I FINALLY tried this place after seeing it the reviews and I'm hooked. I haven't found great Asian food in Charlottesville besides Thai so I'm really excited about cafe 88. Everything was so delicious even though I meant to order two different things! I wanted to get the pork chop with peppers and scallion, but the dish I got was also perfectly delicious too; next time. The star of the box though was the eggplant. Growing up, I HATED Chinese eggplant, but the BBQ and sweetness here was so tasty. After seeing photos on yelp, I thought that the shrimp and chive dumplings would be pan fried as per usual at dim sum places, but they were steamed. Although I wanted to try the pan fried ones, it was still really good and very fresh. My only complaint is that I find that 7 dollars for dumplings is a little unreasonable as my huge portion of rice and sides was 10. Seating is limited although there weren't too many people. Other than that though, the food is authentic and made to order (I could see the chef making my food in the back). Those who I assume were the owners seemed to be very humble, hardworking people and I love how much the food reminds me of home despite not being Chinese. So happy I found this place. read more

Cafe 88 - Pork chop over rice, veggies, and BBQ Chinese eggplant - Chinese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

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Best Chinese I've had in years! Vegetarian friendly bento boxes. You really can't go wrong with anything on the menu. Do yourself a favor and order the scallion pancakes for an appetizer. Favorite take-out restaurant in C'ville. read more

Food here has never disappointed me. Would recommend the beef noodles and the Taiwanese popcorn chicken. I did not enjoy their katsu as much since personally I didn't like the breading they use but that's no reason to give them any less of a star for their food quality in general. read more

We ordered the "wonderful chicken bento, pork chop bento, shrimp chives dumpling and the fried chicken with basil" everything was cooked to order and it was delicious! They owners were super friendly and so sweet. I would recommend this little gem to anyone. Very family friendly and the food taste like it was made in your mama's kitchen! read more

I was really disappointed to visit Cafe 88 today and find out that it sold last week. There are new owners, and the menu has changed pretty substantially. I ordered my favorite dish (crispy tofu bento box), which wasn't on the "new" menu, but the woman working the front desk they could still make it. What I got didn't even remotely resemble what was served by the previous owners--there was no special vegetable of the day, the tofu was flaccid, not crispy, and when I asked why it didn't look like there was any sauce on the tofu, she handed me some soy sauce (instead of the flavorful and thick-textured sauce served by the previous owner). Unfortunately it seems that Charlottesville has lost a gem and gained yet another sub-par Chinese takeout joint. Don't base your decision to visit this restaurant on reviews prior to November 2017--it's not the same restaurant. read more

Cafe 88 is definitely not the type of restaurant that gets categorized into the "bad Chinese food" you crave that also tastes amazing because of the copious amounts of MSG. It's so authentic and can equally satisfy your Chinese food cravings! Beef noodle soup (only available on Friday and Saturdays) is definitely the star of the show - so flavorful and hearty! If you prefer an extra kick you can request your broth to be more spicy. The beef was so tender and the portion of both meat and noodles was very generous. Charlottesville is definitely limited in Asian cuisine so I am so excited to have found this hole-in-the-wall! read more

Don't know what the hype is about. A small crappy little cafe with average food and ZERO service. Because the kitchen door was open so I got to see my fried chive dumplings came directly out of the microwave oven. And I cannot deal with the fact that they use cheap disposable tableware. Even Mel's Cafe blocks away can serve me with normal tableware for a cheaper food price I pay. No need to mention the service because there is nothing like it at all. My past experience with Taiwanese restaurant was always good, nice services and delicious food. Cafe 88 is the only exception in my dining history. read more

I thought this place was just ok. My boyfriend had the beef soup and really enjoyed it. I tried the pineapple rice with chicken. It wasnt bad but just didnt have as much flavor as I expected. The scallion pancake was raw in the middle too. read more

