Despite arriving early for our brunch/lunch reservation, we were seated right away. We were able to dine outside to enjoy a warm late fall day on a football Saturday. Service was great! Food was fresh and delicious. The deviled eggs and breakfast sausage were outstanding. The veggie omelette was so tasty and fresh and the side of grits very tasty. The burger was deliciously cooked to order (medium rare) and not over done.
Michelle
The food was absolutely fantastic and our waitress took the very best care of us! We'll definitely have this on our list to return to when visiting Charlottesville!
chastitym631
They serve alcohol until women are falling down and totally unable to protect themselves. I've seen this many times. Alot more needs to be done to keep women safe. It's disgusting how a blind eye is turned to what's going on
Ameen
Janet was absolutely incredible and made sure I was good throughout the entire meal! I was having a rough day and she went out of my way to make sure I was ok. Highly recommend this restaurant and team!
Christy
We had the perfect evening to sit outside. Our waitress was super busy but very attentive. Started with the hillbilly eggrolls which were good. Seemed to be missing a lil extra flavor but with the added bbq sauce they were good. We ordered the gumbo and the special for the night which was a Mac and cheese with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and shrimp. It was so good! We will definitely be back!
Jonah Sabo
We came in for drinks and while we had a good time it wasn’t anything special, the carpet was so so sticky my shoe felt glued to the floor
Atmosphere: 2
Service: 3
Tyra Drouillard
LOVE LOVE LOVE!! Food tastes great, atmosphere is chill, music is good, and the pool tables are awesome. Staff is always nice too :)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
SuzanneD365
We are here on. summer Saturday evening. We were seated in the pedestrian mall. It was a lovely setting under the umbrellas and trees with planters overflowing with flowers. The food was delicious, the service was very friendly, and the kids loved their Mac and cheese.
Suzanne
We had a lovely dinner outside on the pedestrian mall, and enjoyed the atmosphere, people watching and the food. The kitchen was a little slow, but that is ok when the food tastes so delicious. Very glad we chose to eat here.
Michele
C'ville GEM. Rapture was an enjoyable meal from start to finish. It is not a white table cloth establishment; it is a no frills, Cajun leaning, pool hall vibe in the back bar, dining establishment you could only hope to stumble across! Friendly staff with excellent menu knowledge. Attentive service with experienced wait staff and the food was outstanding. My partner, a longtime Southern resident, said the collard greens and gumbo were the best he'd ever eaten. My tuna was a generous size, seasoned well and perfectly cooked. Do not let the dim lighting and aged decor fool you, this is the kind of place you could envision a Bourdain-esque chef electing to run after burnout from years of running a five star restaurant. Excellent food, relaxed environment and even on the way out you get a waft of a burger on the grill and think, "I would come back to try that!"
We decided to try Rapture on a visit to the area. The food and drinks were so disappointing. The gumbo was sooo watery, and the nachos were so drenched they were soggy. The drinks were also horrible (way too strong and mixed oddly); the waiter said there was a new bartender, so maybe someone else will have a better experience. The waiter was responsive and to his credit, once I asked for a new drink, we didn’t share any complaints about the food or my husband’s drink. I know they can’t fix what they don’t know but I didn’t want to be a complainer who appeared to want to get a discount so we kept the rest of the feedback to ourselves. We tipped a full 20+% because the server was good and we always tip decently. The atmosphere was decent but the food and drink was disappointing.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 5
Lewis Combs
My Go-To place whenever I am in Charlottesville. They always make me feel welcomed and comfortable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
traveltheworld012
We were walking the pedestrian mall as they call it on Tuesday, May 27, 2025 just experience what was here. About 5PM we decided to have dinner at Rapture. This place looks narrow and small, but apparently they also have a nightclub with live music. We never saw the nightclub part. We walked in and were greeted by a dour sort of guy. The restaurant is very dark and dimly lit, it sort of gave us the impression of a cave with Dracula as the host. just kidding, sort of. Upon entering, the first thing you see is the kitchen with a table or two in front by the windows, then tables along the wall opposite the kitchen. Further back there is a bar. We were seated immediately along the wall across from the kitchen swinging doors. I mentioned the place being narrow, so the kitchen doors were only about 4 feet away. We experienced everyone coming and going to the kitchen at our table. We ordered 2 glasses of red wine- Protocolo Tinto, not a high buck wine but tasted pretty good. We shared Hillbilly Eggrolls, which had pulled pork inside, tasted good. Then the mains brought it all downhill. My wife had the Tampa Cuban, not very good at all she said. I ordered the Gumbo- shrimp, andouille, chicken and okra. It was reddish color water with a chunk of white rice plunked in the middle. If the other four ingredients were in there, they must have been pureed or chopped into miniscule pieces. I have had good gumbo, this was not even close. The cuisine here is difficult to define, sort of Italian, Asian, Spanish but not mastering any. Sorry, can't really go above the 2 point rating.
Ted Barnhart
We highly recommend fried green tomatoes as an opener!!!!! Wowza!!!! We had a fantastic meal and the service was A1!!!!!
Lexie Jacobs
My boyfriend and I were visiting from out of state and were very happy with Rapture! The service from the hostess stand was outstanding. Cecelia, the owner and hostess, is very helpful and personable. She’s the reason we decided on eating at Rapture. She asked us what we were looking for and even recommended other reputable restaurants in the downtown mall district. But since she was honest and respectful, we decided to stick with Rapture. It helps that the burgers smelled amazing!
It was windy for us. But on a non-windy night, it would be nice to eat on the patio and people watch while eating.
Our server was good and his service was quick. The food was amazing. I highly recommend the fried green tomatoes and the papà legba burger. The steamed greens were surprisingly very tasty! If you want to play pool in the back of the restaurant, it’s $15 per hour.
