There are a ton of great restaurants at Historic Downtown Pedestrian Mall in Charlottesville. We walked past Positively 4th Street a few times without noticing it until we found it on Yelp. While most of the places were busy, this one was fairly empty. At first we worried that maybe other people knew something we didn’t, but then we figured that maybe everyone was thinking that way and walking past. We were so happy that we decided to eat there! It has a bar and there at least one guy there who sounded like he had a little too much to drink (or was just obnoxious in general) but the overall atmosphere was nice. We sat right by the front windows so we could people watch while eating without sitting outdoors in the sweltering heat.
The food was fantastic. Since we were in the south, I decided to try shrimp and grits. I’ve never been a big fan of grits but these were the creamiest, tastiest grits I’ve ever had. The shrimp were cooked perfectly and the tomato ragu, made with grape tomatoes, was delicious. The crab cakes were also very good and served with a unique side of crispy fried kale. Frying kale probably makes it slightly less nutritious but who’s complaining when it tastes that good?