With social distancing strongly advised due to the threat of COVID-19, and more companies in town shifting to telecommuting when possible, we want to help our local restaurant scene weather this storm. So we’ve come up with a list of 12 local restaurants whose take-out is not overflowing with plastic, styrofoam and extra paper napkins, but is low-waste!
Let’s support some of our favorite eats so that when we get through this, they’ll still be there for us to gather and raise a glass together as one community.
Baggby’s – Offers a plethora of sandwiches! Brown paper bag is recyclable and the sandwich wrap is made of paper, but since it’s more like tissue paper, go ahead and compost it (please don’t recycle as paper).
Beer Run – We love this family-owned restaurant! They use compostable containers.
Bluegrass Grill & Bakery (takeout only Tues-Friday) They use compostable boxes (we’re not sure about beverages at press time).
Bodo’s Bagels — Who doesn’t love an everything bagel with your favorite fixins? The white bag paper is recyclable (though we wish they’d switch to non-bleached and FSC-based paper); wrap is tissue paper (so compostable — see Baggby’s above); the salad tops and beverage cups are Greenware, and therefore commercially compostable.
Citizen Bowl – Since I work close to downtown, Citizen Bowl is my go to. Patrick and I rap about how restaurants can be sustainable quite often. Their brown paper bowl is compostable and the top is Greenware (plant-based, but looks plastic), so it’s commercially compostable.
Chipotle – Their brown bag is recyclable; their bowl is compostable; aluminum tops have to be SUPER clean in order to be recycled, but can be with the tin cans at McIntire. If the aluminum wrap for your burrito is super messy, throw it away.
Doma on Main Street – They use brown paper boxes we think is compostable (not definitive at press time but wanted to include them– please look for a label and it has a shiny inside surface, definitely put it in the trash).
Firefly Restaurant Melissa is AWESOME! This Charlottesville Certified Green Restaurant uses take out containers that are compostable and made of sugar cane; some beverages will be in #1 plastic (recyclable) cups and kombucha and some other bevvies are in glass (recyclable).
Luce: Fresh Pasta (from the Bizou/Bang team) – Their kraft cups are made from recycled material and are “recycle-approved.”
Mochiko – New locally-owned Hawaiian eats. Their containers are compostable (though dessert items may be in plastic containers, and musubi are wrapped in plastic wrap).
Pearl Island Cafe – Super yummy island eats. Thanks, Sober and company, for using compostable take-out containers.
Roots – Their bowls are healthy and deelish. Bowl is compostable and top is Greenware (so commercially compostable)!
Don’t Forget!
Whether you are ordering online or through a service like Uber eats or GrubHub, you can request for them to NOT include all of those single use plastics (cutlery, straws, sauce containers you won’t use) and most of the time, they will honor that request. Some restaurants will automatically put plastic cutlery and napkins in a plastic bag for their to go customers, so this is an important step.
Other tips
Note: Most sandwich wraps, pickle wraps, bagel wraps are tissue paper and should be composted not recycled as paper. And pizza boxes with cheese and grease on them are now compostable at McIntire Recycling!
If It Comes in Styrofoam, What’s a Betty to Do?
There are still a surprising number of restaurants in town who still use styrofoam containers, even though styrene is a “reasonably anticipated carcinogen.” The solution? Send them our friendly letter from you and Better World Betty (found on our website or download here) encouraging them to switch to a safe, better product.
The letter really works! We are so grateful to Marco and Luca dumplings for NOW OFFERING paper products for their dumplings. My son loves that place.
Gift Cards
Another good tip is to buy gift cards now to support your favorite local restaurants and treat yourself at a later date. The Charlottesville 29 restaurant blog has helpfully compiled a resource of phone numbers/websites through which to purchase gift cards: https://charlottesville29.com/2020/03/14/charlottesville-restaurants-heres-how-you-can-help-save-them/
It’s worth calling your favorite spot if they are not on the list! Many restaurants and bakeries are considering more to-go options, or offering delivery/curbside pick-up.
Thanks, Everyone! — Teri Kent and Jen Doo
p.s. Did we forget one? Email us at betterworldbetty@gmail.com.
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