Solid choice for a well-balanced and filling meal that you can eat there or take on the go. Café 88 has been a staple for many cvillians as far as Chinese/Taiwanese food goes, though their bento boxes are now no longer priced by their namesake(recently increased to $8.58 from $7.88). Nevertheless, you'll order a box and get rice, your meat dish, and two vegetables of the day which is plenty for a meal. Have had the wonderful chicken, amazing chicken, and pork chop multiple times, and they've all been made to order and consistently good. As far as their vegetable sides go, I'm particularly a fan of their eggplant though I forget which days they offer that(they usually have some rotation with the vegetables). Beef noodle soup on Saturday was also good but honestly, the portion size is pretty small for what you're paying for(~$10), so I"ll probably stick to the bentos. read more

This place is simply amazing. Even though the restaurant is kind of hole-in-the-wall, the super-friendly owner and the food definitely make up for it. Bento boxes abide by their names (Amazing Chicken, Wonderful Chicken) and are really good, and they are relatively cheap for the amount of food you get. The vegetable sides are solid too. But what makes this place unique are beef noodle soup and hot and sour soup -- the comfort food. Beef noodle soup has this deep, flavorful broth spiced to perfection, along with quite a lot of beef chunks. It is served only on Fridays and Saturdays, but I think that is actually perfect for a late lunch after a night out in pho-less Charlottesville. Also, hot and sour soup here has a completely different taste (I'd say deeper flavor) than the ones found in many Chinese restaurants and has lots of stuff in it. Apparently, she makes pork noodle soup instead of beef noodle soup on weekdays, so I will definitely come back to try it! read more

Yeah, agree, the owner is such a good kind lady. The home speciality is awsome! Recommend the beef soup noodle, the best you could get in Cville. And they have bubble tea now! read more

in a land absent of good asian food comes a taiwanese cafe. this is the only taiwanese cuisine-based restaurant i've been to in the east coast, and to be in charlottesville to find it is really quite strange. the owner, a nice taiwanese lady, made me feel at home with her taiwanese accent. the first thing i noticed were the prices. many items were priced at $ *.88, presumably symbolizing the good luck/fortune that the number 8 conveys in chinese culture. besides from that though, the prices of most items were also quite pricey for what they were. This is something I'm used to, understanding the disparity in demographic breakdown between Los Angeles, CA and Charlottesville, VA. i ordered a number of items for my girlfriend and me to go. i wanted the beef noodle soup, but the lady regretfully informed me that she couldn't do it to go. i don't remember the english menu, but one thing i am certain of is that there is a side menu with certain dishes...in chinese only (please see picture i uploaded). my chinese isn't good enough without the assistance of my gf to provide you an accurate translation of each dish, but i can tell you that the 2nd from left item is the beef noodle soup at $8.88. (The bottom handwritten sign states a couple more items). I ordered a ground pork rice dish (3rd from right), a bento box with a pan fried breaded pork chop (which tasted very homemade), a side dish of bamboo shoots from the side fridge with cold side dishes, and an order of scallion pancakes. the total came out to around 24 dollars for enough food to feed my gf and i for 1.5 meals. each of the dishes were well executed and definitely made me think about home, which is always a good thing. as i mentioned before, almost all the things i tried had a very "homemade" taste to it, in contrast to the heavily-seasoned restaurant version of the same dishes. i didn't feel burdened after i finished, which was definitely a good thing. the time it took for the dishes to come out took a while, but it was acceptable given she had only one latino assistant to help her prepare my to-go order as well as the eat-in patrons (which, notably, were all chinese fobs...which is always a good sign when checking for authenticity). i'll be back and i definitely recommend anyone who eats the usual takeout chinese to spend the few extra bucks, make the trip here, and try it out! it's located at the very back of a strip mall perpendicular to the street, so be sure not to miss it! read more

Cafe 88 - The extra part of the menu not translated to English - Chinese Near Me - Charlottesville, Virginia

More people should eat here. I think her amazing chicken is AMAZING and the hot sour soup is the best I have ever had. Plus you get two sides of vegetables with the chicken which is more vegetable than you get anywhere else. read more

