Rapture Restaurant

I walked past this place assuming it would be littered with The End Is Near! and Repent Now! brochures and worse: a boozeless menu.

I was wrong.

As far as I can tell “Rapture” refers to the Gumbo, which was excellent. Nay, sublime.

All four beers on the Local Flight I ordered were eminently quaffable.

The service was also friendly and attentive.

Excellent on all accounts. Met a friend for a holiday dinner and had the most awesome cocktails! Our waitress provided the right amount of care while also giving space.

We walked in just as the theater rush was leaving. After a three minute wait, we quickly had amazing Old Fashions to sip as we made the difficult decision on what to order. Bacon wrapped meatloaf and Gumbo were selected and lived up to expectations. A wonderful experience for our first night in Charlottesville.

First off, our server, Amanda, was exceptionally amazing! There was outdoor and indoor seating, and we had an awesome time outside. The cocktails had names that were particularly eye catching and politically relevant. Needless to say the Mueller report cocktail had ingredients that had been redacted which made it an intriguing choice. I thought it was vodka based, but our server could neither confirm nor deny. Haha. You can check it out, and let the world know what you think. The stormy daniels cocktail and fried tomatoes appetizer were both great too. I tasted the pork chops with greens and black eyed peas and thought it was absolutely delicious. I would definitely recommend a visit.

Excellent service and great food too! We literally had appetizers and drinks on our table within five minutes of walking in the door. And this was on a Friday night. Their kitchen is top notch! 👍
We will definitely return the next time we visit Charlottesville.

This is our 2nd dining experience in the last few weeks. I'm shocked at the 3.8 rating as it should be at least 4.5. The hangar steak tonight was the best I've ever had. Greens were top shelf. The service is exceptional. Highly recommended.

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

Amazing restaurant with amazing owners, workers, and most importantly food!! The staff there is incredibly friendly and welcoming and the owners do a lot of work to make this the special place it is as well as chatting with most of the guests who come in. Lots of unique and tasty dishes (highly recommend the hillbilly egg rolls) as well as some more traditional southern cooking. Would expect to spend $20-40 per person before tip, and it's well worth it!!!

Soup of the day was chicken barley and was excellent. I had the shrimp and grits and they were both great but the grits were fabulous and by far the star. Had the caprese for an app and was well pleased. Service was wonderful and we enjoyed our meal there.

Walking in the door is like stepping into a New Orleans restaurant. Upstairs seating with a wrought-iron rail, antique mirrors and prints adorn the walls. The service was great from the moment we were greeted through the meal and the food was fantastic offering everything from shrimp n grits to shephards pie. While they do take reservations we were seated immediately. If you prefer, they have a large outdoor seating area on the historic mall walk. Pricing was reasonable and servings were generous. Definitely a place to visit when in the area.

Really awesome place. Had the Curry Chicken soup, which I can honestly say was the best soup I have ever had in my life. Was a bit chilly but we had the dog so asked to sit outside, the waiter we had was less then please about it, but proceeded to give us amazing service with a rather sassy attitude that was surprisingly funny and refreshing. I will definitely be back on my next trip to the Ville.

We enjoyed brunch at Rapture while vacationing in the area. I wish I knew our waiter's name - he was the best. We sat outside, it was a beautiful day, the food was awesome (and reasonably priced), and a YouTube celebrity sat next to our table which my daughter loved. If you're in the area, I highly recommend Rapture!

We sat in the outside seating and our server could not have been better. He was super busy, but still got us everything we needed. Great cosmopolitan, good solid beer selection and one of the best Caesar salads I've had... It had great bite. I don't know why the overall rating isn't higher, it should be. The ahi club was great as well as the grilled chicken sandwich.

Visiting Charlottesville and a colleague suggested this spot so we figured we'd try it as the menu looked good. We started with the fried (extra crispy) brussel sprouts, which were delicious and really crispy. Then my wife had the Pelosi sandwich and I had the Duck Rueben. Both were out of the world! Can't say enough about the food and the staff are great too.

Wonderful spot for Sunday brunch! Great food and reasonably priced. Loved it. I recommend the breakfast burrito.

Great food great people great place. Awesome beer selection. They're all awesome people! Rapture truly has stood the test of time. The menu is dialed in and has something for everyone. The staff is intelligent and professional. They also genuinely care about the guest experience so they work hard to keep the drunk bros out and respectable adults in. Also a fantastic option for late night wings. These thing are huge and delicious!

Food was great! Deviled eggs, bbq egg rolls were legit! I had the gumbo which was a perfect combo of spicy and flavorful. Chicken sandwich was juicy and fried just right. Bartender was great and the old fashioned was made like it should be

Have come here a few times with a group after a poetry gathering and felt like this was a great option for drinks. Staff have been accommodating and the service was good.

We went at an off hour (3pm), so they were in between menus, but the staff was friendly and the food was good. We had the wings and a salad.

I go there every Wednesday for karaoke and I've been going there for years before I moved away back in town now again and going every Wednesday.