Inka Grill Peruvian Cuisine — Restaurant in Charlottesville

A very good first visit to this restaurant.

The details of the meal follow, but the short take is, the food is very good.

The restaurant doesn't have the best seating situation and the latest rage of open ceilings we see in many places will likely make this place loud when packed. They were probably at half capacity or less when we were there and the loudmouths were clear.

There are large screen TVs on both sides of the restaurant and a full bar. None of the TVs were on when we were there, but I can imagine what it was like during the World Cup!

My guess is, this place is full at prime times just because of the food. We were lucky to be there between 1-1:30 for lunch and were seated quickly and allowed to choose our table. Once we settled on a table it took some time for the server to take our orders. Then, the meals came before we had time to enjoy our cocktails. Very fast meal service. In the future we will remember to order and enjoy our cocktails for a while before ordering the food. This is not the place to be in a hurry because the food should be savored.

Notably, our server noticed our table was wobbly. Almost no servers actually bring this up themselves, but this guy, who we learned is Peruvian and has been in America for about a year, was proactive and adjusted the feet on the table for us. It was refreshing for a server to "do the right thing" for a customer like that.

My wife had Frijol con seco. Basically a roast beef or pot roast style cooked-to-tender beef dish with a rice and bean cake. She enjoyed it.

I had the Lomo Saltado and loved it. This is more of a grilled or griddled beef chunks and I could really taste that aspect of it. The doneness was perfectly medium rare. I wasn't asked my preference but thats what it is. It might not be so for people who dont like red/pink beef though. They should order what my wife had. Cooking what I had any longer would be a crime against good beef.

The pairing of two starches, french fries and rice was a little strange to me. The fries on the plate so the sauce of the dish starts making them soggy. Even the fries that didn't contact the sauce were not "crunchy" as the menu states. The fries were OK, but otherwise unremarkable. I would have preferred the fries on the side and the rice paired on the dish soaking up the sauce from underneath, but eating fries like this must be a cultural thing in other countries. I didn't dare ask for ketchup!

I didn't like the dish it was plated on. It had high sides making it very hard to cut the meat/food, easily tipping the dish. They give you, basically, butter knives to cut the food. That's not helpful, but I always carry a small, sharp, pocket knife that surprises servers to see me eat with! This is an issue at many restaurants. They give you dull knives...the most dangerous of all knives.

We each had a cocktail but its hard to be accurate because the take out and online menu have no cocktails on them to remind us of exactly what they were called for me to refer to. My wife had a mojito and was a little disappointed that she took the servers suggestion of the mango (I think it was) version. It was a little too sweet for her and $2 more that we weren't informed of. She said she would have the basic one next time.

I had the basic Pisco Sour, the first one on the sour list, and loved it! Pisco is a liquor made from grapes and the sour is similar to a whiskey sour made smooth and creamy by blending with egg whites. The best new-to-me cocktail I've had in a very long time.

We will definitely be back. So much...

I was totally overtaken by the variety and taste of the Peruvian food can be found at the Inka Grill! The Inka Grill is a far cry from what I had come to expect from Peruvian restaurants, previously I had only found places that focused on the wonderful Peruvian roasted chicken and a few authentic sides. If that is what you are looking for you can find it at the Inka Grill, but if you want to delve into a bigger variety of Peruvian cuisine this is your place. I did not think to take pictures until we had started eating so please do not judge the presentation of the dishes from my pics. We started with the Octupus Anticuchero, the delicately sliced Octupus with the Aji panca and garlic vinegar sauce was wonderful. Between the thee of us it was more than enough. We all had different dishes, Ceviche de Pescado Inti with it’s yellow pepper cream with citrus juices was amazing as was the Leche de tigre ceviche was to die for. Their use of authentic Aji Amarillo peppers really highlighted their foods, delicious. The Tacu tacu con lomo with its soft pieces of steak sautéed with onions, cilantro, tomatoes covered in an oriental sauce introduced us to the Asian influences in Peruvian food.

We all shared our dishes as the diversity and depth of the flavors were very interesting and tasty.

I’ve not been to many restaurants that everyone talked about following the meal. It was so delightful that we ordered more the next day through Uber Eats. Our stay in Charlottesville was short, I hope they bring one to the Raleigh Durham area soon or else I’ll be making more trips to Charlottesville.

Thank you for great service and an...

Very disappointed with how this place has continued to go down hill, despite of the numerous times that I have gone back to it in hopes that the service is what it used to be. There is a particular dish in this place that I really like, and is the reason why I have gone back a few times after my initial bad experience. However, the service continues to be terrible, and to top things off, the dish that I have always enjoyed eating at this place was not that great when we last visited 2 days ago. It is a shame. As far as the service goes, there is usually just 2 teenagers holding the entire place down, thus, the service is extremely slow and lacking to say the least. When we visited 2 days ago, we were the only customers in addition to two other tables. The entire rest of the restaurant was empty, and even with that, it took for ever for the waitress to stop by our table to take our order. It also took for ever for our food to finally come out. Nobody ever came to check and see how the food was, nor to refill our drinks. As stated before, the food was also not that great this last time that we visited. The demeanor from the 2 teenagers who usually are the only ones working there is very nonchalant and careless. Clearly providing decent customer service is not their priority whatsoever. Unfortunately this is not a restaurant that I would...