Escafe, Charlottesville, Virginia

A popular, friendly hangout in the progressive and gay-friendly Virginia college town of Charlottesville, Escafe is a first-rate contemporary American restaurant during the day and early evening, before shifting into one of this small city's few gay bars in the evening. The kitchen is known for creative yet accessible fare, such as Asian-salmon po'boys with daikon-ginger salad and wasabi mayo, and flambed filet mignon with port wine, Bearnaise butter, and whipped potatoes. In the evening, the cozy bar serves up a nice selection of wines by the glass, and the crowd runs the gamut, from gay frat boys from nearby University of Virginia to open-minded heteros. Escafe is along Charlottesville's historic Downtown Mall, across from the Omni Hotel, and within a short walk of numerous shops and restaurants. It's an easy walk from C-ville's other gay-oriented nightspots, Club 216 dance club (which is, unfortunately for nonlocals, a private club with a prohibitively expensive and complicated guest policy), the mixed gay/straight restaurant and bar, X Lounge, and the laid-back and friendly music club, restaurant, and Internet cafe, Gravity Lounge.