on top. It was delicious. The egg was cooked perfectly, the meat was insanely good. Everything just worked well together.

But.... everything else we ran in to let the place down. I heard the chef came from MAS just down the road so I had higher hopes. But for us, the basics were wrong. You can't mess up a Spanish omelette. I mean you can, but you shouldn't. It's a staple, you need to get it right. It doesn't have to be the best, but it needs to be tasty and there was just nothing pleasant to their version.

Also, the setup before the food was just confusing, hard work and unwelcoming.

I'll give it another try. But today, it missed the...

Quality Pie on Avon in Charlottesville is a delicious experience, and I had long heard of it as a 'must-visit'. It's true. I was not sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a lot more than pie.

Tomas Rahal, who created Quality Pie, was on the premises during my visit, and just happens to be good friends with my lunchmates. I got to hear him talk a bit about grapes and yeast and sample some delicious wine ahead of the meal. The two wines we sampled were from the same grape, but the two versions were worlds apart, one like an imperial russian stout, quite dark and viscous, and the other like a bright chardonnay, yellow with a solid tang. He told us the only difference between the two was time. The rich coffee was a beautiful contrast.

While we waited, I visited the beautiful art, small sculptural displays, and inviting atmosphere of the interior. We sat outside, and Avon provided a lively show.

Tomas invited us to try the fresh chanterelle frittata, but I had my hopes set on the chorizo, egg, pepper and polenta, which was divine, a spanish morning on a plate. Each bite revealed texture and flavor in good balance. The chorizo is from a local charcuterie, bright with spice and taut, with a snap in the casing. It reminded me of kielbasa. The egg was perfectly cooked and seasoned, with the yolk still velvety in a cooked pocket, and salt in good measure. The polenta was crisp with a soft center, and the pepper was sweet and cooked to a still-firm bite.

Perhaps the most beautiful moment was giving Tomas a hug after we ate, he's a buddha who walks amongst us, and it was a kind gesture to exchange thanks for the delicious meal and conversation. Service was kind and quick, the food was quality defined, and the atmosphere is a quiet contrast to the bustle of the city....