Often overlooked by many students as well as townies due to its seemingly house-like appearance, Bang! Tapas Restaurant is among one of Charlottesville’s premier dining experiences that you do not want to miss out on. Located on the corner of 2nd St. and South St., Bang! Tapas Restaurant is commonly known for its delicious martinis, tasty Asian tapas, and good-lookin’ wait staff.
Bang!’s menu is made of a variety of different items inspired by Asian recipes, in which the owners Tim Burgess and Vincent Derquenne created themselves. Popular items include firecracker shrimp; a plate of popcorn sized fried shrimp with their homemade spicy garlic sauce as well as one of the “staff favorites,” kale tortellini, which is served in sambal brown butter.
Aside from its wonderful reputation for Asian fusion food, Bang! has quite an extensive martini list which has been awarded several times by Cville Weekly’s annual “Best of Cville,” contest. Recently, Bang! was awarded Best Martini in 2011, Best Signature Cocktail in 2010, Best Cocktail Selection in 2008, and certainly one of the employees’ favorite awards, Best Looking Wait Staff in 2008.
As stated before, Bang! is an Asian fusion, tapas-style restaurant, perfect for sharing
an intimate evening with a large group of friends or for a romantic night out. Tapas dishes range from $6 – $12, except for Wednesdays when they offer a special $6 tapas menu. This special menu features items that are not offered on the regular menu, including delicious crab cakes, so this is a deal that you do not want to pass up! Also, Bang! is very accommodating to those with food allergies, with a separate menu of gluten-free options.
The atmosphere of Bang! is unique in the sense because while it’s located right off the Downtown Mall, customers can enjoy a more secluded experience from the busyness that is characteristic of the pedestrian area before enjoying the liveliness of the bar on the weekends.
Additionally, special drinks get added to the drink menu in celebration of the fall and winter seasons. Frosty’s Nightcap combines the sweet tastes of cider and Yazi with a splash of lime to top it off. Another fall favorite, the Toasted Almond, is a delicious combination of Absolut Vanilla, Disaronno, and Kahlua. The names and recipes for the drinks at Bang! are mainly concoctions that the manager, Laura Price, creates. She described the latest addition to the drink menu, Pie in the Sky, as essentially, a blueberry pie martini made with blueberry puree served with a graham cracker rim.
Bang! participates in restaurant week twice a year, the next one occurring in mid-January. Owners, Burgess and Derquenne, also own Bizou and recently opened The Space which is a unique private dining venue located next to Mono Loco.
You can check out the menu at: http://bangrestaurant.net/.
Don’t miss out on this unique Charlottesville dining experience!
