Villa Diner — Restaurant in Charlottesville

I finally made it to the new/current location and first off the inside is absolutely beautiful and I don’t say that about many restaurants! I watch the shows Restaurant Impossible and Bar Rescue and the new location reminds me of the “after” part of the show once all of the renovations are finished and revealed.

I love how even though they aren’t quite as close to UVA grounds as the old location (that’s what the campus is referred to for all out of towners reading this) they still have a lot of UVA pictures/posters up.

When I arrived I was greeted and was told there was about a five minute wait so while I waited I looked up the menu online. I knew they didn’t do pizza anymore which is a bummer because they were my favorite “non fast food” pizza (I consider Domino’s, Pizza Hut, etc as “fast food” pizza).

I decided on the chicken tender wrap with homemade ranch dressing, lettuce and tomato with fries. There wasn’t too much lettuce and the tomatoes were so finely diced they complimented the chicken instead of tasting more tomato. They serve crinkle fries which I absolutely love and you don’t see often! They are so well seasoned too!! If they’ve kept the same recipes then I’m sure everything is good. My father and I used to frequent the old location but in the evenings more than day time so it wasn’t always busy but my visit at the new location business was booming like it probably did at the old one except not as many people in the restaurant because of Covid restrictions.

I had a really great waitress (Tiffany I think) who always asked if I wanted another Pepsi.

Pros and cons of the place -

Pro: Great food (breakfast served until they close) friendly staff Very reasonably priced Clean More than just booth seating (old location had narrow old booths) The area you pay is not as close,to the entrance like at the old location

Cons (but not a deterrent for me): They don’t have pizza anymore Took the Italian dishes off the menu (they had really good manicotti) They took the fried mushrooms off the menu They only do breakfast and lunch now because they close in the afternoon (way earlier than at the old location) Small parking lot and be patient trying to get out onto...

I really wanted to give this restaurant a high review. We were in the area for a medical appointment, and the existing views and pictures made this place look great. We headed over craving some delicious breakfast fare, and a nice relaxing atmosphere. The first impression was fine, the hostess who seated us was an extremely pleasant man. The place had a basic small town diner vibe with nothing special to set it apart from other mom and pop type eateries. I was a bit surprised at the limited offerings on the menu. I ordered the bacon and Swiss omlette, which was a 3 egg omlette with your choice of bread/toast. and My son ordered the Super big complete breakfast which consisted of eggs, a meat choice, hash browns, bread choice, a small juice, and coffee. Our waitress was okay, not friendly, but not rude, just someone going through the motions of her daily grind. I was dubious when our plates arrived, they were very unappealing. My omlette was extremely dry, and my English muffin was burned on the outside, but doughy in the middle. The omlette had so much bacon in it, that salt and bacon was all you could taste, there was barely any Swiss cheese at all, and it was overcooked and rubbery. My son had the same problem with his english muffin as I did. He said his food was okay. I ate as much of the omlette as I could manage to choke down, which was maybe a third. My son who has a big appetite did not finish his meal either. Considering that the portions were very small, that kind of sums it up. I was sadly disappointed. Our dining experience was nothing even remotely close to the yummy homey local gem the website portrayed. Total cost after tip $37.49! A sad waste of hard...

We liked coming here with friends. But things changed one day! After that we have not returned nor would we recommend this restaurant!!! Enjoyed our meal with our friends that day. Two of us ordered hot chocolate. It was so delicious, we asked for a 2nd cup.

The waitress gave us a new cup. I get to the bottom of my cup and I see one to two sugar substitute packets in the bottom of my cup! 🤢🤮 I thought I was going to throw up!!

I got up to tell the waitress and a manager. He tried to make light of the situation which was not nice! He said the cup was washed. But if it was that didn't matter. I DRANK ALL THE HOT CHOCOLATE OUT THE CUP AND THERE WAS TRASH AT THE BOTTOM OF MY CUP!!! What didn't he understand I thought?

I felt like it wasn't washed. Thinking of my mouth being on a cup someone else used. Their trash at the bottom and the waitress NOT looking inside the cup. It was and IS GROSS!!!

I expressed how sick I felt about it. I went back to my table, told my friends. I didn't want to ruin their meal. But it was soooo hard to sit there and not think about it. As well as remembering management didn't really seem to care!

When we got up to pay the same manager came up and said he would take care of the charge for my meal. We haven't returned! No plans to. Our friends love the place, but we don't recommend...