The Ridley

My wife and I held our rehearsal dinner at Northern Exposure, and we absolutely could not have asked for a better experience. Everything was top-notch - from the food to the service to the decor. The special events manager, Jeff Hale, was incredible. Not only did he work with us patiently before the event, but he was able to make adjustments on the fly on the night of our dinner to keep things running smoothly without troubling either one of us. He was also very flexible about pricing, remaining much more focused on providing the event that we wanted than on maximizing the restaurant's profit. (We were even able to add a Virginia Wine Tasting on top of everything else that we wanted because he was so willing to work with us!) Before deciding on Northern Exposure, we looked at a number of places in the Charlottesville area to host the rehearsal dinner, and I am confident that none of them would have produced such a high quality event while staying within our budget. Both of us would 100% wholeheartedly recommend Northern Exposure for a rehearsal dinner or special event. The smaller size of the restaurant allows your dinner to remain intimate and the staff to completely focus on your group. (Our dinner was for around 75 people.) We have heard nothing but rave reviews from all of our guests, so if you are looking for a place to host a special dinner, we would seriously recommend that you consider Northern Exposure. more

I dined here once, and never again. The food was so-so and definitely overpriced, the service was terrible, and I felt very cramped in the dining room. We were hoping to have a leisurely dinner but we wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible almost as soon as we were seated. I have not met anyone who has had a good experience at Northern Exposure. There are so many fabulous restaurants in Charlottesville, don't choose this one! more

I went to Northern Exposure with a group of 4 people for lunch in the middle of the week. The resteraunt was not crowded and there were plenty of employees there. That being said, the service was absolutely horrible. We had to wait at least 15 minutes for someone to come over and give us menus and get a drink order. Our dining experience took almost 2 hours for a simple lunch. We were constantly ignored, our food and drinks took forever, and the waiter was just plain unfriendly. I got the impression, however, that this is a normal thing at Northern Exposure. I have even heard other people who have visited say the same thing about the service, so I don't believe that this was just a fluke experience. For the terrrible service alone, this place deserves negative stars. For the food, it was just mediocre. Nothing very exciting, and certainly nothing I couldn't get somewhere else for cheaper, better, and with better service. I will never go here again unless I am required to go, I have a couple hours with absolutely nothing better to do, and I don't have to pay for it. more