Went two days in a row with my Chinese sister-in-law who was visiting from out of town. The pork soup and beef noodle soup (only on Friday and Saturday) were awesome. I loved the Dan Dan Noodle (I think that is what it was called). I will be back for sure! read more

I had high hopes based on the reviews, but I was not impressed. The food was pretty tasty but everything was very greasy. I usually don't mind hole-in-the-wall restaurants, but I was dismayed to see disposable plates and flatware. I'm going to have to keep looking for a good Chinese place in town. read more

Always fast service and hearty healthy bento boxes for lunch. The hot and sour soup is excellent and filling. The side vegetables change day to day but the eggplants are really good. The owner is very friendly. I only wish the house specialties were in English so I could try them. read more

The beef noodle soup flavor is great but they use fettuccine noodles! The amazing chicken bento box is also great. :)

Update to the beef noodle soup. It is loaded with tender moist beef chunks and the noodles are al'dente simply an amazing bowl of goodness. It's so good that I am having this in July / August. read more

3 stars because its sub-par comparing to all chinese restaurants that I've ever tried in the world through out my travels. But 4 stars because the lady is so nice and she tries very hard to make it feel like home cook. Would I come back and eat there again? If I'm in the area yes. But read more

This place is Taiwanese and has some authentic Chinese food. The taste and quality of the food is great. Cafe 88, Taste of China, and Peter Changs are the best Chinese places I've had in Charlottesville so far. The only thing I don't like is the seating. The place is small and intimate, so if you eat there, you can hear everybody's conversation and they can hear yours. read more

Their bento boxes are SO GOOD. The food is really clean and simple, and delicious! The rice is cooked perfectly, so clumpy and sticky but not starchy at all. We go here all the time and get the magical chicken bento box or whatever it's called. It's one of our favorites. It's not unhealthy either. read more

Great Chinese cuisine！Food is of great quality, clean and safe. My favorite Chinese food in town.

It was really good! Had the taiwanese pork and amazing chicken bento box, it was definitely a good amount of food for $7.88. Also had the shrimp shao mai and the shrimp and chive dumplings, came out hot and fried, and yummy, but nothing like taste-buddingly extraordinary. Lady at the counter was super friendly. I hope to come back and try their crystal shrimp dumplings, because they had ran out. read more

Me and my white girlfriend went and both got the beef noodle soup, that stuff is tasty. I'd heard the woman at the counter could be kinda mean but she was super cheerful and fun and overall really pleasant. Really good sized servings and nice people, definitely recommend it. read more

I had the Amazing Chicken. It was alright and a good value. I liked that you get vegetables with the dish. I would've preferred more chicken in the meal and an option for fried rice. I would go back and try something else. read more

The menu is small and the ambience is minimal but this hidden gem has some really tasty food. We've come before but today happened to be "beef soup day" and it was pretty exceptional. The prices are good and the service is friendly. Come and discover this find for yourself. read more

Great little place- good tasty food and nice people.

I miss the hot spicy beef noodles! I have also tried some dim-sums, which was good as well.

I would say about 4.5 stars. Ordered the pork bento box, the shrimp and chives dumpling, and the heavenly pie. The pork in the pork bento was just okay. I would not order it again. It didn't come with any sauces and it was just fried pork cutlet. The sides that came was eggplant and some mixed veggies, including a Chinese veggie. The mixed veggies were yummy and the eggplant had a dark sweet sauce. The shrimp with chives dumpling were absolutely delicious. You get an order of six small dumplings that are lightly pan fried. So GOOD! Comes with soy sauce and siracha sauce. The heavenly pie was pretty good but I'd rather have the shrimp and chives. The dough is not exactly like dumpling dough. It's a little tougher. Not like buttery American pie dough at all. You get three pretty decent sized pies. They are stuffed with chives, some glass noodles, some eggs (I think) and small bits of mushrooms. I reheated the dumplings and pie in the microwave and then pan fried them. They tasted just as good as when they were served fresh. My only wish is that they served the dumplings and pie with some fish sauce. I would come back here definitely to try the other items. Oh, also tried a spring roll. It was good but nothing special. Wish it had meat filling instead of veggie. read more

