Rapture - Charlottesville

The food was fabulous, wine pairings were smart, and the wait staff was absolutely amazing.

We've had many good meals in Charlottesville; there are many excellent restaurants to chose from. We thought we'd try Rapture on a nice weather night where we could dine outside. They advertise as farm-to-table which is a plus in my book and the posted menu featured some appealing choices although the menu we scanned at the table may have been slightly different. My margarita was good; my husband's Old Fashioned was a miss. The thinnest slice of tiny dry orange rind was thegarnish and instead of simple syrup, a small lump of granular something was found at the bottom of his drink. It did not come with a stir stick so all was lost on that. His cheese steak was fine, my short ribs were very fatty and the dishwas served lukewarm. The scant amount of fried onions on top were wilted and there was about a fourth of a small celery stick and a few small purple carrots(? floating in the lukewarm grits. Our server asked if I'd like it boxed to takehome and I let her know that it was very fatty and just not good. She removed my plate without saying a word. No rapture here, unfortunately. We hated to leave so disappointed as we were excited to try someplace new. A scoop of ice creamfrom nearby Chaps was quickly employed to save the night!

Server apologized just a few times too many for being the only one working today and seemed harried. Never checked on us, never refilled waters. My food was disappointing and too greasy. Place was more of a dive than I expected.

Brunch si delicious at Rapture. I recommend the French Toast or omlette.

The food quality was outstanding. The variety of the southern style cuisine was pleasantly surprising. The service was prompt, but I wish our server had a little more personality. I also felt like I was guilted into using a compostable to-go food container, which I don 't mind using, but the way the option of food container presented to me was unusual.