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✔️Breakfast ✔️Brunch ✔️Lunch ✔️Dinner ✔️Dine in
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Hours
| Tuesday | 5–8 PM |
| Wednesday | 5–8 PM |
| Thursday | 5–8 PM |
| Friday | 5–8 PM |
| Saturday | 5–8 PM |
| Sunday | 5–8 PM |
| Monday | 5–8 PM |
Address and Contact Information
Address: 1296 Clifton Inn Dr, Charlottesville, VA 22911
Phone: (434) 971-1800
Website: http://www.the-clifton.com/
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1799 – Romantic Restaurants in Charlottesville, VA – The Clifton
1799 is one of the most romantic restaurants in Charlottesville, VA. The restaurant’s seasonal menus highlight dishes showcasing local ingredients.
The Clifton in Charlottesville, VA
Stay at The Clifton, Charlottesville’s premier boutique hotel. Enjoy luxury, amenities, and ideal location. Book your visit now!
1799 at The Clifton Restaurant – Charlottesville, VA | OpenTable
The restaurant serves lunch, brunch and dinner. Current published hours are: Brunch, Sunday 11:30 am–2:00 pm; Lunch, Monday–Saturday 11:30 am–2:00 pm; Dinner, …
Reviews
Dennis Kirkpatrick
This was our first trip to 1799. We will return. The Inn was well appointed and the restaurant was intimate. There is one table by the fire place. Menu was not too extensive ( which is preferred), but had plenty of choices of proteins, pasta and salads. I was very impressed with the wine and cocktail list. Wine spectator awards for many years. Great choice of local medal winning wines. Cocktails were creative with quality liquor and fresh ingredients. Plating matched the quality of the food and meats seemed locally sourced. The flavor combinations on the plate was creative. Finally we split a dessert (caramel tart) with Chantilly cream. My new go too.
… moreChristopher Ramnarine
This is a beautiful restaurant in a beautiful Inn with a rich history. The service here was immaculate thank you Tim for taking care of us, but the star was the food! Everything from the warm bread to the mussels were rich and flavorful and well portioned out. I had the lamb shank which was succulent and fell off the bone and the pasta as well was amazing. We also had some great cocktails from the copper bar that were well balanced and delicious. This is a wonderful visit with great decor and history.
… moreAutumn K.
We came here tonight to celebrate our anniversary and were not disappointed! All of our food was excellent, I especially enjoyed the Halibut, and the desserts were just as wonderful. The service was on point and the timing of our courses was punctual. We enjoyed the ambiance of the restaurant for our celebration dinner and hope to return again!
… moreAshley McMurray
We had such a great experience here! The food was phenomenal- I had the fish and my husband had the steak and it was wonderful! I also had the blueberry dessert. The service was perfect, I highly recommend coming here!
… moreSara Conklin
This place is stunning and the chef is a mastermind. We celebrated our anniversary here and they treat you son kindly with a lot of special touches (if you let them know it’s a celebration when you make a reservation). The food was so flavorful. Even the bread was amazing. We got the lobster beignets, which I think was even better than the entree. The only thing we didn’t like was the Crème Fraiche on top of the chocolate cake, which was quite sour, even for regular Crème Fraiche. But, we would 100% recommend this as one of the best restaurants in the region.
… moreKenny D
Second Valentines Day event for my wife and me (yes correct grammar). We were also here for the restaurant week meal a couple of weeks before. The food was good, but we did not care for where we were seated then. We were blessed with one of the best seats in the house this 2024 Valentines Day…which is also our anniversary, which they recognized nicely.
For people not familiar with this place, the chef is French trained, it is a very different cuisine if you are not familiar with it. Often very rich but subtle on spices and sometimes complex and always artful plating.
This year the food was an improvement over last year, but the time to be served the 5 courses was almost excruciating. If we could afford many drinks and bottles of wine, and stayed at the Clifton so we could stagger to our accommodations, that would be fine, but the wine and drinks here are confiscatory priced for the average person. The $75 bottle of wine we ordered (one of the least expensive available) was gone by the third course and that was sipping slowly. As it did in 2023, it took 2-1/2 hours from seating to leaving. My rear-end was sore from sitting…I should have taken a walk halfway through.
