Seven blocks of bars, restaurants, and coffee shops make up The Corner, where you are now, along University Avenue in Charlottesville from 12½ Street Southwest to Chancellor Street, directly across the street from the University of Virginia. This compact district is home to bars, restaurants, bookstores, coffee shops, and night spots; as of 2000 The Corner contained 26 restaurants, eleven bars, three coffee shops, one hotel, and one apartment building. Of the district’s 67 businesses, all but sixteen are locally owned, although you may notice an increase in chain stores in recent years.
While the university is in session the Corner is especially active at lunchtime, when faculty, staff, and students adjourn here for the midday meal. Patrons at the sidewalk cafés can be found spending time over a good book or simply sipping coffee and people watching. The Corner is bounded by Graduate Charlottesville on the east and Bank of America on the west, and it sits within a Charlottesville historic district that limits redevelopment and demolition.
The district began as a literal corner where the university’s main entrance met Three Chopt Road—now Main Street—the old route between Staunton and Richmond. Your walk now can roam across these blocks.