Best Cozy Restaurants in U Village / U District

Superb, as usual. The carrot sformato was an unusual find and quite delicious. The addition of olives to the blood orange and fennel salad hit just the right acid note, Mama’s meatballs were pure beef with a strong dash of anise seed, and the accompanying marinara had been simmering for ages to pick up that deep complexity of flavors and great balance between sweet and slightly acid.

Really enjoyed the food and ambience at Spinasse. There were good options on the menu for a vegetarian family. Our waiter, Heather was awesome and very knowledgeable about vegetarian choices and helped make the right choices. A little bit disappointed that 2 desserts on the menu contain pork gelatin, but there were 3 other desserts to choose from. Again, Heather was awesome in steering us in the right direction. Overall a great experience for a special family dinner!

Very great customer service and great environment very calming .. great people

This dining experience was novel and a joy. The chef combined flavors creating tastes we had never had before. Sometimes it was a bit overwhelming (like the garlic on the Chinese broccoli), but we were glad we had ordered it and after pushing the garlic aside, ate every bite. Try the octopus -- absolutely delicious and not at all like the typical calamari you get in local restaurants. Our server was very cordial, had a great sense of humor, and increased our enjoyment.

My group of 4 were seated outside for dinner. It was rainy and somewhat cold, and our server offered us blankets to stay warm. There was also an overhead heater that kept us cozy. The restaurant was out of lemonade and sweet tea, but our server offered a "dealer's choice" non-alcoholic drink which was refreshing and delicious. It was a pink drink that had a sprig of rosemary in it (rosemary happens to be my favorite herb). Everything we ordered for food was delicious and cooked well. The hoe cakes (3 in an order) were moist and buttery. The mussels and clams dish was so good, and the sauce they came in was very flavorful with a slight spicy kick. We also got the mojo chicken over garlic rice and the unc's fried chicken which were very tender. The grilled okra with onions as well as the collard greens were really good sides. For dessert, we had the salted caramel ice cream and bread pudding which were just the right amount of sweet. They serve family style here, and all the dishes were ordered were enough to satisfy a table of 4 people (our server recommended we order 5-6 dishes total). The only thing we thought was weird was the last dish to come out was the collard greens which was just weird timing to finish our meal with a side. Your whole order is put in, so things come out as they are ready to serve. Besides that, the atmosphere was lovely, and the whole experience was great. The staff here are very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu and helped us make choices for what to order. I am definitely coming back and hope to get seated at a table inside because the music they play in the restaurant is some soulful rhythm and blues.