On to the food:
1st course:
I had the Olde Salt Oysters. Never had anything like it. They were tasty, “interesting” and complex, but don’t recall tasting the actual oyster. There was so much going on and slightly sweet. Hard to wrap my head around sweet with oysters, but I’m not versed in French fine dining.
My wife had the lobster bisque. It was good but room temperature, not hot at all and the blood orange supremes in it were certainly unusual. She kept thinking they were going to be pieces of lobster. Not.
2nd course: (we both had the same thing going forward) Gulf Prawns and Grits.
Good, very rich, “interesting”. They lightly coated and deep fried the prawn heads/bodies and had them at the edge of the bowl. Looking around, this confused others as well. Recalling that people in other cultures eat shrimp shell and all; I took a bite. The shells are not for me. My wife didn’t even consider it. It was the heads. She’s not eating that.
3rd course: Shallow Poached Striped Bass
We’re not sure we’ve ever had bass before. I always thought of bass as a sport fishing fish rather than a fish people eat much. Turns out in the hands of Chef Matthew, it is an outstanding fish. It was cooked to perfection…JUST barely beyond slightly raw. I would have loved a pinch of salt over it.
4th course: Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder
Outstanding. Again, we are accustomed to more seasonings, but the lamb was excellent. This was the dish we decided to take some home because the service is so slow. By the time we got to this course, our stomach had told our minds we were full…done with dinner. Upon reheating at home, a little salt and pepper and a side of smashed roasted potatoes made an excellent leftover for another dinner.
5th course: Chocolate Crème Brulé
Good flavor but the crème was a bit grainy. Not sure how that happens. I make crème Brulé at home, and it is never grainy. I’ve never made a chocolate version though.
All in all it was a good service for $110 each…a special occasion of something we never do otherwise. We are not sure we will do it again. Not because of the $110 each. The service time was just too long (not the server’s fault, I think it is a small kitchen and they can only cook, plate and expedite so many plates at a time) and we like wine or cocktails with dinner and anything alcohol here is outrageously expensive.
With one bottle of wine and a 25% tip we spent over $400. Average people cannot fully understand and appreciate the cuisine here. I kept a menu beside me and even shared it with the couple next to us so we could reference what we were supposed to be tasting. It was helpful.
I had to remove my first review (2023 Valentines Day). Not enough characters allowed to keep it all. There were a few more misses with the food for us then, but the service was outstanding. Excruciatingly slow but you really feel the upscale sense dining here.
… moreFor people not familiar with this place, the chef is French trained, it is a very different cuisine if you are not familiar with it. Often very rich but subtle on spices and sometimes complex and always artful plating.
This year the food was an improvement over last year, but the time to be served the 5 courses was almost excruciating. If we could afford many drinks and bottles of wine, and stayed at the Clifton so we could stagger to our accommodations, that would be fine, but the wine and drinks here are confiscatory priced for the average person. The $75 bottle of wine we ordered (one of the least expensive available) was gone by the third course and that was sipping slowly. As it did in 2023, it took 2-1/2 hours from seating to leaving. My rear-end was sore from sitting…I should have taken a walk halfway through.
On to the food:
1st course:
I had the Olde Salt Oysters. Never had anything like it. They were tasty, “interesting” and complex, but don’t recall tasting the actual oyster. There was so much going on and slightly sweet. Hard to wrap my head around sweet with oysters, but I’m not versed in French fine dining.
My wife had the lobster bisque. It was good but room temperature, not hot at all and the blood orange supremes in it were certainly unusual. She kept thinking they were going to be pieces of lobster. Not.
2nd course: (we both had the same thing going forward) Gulf Prawns and Grits.
Good, very rich, “interesting”. They lightly coated and deep fried the prawn heads/bodies and had them at the edge of the bowl. Looking around, this confused others as well. Recalling that people in other cultures eat shrimp shell and all; I took a bite. The shells are not for me. My wife didn’t even consider it. It was the heads. She’s not eating that.
