The downstairs is Si Tapas, the upstairs is called Is. Just a flip of the two letters, two venues. Both venues opened their doors last week and it seems like things have been going well for the team, although this is not the first restaurant the group has opened. The old Star Hill space seems so big, but they have confidence that Charlottesville needs a music venue and another place and a different slant on tapas. The space is very pretty on the inside. Even though it’s spacious, I like the coziness of the couches and big armed chairs. It seems like they have paid very close attention to detail because even the ceiling is beautiful, it’s composed of very detailed panels, and adds some architectural interest to the room. I’ll let you know when I get to try the food.
Have you tried it? What did you think?
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We went in, and it’s lovely inside. They’re using the space a lot more efficiently than Starr Hill. Service was nice, laid-back, and enjoyable except for the clumsy food runner who placed all of our plates directly in front of my wife.
But, the food was way too overpriced for what you get. Our table of four spent $110 on food and drinks, but we were still very hungry afterwards. The cheese plate for $10 contained exactly six very small pieces of cheese. Our broccolini plate was okay, but was served on a plate with no decorations. Our hummus plate was served with not enough bread, so I ate the rest with a fork! The only value came in the olives, which were served hot!
I doubt we’ll go back. We’re too poor.
I’m not a big fan of tapas but they have done a great job renovating the space. Looks like it will be a pretty cool place to at least have a few drinks at night. It is also nice that C’ville will now have a new venue for live music performances as the upstairs portion will definitely accommodate.
That’s sad to hear about the food. One of the reasons I love The Local so much is because the portions are so big, reasonably priced and also very tasty, plus you feel satisfied when you leave, not like you just had a snack. I went to Enoteca when they first opened and I remember putting what I thought was a piece of cheese on a cracker and eating it, one of my friends was laughing, he told me I can’t believe you just ate the cheese for the whole table. I had no idea such a small piece of cheese was for the entire table, I’m so unrefined I guess.
Ha ha ha. That cheese story is hilarious – a very downtown Charlottesville problem. I love Bang and Mas even though I complain about the prices and avoid anything that sounds like a “cheese plate”. I’m exciting about a cool venue returning to that area. Hopefully this well help extend the Mall crowd Main St.
Never mind gas prices. Why is cheese so expensive in this town? Something must be done! I hereby call for the construction of a cheese pipeline to transport delectable dairy goodness from England to my house.
aahaha! The cheese man at the market downtown(I think it still has one more weekend left…but I could be wrong) gives away all his cheese, well I would hope people give him some money. He’s always out of cheese by around 11 when I make it that way (so this too proves there must be a lack of it around here.)
correction not give him some money…I think he says DONATIONS are accepted for the delicious cheese.
The Club of Charlottesville went to Si Tapas last night. Not much has changed since the Star Hill days. Kelly, the ceiling is the same as it was when it was Star Hill, it is very pretty though.
Try the Sangria. It comes in a big glass with ice and had a different twist then Mas.
Well I went to Si last night and had the WORST dining experience ever with the WORST, RUDE service ever.
My beau and I had an 8pm reservation for a 7-course wine dinner, which was going to be our Valentine’s Day dinner. This time was posted both on their website, and in their ad.
We arrived 10 minutes past 8 and were informed that they were already on the 3rd course.
Turns out they changed the dinner time to 7:30 without updating their website.
They did not want to serve us the early-serve courses we would have been paying for, and the manager had the nerve to tell us that “Since you were late. . .” What a lack of finesse!
After hesitation, we left and went to Zoccalo where our similarly-priced dinner was delicious and served by a pleasant, informative waiter.