Petit Pois Restaurant — Restaurant in Charlottesville

We have lived in Charlottesville for 7 years. While we have only eaten at Petit Pois 4 times, it was the first restaurant we at at when we came up to initially look for places to live and it was the most recent place we have dine out, last night for NYE. It is small and cramped. They can't do anything about that. The service has always been top notch, warm, hospitable, engaging and friendly without being over the top. While nothing we have ever eaten there has been memorable; that isn't a slight. Everything has always been good and of the value that we have paid. A place like this with its' price point need to make good food that is better than what I can do at home and better than a chain or corporate "faux" bistro. Along with the good food and the exceptional service they always hit the mark. Last night was the 2nd time we have come in for a New Years Eve meal. We live within walking distance to the downtown mall and we aren't party animals so we typically don't make NYE reservations and just walk down to the strip and see if we can saddle up at a bar somewhere. Last week my fiancee mentioned that this year she would like to make reservations and go out. I searched everywhere in Charlottesville and the surrounding area and all reservations were booked up. Bummer. So, we decided to do our regular routine, put on decent clothes and walk and see if we could slide in somewhere----our first choice as Petit Pois. We go there and talked to the host to see if there was anything possible available, knowing the probability was low and we were OK with that. The host checked, talked to his folks, came out and showed us to a table. Yes, it was small and it was cramped but THEY MADE IT HAPPEN FOR US. Everything was what we expected. The food was good, the service as great, and the price was reasonable, and we had a nice meal and got home in time to watch the ball drop. Thanks Petit Pois. We will see you...

This restaurant exceeded our expectations! Our daughter was doing a college visit at UVA and we decided to walk around a bit on this beautiful Saturday afternoon. Found this place along the way and decided to grab lunch. Hubby and I ordered the beet/arugula salad, the lamb merguez kale white bean soup, and the trout with green beans. This was more than enough for us to share. The salad was perfect for us - not heavily dressed, which allowed the goat cheese, oranges and beets to shine. The soup was fantastic - well proportioned with the right mix of kale, beans and sausage. I loved that the merguez sausage were meatball-like. The trout was fantastic - the skin was crisp and cooked perfectly (my favorite part), along with the green beans. The almonds, garlic and capers gave it the extra umph. My only critique is there was more butter than I prefer, but we were having lunch at a French restaurant. I cannot forget to mention the cocktails. Hubby's Mezcalita was delicious. My Spicy Compassion was perfect- not too spicy (if you like habaneros, you'll be fine. If you think black pepper is spicy, have a glass of milk ready) and passionfruit forward. If our daughter gets accepted to UVA, we'll...

My partner and I decided to have our last lunch in Charlottesville at Petit Pois. The menu seemed delicious and the reviews online were mostly positive. We arrived at the restaurant with a couple suitcases as we planned to catch a train after our lunch. We were greeted so rudely! We were rushed to enter the restaurant by a server (his name was Chris) who shut down the entrance door rapidly behind us. I asked if they had a little space to put away my suitcase and he replied that he had absolutely no room. He also said abruptly that there were no tables available. I saw one empty and asks if that table was reserved and he replied casually “Oh, yeah, I guess that table is fine.” Then he left, went to another table and completely dismissed us. My partner and I were so shocked by such poor service. After a few minutes of being ignored, we left and walked to a great nearby restaurant called Brasserie Saison. I would have loved to give Petit Pois a good review but we were welcomed so poorly that we went...