3rd course: Shallow Poached Striped Bass
We’re not sure we’ve ever had bass before. I always thought of bass as a sport fishing fish rather than a fish people eat much. Turns out in the hands of Chef Matthew, it is an outstanding fish. It was cooked to perfection…JUST barely beyond slightly raw. I would have loved a pinch of salt over it.
4th course: Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder
Outstanding. Again, we are accustomed to more seasonings, but the lamb was excellent. This was the dish we decided to take some home because the service is so slow. By the time we got to this course, our stomach had told our minds we were full…done with dinner. Upon reheating at home, a little salt and pepper and a side of smashed roasted potatoes made an excellent leftover for another dinner.
5th course: Chocolate Crème Brulé
Good flavor but the crème was a bit grainy. Not sure how that happens. I make crème Brulé at home, and it is never grainy. I’ve never made a chocolate version though.
All in all it was a good service for $110 each…a special occasion of something we never do otherwise. We are not sure we will do it again. Not because of the $110 each. The service time was just too long (not the server’s fault, I think it is a small kitchen and they can only cook, plate and expedite so many plates at a time) and we like wine or cocktails with dinner and anything alcohol here is outrageously expensive.
With one bottle of wine and a 25% tip we spent over $400. Average people cannot fully understand and appreciate the cuisine here. I kept a menu beside me and even shared it with the couple next to us so we could reference what we were supposed to be tasting. It was helpful.
I had to remove my first review (2023 Valentines Day). Not enough characters allowed to keep it all. There were a few more misses with the food for us then, but the service was outstanding. Excruciatingly slow but you really feel the upscale sense dining here.
Amanda Low
Valentine’s Day dinner was disappointing. First time we came here the food was superb but this time lacked quality and good service. The food appeared pre made and came room temp. Service was bad, didn’t provide a spoon with the soup and didn’t give fresh forks to dessert. The room was cold (outdoor temp) and I asked to be moved and the lady acted like it was the hardest thing to do. She then said bar seating was all that was available (it was 8:30pm so there were a lot of tables available). The dessert was the most disappointing part. It was literally fruit and hardened cream.
On top of everything, an included 20% tip was added to our bill, even though the service was terrible.
… moreOn top of everything, an included 20% tip was added to our bill, even though the service was terrible.
Mark Cox
Great food, drinks, and ambiance.
The building is historic, built in 1799. Very nice, small, bar inside with top notch spirits and wines. Several rooms for dining. Recommend the library. Great food options.
Bone marrow with escargot was very good, recommend. I wouldn’t get the pancetta wrapped trout again as I’m pretty sure it was salt cured country ham instead of pancetta. It was way too salty and overpowering for the trout. Even if ham was used, it should have been soaked/washed to remove the salt. The potatoes were good.
The best dish was the roasted chicken. The blistered shishitos were very good. The cheesecake desert was the perfect summer finish to our meal.
Will definitely be back.
… moreThe building is historic, built in 1799. Very nice, small, bar inside with top notch spirits and wines. Several rooms for dining. Recommend the library. Great food options.
Bone marrow with escargot was very good, recommend. I wouldn’t get the pancetta wrapped trout again as I’m pretty sure it was salt cured country ham instead of pancetta. It was way too salty and overpowering for the trout. Even if ham was used, it should have been soaked/washed to remove the salt. The potatoes were good.
The best dish was the roasted chicken. The blistered shishitos were very good. The cheesecake desert was the perfect summer finish to our meal.
Will definitely be back.
Pablo Calderon
20/10 Get reservations asap. The food and service were absolutely amazing. The Chef provided small hors d’oeuvres throughout and they were incredible. The chicken and fish were cooked to absolute perfection. The waiters were great super friendly. The atmosphere and location are absolutely stunning. Great date location.
… moreA Fitz
What a great find! I started with a pink cocktail, the amuse bouche was a charred watermelon with mustard (totally unexpected! so good), then fresh baked bread and homemade crackers, and trout with a pancetta crust served over maque choux!!! The pastry chef here knows EXACTLY what he is doing! BRAVO!!
… more