If you’re out of state and want to play just one game, Cecelia might allow you to play for free.
Despite arriving early for our brunch/lunch reservation, we were seated right away. We were able to dine outside to enjoy a warm late fall day on a football Saturday. Service was great! Food was fresh and delicious. The deviled eggs and breakfast sausage were outstanding. The veggie omelette was so tasty and fresh and the side of grits very tasty. The burger was deliciously cooked to order (medium rare) and not over done.
The food was absolutely fantastic and our waitress took the very best care of us! We'll definitely have this on our list to return to when visiting Charlottesville!
They serve alcohol until women are falling down and totally unable to protect themselves. I've seen this many times. Alot more needs to be done to keep women safe. It's disgusting how a blind eye is turned to what's going on
Janet was absolutely incredible and made sure I was good throughout the entire meal! I was having a rough day and she went out of my way to make sure I was ok. Highly recommend this restaurant and team!
We had the perfect evening to sit outside. Our waitress was super busy but very attentive. Started with the hillbilly eggrolls which were good. Seemed to be missing a lil extra flavor but with the added bbq sauce they were good. We ordered the gumbo and the special for the night which was a Mac and cheese with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and shrimp. It was so good! We will definitely be back!
We came in for drinks and while we had a good time it wasn’t anything special, the carpet was so so sticky my shoe felt glued to the floor
Atmosphere: 2
Service: 3
LOVE LOVE LOVE!! Food tastes great, atmosphere is chill, music is good, and the pool tables are awesome. Staff is always nice too :)
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We are here on. summer Saturday evening. We were seated in the pedestrian mall. It was a lovely setting under the umbrellas and trees with planters overflowing with flowers. The food was delicious, the service was very friendly, and the kids loved their Mac and cheese.
We had a lovely dinner outside on the pedestrian mall, and enjoyed the atmosphere, people watching and the food. The kitchen was a little slow, but that is ok when the food tastes so delicious. Very glad we chose to eat here.
C'ville GEM. Rapture was an enjoyable meal from start to finish. It is not a white table cloth establishment; it is a no frills, Cajun leaning, pool hall vibe in the back bar, dining establishment you could only hope to stumble across! Friendly staff with excellent menu knowledge. Attentive service with experienced wait staff and the food was outstanding. My partner, a longtime Southern resident, said the collard greens and gumbo were the best he'd ever eaten. My tuna was a generous size, seasoned well and perfectly cooked. Do not let the dim lighting and aged decor fool you, this is the kind of place you could envision a Bourdain-esque chef electing to run after burnout from years of running a five star restaurant. Excellent food, relaxed environment and even on the way out you get a waft of a burger on the grill and think, "I would come back to try that!"
Restaurantji Recommends
We decided to try Rapture on a visit to the area. The food and drinks were so disappointing. The gumbo was sooo watery, and the nachos were so drenched they were soggy. The drinks were also horrible (way too strong and mixed oddly); the waiter said there was a new bartender, so maybe someone else will have a better experience. The waiter was responsive and to his credit, once I asked for a new drink, we didn’t share any complaints about the food or my husband’s drink. I know they can’t fix what they don’t know but I didn’t want to be a complainer who appeared to want to get a discount so we kept the rest of the feedback to ourselves. We tipped a full 20+% because the server was good and we always tip decently. The atmosphere was decent but the food and drink was disappointing.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 5
My Go-To place whenever I am in Charlottesville. They always make me feel welcomed and comfortable.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We were walking the pedestrian mall as they call it on Tuesday, May 27, 2025 just experience what was here. About 5PM we decided to have dinner at Rapture. This place looks narrow and small, but apparently they also have a nightclub with live music. We never saw the nightclub part. We walked in and were greeted by a dour sort of guy. The restaurant is very dark and dimly lit, it sort of gave us the impression of a cave with Dracula as the host. just kidding, sort of. Upon entering, the first thing you see is the kitchen with a table or two in front by the windows, then tables along the wall opposite the kitchen. Further back there is a bar. We were seated immediately along the wall across from the kitchen swinging doors. I mentioned the place being narrow, so the kitchen doors were only about 4 feet away. We experienced everyone coming and going to the kitchen at our table. We ordered 2 glasses of red wine- Protocolo Tinto, not a high buck wine but tasted pretty good. We shared Hillbilly Eggrolls, which had pulled pork inside, tasted good. Then the mains brought it all downhill. My wife had the Tampa Cuban, not very good at all she said. I ordered the Gumbo- shrimp, andouille, chicken and okra. It was reddish color water with a chunk of white rice plunked in the middle. If the other four ingredients were in there, they must have been pureed or chopped into miniscule pieces. I have had good gumbo, this was not even close. The cuisine here is difficult to define, sort of Italian, Asian, Spanish but not mastering any. Sorry, can't really go above the 2 point rating.
We highly recommend fried green tomatoes as an opener!!!!! Wowza!!!! We had a fantastic meal and the service was A1!!!!!
My boyfriend and I were visiting from out of state and were very happy with Rapture! The service from the hostess stand was outstanding. Cecelia, the owner and hostess, is very helpful and personable. She’s the reason we decided on eating at Rapture. She asked us what we were looking for and even recommended other reputable restaurants in the downtown mall district. But since she was honest and respectful, we decided to stick with Rapture. It helps that the burgers smelled amazing!
It was windy for us. But on a non-windy night, it would be nice to eat on the patio and people watch while eating.
Our server was good and his service was quick. The food was amazing. I highly recommend the fried green tomatoes and the papà legba burger. The steamed greens were surprisingly very tasty! If you want to play pool in the back of the restaurant, it’s $15 per hour.
If you’re out of state and want to play just one game, Cecelia might allow you to play for free.
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