Friday, January 25, 2013

Top Buffet of 2012 - Wood Grill Buffet, Charlottesville, Virginia

The Wood Grill Buffet located in Charlottesville, Virginia is one of the five TOP BUFFETS of 2012 named by this site. The Wood Grill Buffet in Charlottesville is one restaurant of four that are a small chain within a chain. The over-all restaurant chain is Western Sizzlin. This award is given to this specific buffet restaurant location in Charlottesville, VA. and no other in the chain. We have not been to the other locations and we have no idea if the great experience that we have had consistently over the number of times we have been to this buffet in Charlottesville, is any indication of the other restaurants in the chain.

This buffet is located in its own building sharing a parking lot with a store and a supermarket. The shopping center is located off Route 29. There is plenty of parking, but depending on the night you go to this buffet there may be a crowd to get in. All that this means is that there will be a short wait before you are seated. Even on a weeknight, when we were there last, the restaurant was crowded at dinner. There is a large dining room with both tables and booths. The buffet area takes up the entire rear and right side of the restaurant.

Dinner price for adults in 2012 was $10.59 on weeknights and $10.99 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Refillable soft drinks are $2.09. This is an incredible price for the variety of food that is served on this buffet! The food here is a blend of country, Southern, southwest, and just plain old good American cuisine. There is something for just about anyone to be satisfied with. On the weekends they are open until 11:30 pm which is also unusual for a buffet.

There is an extensive salad bar, split between two large, cold buffet servers.  You will find everything including cold meats to create your salad, plus there is an extensive array of interesting and tasty prepared salads. The chicken salad with large chunks of chicken was particularly good. There is also real crab salad - not the fake crab that so many buffets use, but real crab meat filling the salad! As I have said in the past, it is easy to just come here and enjoy the salad bar and nothing more - BUT there is so much more to move on to at this buffet!

There are hot buffet servers with meat dishes, fish, crab cakes, lasagna, and so many entrees and side dishes. The fried chicken was the best that I have had at any buffet and it was good real Southern fried chicken! There is a counter with a grill behind that has steak being cooked and put out in various stages of how it has been cooked from rare to well done and they are grouped together for you to take. At this grill there are also ribs - real, fall off the bone, barbecue ribs. This is one of the few buffets that I know of where you can get good barbecue ribs. And in this area, they know how to cook ribs and those coming here know what to expect!  There are also chicken breasts coming off the grill, and there were burgers, hot dogs, roast beef, ham, and more. Also at the grill counter was a taco and burrito bar. There is a bake potato bar on one of the hot buffet servers.

There is so much that one person could not possibly even try it all in a small amount and not be overly stuffed. You could come here several nights in a row and eat something different each night just in your choosing from what it there each night.

Desserts are found that bakery counter that takes up a side of the restaurant. At this counter there are breads, pizza and baked good desserts along with a sundae bar with soft serve ice cream, Fresh fruits, puddings, and the like are over on the cold buffet server. At the bakery counter are pies, cakes, hot cobblers, cupcakes and more. There is also a chocolate fountain which many enjoy.

What stands out about this buffet for me is the extent of good food and in particular the ribs. There is a lot to eat here and it is all good. There is a variety to eat here and even my picky eater wife finds plenty to enjoy of plainer cooked entrees.

This buffet is highly recommended.  Our only regret is that this buffet is over 600 miles away and we cannot get here as often as we would like to. Go here and enjoy! We congratulations to the management and staff of the Wood Grill Buffet in Charlottesville, Virginia. The award of Top Buffet of 2012 is well deserved!

The Wood Grill Buffet in Charlottesville is located at 576 Branch Lands Boulevard, Charlottesville, VA 22901 and their phone number is (434) 975-5613. Their website is linked at the side of this page in our listing of buffet links.


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