If we could choose one word that describes the Timberwood Tap House philosophy (and we can do that… it’s ours after all), it would be family. Sure, we have kid’s menus and crayons and Google might list us as “family friendly,” but it goes further than that. And no, we’re not talking about the Sopranos here, nor are we going to “make you an offer you can’t refuse.” Our philosophy is simply this: the moment you walk in the front door, you become more than a vendor, or employee, or customer. You join the Timberwood family, and our goal is to treat you as such from that point forward.

Take a look at our food. We hand cut all of our filet mignons in house. We believe they truly taste better than the vacuum packed pre-cut steaks a lot of restaurants use today to cut costs. In nine years, guess how many frozen bags of soup we’ve opened? A grand total of zero, as we make all of our soups from scratch. Every day, we patty our burgers by hand and cut lettuce for salads instead of using frozen patties and pre-mixed industrial sized bags of salad mix. All this is what we’d do at home, for our families, so why would it make any sense to do it differently for our Timberwood family? And that sauce, side, or soup you love? Just ask, and we’ll give you the recipe, so you can share it with your family and friends.

How about our beer? We have 32 taps and tons more bottles. We carefully curate our list to make sure we always have the best beers available. We also do special events like beer dinners, special lineups, and more. Check out our Facebook page or Twitter and we’ll keep you up to date. Don’t know anything about beer? Come on in and ask a bartender. They’ll set you up with a sampler and talk your ear off about it. It’s something we love, and we want to share it with you.

Then there’s our building. We love eating outside, so we put together what we think is the nicest patio in town. We have a separate bar and dining room so you can choose whether you want to bring the whole family in decked out in your team’s gear and watch the big game, or cozy up in front of the fireplace and catch up on the latest family gossip. We have a small semi-private room that holds up to 24 people for baby showers, going away parties, socials, etc. However your family likes to get together, we hope to provide just the right space and mood.

Most importantly, talk to our people. More than half of our employees have been with us for over a year, which is pretty rare for a restaurant. We believe in giving you the best possible service, so we give our servers slightly smaller sections than a lot of other restaurants. Could some of them make more money elsewhere? Maybe, but time and time again, we hear the reason they stay is they feel like they’re part of a family. Coming to the restaurant is more like coming home than coming to work. Stop in, get to know us – we’ll make you feel the same way.

All this adds up to what we believe to be the best casual dining experience in Charlottesville. But that’s not for us to decide – it’s your call. Let us know what you think, because we’re always listening. So what’s next? We promise to keep moving forward, learning lessons from our mistakes, not being satisfied with anything less than perfection, and always remembering the people who make it all possible. Hey, it’s what families do.