We stop by cafe 88 on our way back to Ohio from OBX, which took us about 4 hours to get there. It is a convenient stop for our lunch, and we are interested in some taiwanese food. It is rare to find some authentic taiwanese food around. Cafe 88 is not that noticeable in the plaza, and the seats are very limited inside. They have a small menu, which helps us to make decision very easily. I want to try their braised beef noodle soup, however, it is only available on Friday and Saturday. So I ended up ordering pork cutlet as my main entree, which turned out to be very good too. We also ordered the following: - Crispy Tofu, it is okay, just regular fried tofu, and comes with sriracha and soy sauce -scallion pancake, it is very crispy yet not too dry. Also comes with the sriracha and soy sauce -crispy chicken, strongly recommended, it is very similar to the Taiwan ones, except perhaps they fried it too long when we ordered them, because it was a little dry. -heavenly pie, if you like chives, then you will like them for sure. -ground pork rice, the sauce is very good, and the rice underneath the ground pork is also soaked in the sauce, which makes the rice very flavorful yet not too salty. -amazing chicken, my friend ordered it and said it is good. We are so glad we stop by it on the way home, everyone was happy after the short lunch. And the owner is very friendly, the price is very reasonable. I will definitely stop by this place if I ever pass by this place again in the future. read more

Nai nai (owner) is great. Food is authentic Taiwanese. If something on the menu looks like you would find it in a normal Chinese restaurant don't get it. Try something that seems different as it is much more delicious. Their popcorn chicken and braised minced pork are great. read more

Lunch here was really great. The hot and sour soup was tasty and hearty. The bento boxes were substantial and delicious. I got the Fried Tofu and it was a winner. read more

My favirote in charlottesville area. Couldn't find any restrarant like this in Charlottesville. Please try pork noodle soup and beef noodle soup read more

My favorite hole in the wall restaurant ever! She is quick and sweet, too! I love the eggplant and tofu!

This definitely is a hidden gem! Well, I guess it's not so hidden because word spreads quickly among Asian college students about good, authentic food. Their Taiwanese bento boxes are very addictive and every time I've come, the two surprise sides are always delicious. They make vegetables taste good. Seriously, they're good. I have only tried the beef noodle soup (only available on Fri + Sat), pork + chicken bento boxes, but I should try the other things too... but the pork box is so good that I just keep ordering it each time. Definitely recommend this place. My friends and I always pick Cafe 88 when someone has a car and we can go somewhere other than the Corner! read more

Definitely hands down one of the most authentic taiwanese restaurants in the United States! As a Taiwanese international student, I absolutely feel at home whenever I visit this place. The owner actually came from my hometown, Taichung, and I just love that she is also super nice! Definitely order the wonderful chicken. Their beef noodle soup is not the best, but all their rice dishes are amazing. Try some of those items on the menu that aren't translated into English. Ask the owners and I'm sure they will translate them for you! read more

This is my most favorite, healthy, delicious, go-to take out dinner. The bento boxes are $7.88 and it is a lot of food, more than I can often eat for one meal. The crispy tofu is great (as the other reviewer noted) as are the shrimp dumplings. The jasmine tea is also good. read more

The food comes out quick and fresh. The ingredients are top-notch. I have only ever had the soups and the bento boxes. Both are wonderful and a good value. When I am in a hurry and need quick takeout I turn first to Cafe 88. read more

Very good food but I feel rushed everytime I go there. Once, I asked for an entre and some baoba taro milk tea. I didnt get my drink until I was about to leave! When asked about it, she just said she was making it.......took her 30 min! read more

The food was a solid 4 out of 5 star, but I hate to say the service lack in many numbers of ways. The average wait time is about 8 mins for me. The lady is a nice lady but they are serverly understaffed. I tried to talk to helper to get an extra plate but he ignored me . Maybe because he didn't any speak. But he just looked away like I was not even there. read more