Zocalo — Restaurant in Charlottesville

A group of 9 of us were looking for somewhere to seat us for dinner this past Saturday evening. It seemed that downtown was very busy and most places turned us away because they didn't have the room or it was too late. Once we walked up to a crowded Zocalo patio the manager Danny immediately said he would make it work for us. Danny pulled together tables and chairs for us tucked away in a space that did not normally have tables. He personally waited on us, we were very thankful and he responded by thanking us for coming in. He informed us that the kitchen was closed but he had asked them to stay open for us. Again we were extremely thankful as we had a long day tubing and were starving. He separated checks for us, suggested the most amazing Pina Coladas I have every had and gave great attentive service. The food was delicious and freshly prepared. Honestly Danny and the chefs at Zocalo turned our evening around. Most of were hot, hungry and hangry. Total change in attitude after Danny's great attitude and the immediate glasses of ice water that were provided to us once we sat down. I worked in the restaurant world for 10 plus years, and I know that managers,servers and kitchen staff are usually annoyed when a party shows up after hours or close to closing time. The staff at Zocalo was the complete opposite, they were accommodating and thankful for our business. At the end of the meal one member of our party wanted ice cream, it was late and we didn't think anything was open, but he asked anyway if Danny knew of any places that were still open. Danny said hold on- he ran off- he came back within minutes and said that he had run down to Chaps and told them we were coming! I thought well that is nice, he probably just saw they were open and told us. Turned out after we got to Chaps, that indeed Danny had gone over there, and they had stayed open for us- Talk about service! Over and beyond wonderful. If ever in the area again I will definitely be returning and I will tell all that go to Charlottesville to check out Zocalo and Danny. Thank you again for the superb...

Today was my birthday dinner at Zocalo. Service was pretty bad but I don’t blame the server because she was training and made us feel very comfortable. She made many mistakes here and there which we weren’t mad about but when we discovered the 20% gratuity was required due to our 7 person table, we politely requested to choose our own tip to the manager Tori and she was extremely condescending, rude, and not understanding of our requests. I understand having a concrete gratuity rule for large parties, but not agreeing to comp a meal that came out 30 minutes late when I was fasting that ended up being overcooked (which I was of course not going to send back given I was starving and impatient) and then saying I should have sent it back and so now my complaints are invalid was pretty ridiculous in my opinion. Again, there were issues with the service but my main issue was with the manager’s attitude and also just the quality of the food not being as good as the last time I had been there. My friend let me take a bite of the fried oyster in her spinach salad which I, upon my third chew, discovered had a shell in it by biting into it. The chef then came out when he heard my friends and I planned to write reviews and was quite rude and dismissive but we ended up reaching a conclusion with him, I also understand his defensiveness given he is the owner of the restaurant. Overall strange experience, I’m sure this is just a one off and that I had bad birthday luck but I just felt I needed to post this. Also a lot of the arguments surrounding us not getting comped was the fact that we hadn’t complained earlier, which we did complain before the server came with our check, so the opportunity to comp was there. They kept hammering in on the fact that we should’ve sent the food back, but we waited so long for it so I don’t see how they weren’t more understanding. Rant...

My wife and I were in search of restaurant for breakfast/brunch on a recent Saturday morning in the historic district of Charlottesville. We had never heard of Zocalo and, in fact, didn’t even see the restaurant as we wandered East Main street in search of quality but affordable breakfast fare.

It was the aroma of bacon mixed with pumpkin muffins that caught my attention. We followed the trail that led us to the front door of Zocalo as they were opening. An affable hostess seated us near the fireplace, then our waitress guided us through the brunch menu.

I opted for the crab cakes benedict while my wife tried the Spanish breakfast. Both dishes were superb, a wonderful fusion of American and Latin America ingredients. All the food was locally sourced and tasted especially fresh. I consider myself an eggs benedict connoisseur, and Zocalo’s dish, especially with the addition of the cascabel hollandaise sauce, was among the very best I’ve tasted. My wife agreed, stating that hers was the most savory and enjoyable breakfast she had experienced.

On the recommendation of our waitress, we ordered pumpkin muffins whose recipe was bequeathed to Zocalo by HotCakes, the beloved Charlottesville bakery, famous for this baked confection, which closed in 2021. Don’t skip this delectable treat. Perfectly baked with crispy edges and warm velvety insides, and the ideal complement to breakfast coffee.

So high was our impression, that we stopped by the kitchen on leaving to salute chef Will Miguel, thanking him for the meal and congratulating him for his fine work. After chatting, Will offered us two pumpkin muffins for the road. With food and service like that, there is no doubt that we’ll be back.

Visit Zocalo for a meal – you won’t be...