From Dogfish Head India Brown Ale to Liefman’s Frambozen Lambics, the outrageous beer selection at Michael’s Taphouse will give you something to contemplate as you wedge yourself in amid the students listening to — as the management puts it — “Charlottesville’s best homegrown acoustic performers ... playing everything from smokin’ grass to nuclear funk to organic rock.” Among the regulars is longtime local musician Steve Barling, who brings his collection of “beautifully crafted originals, insolent rantings and deranged covers” to Michael’s every Sunday night.

The bar is situated upstairs above Little John’s Deli on the UVA Corner, so the aforementioned students are prominent. However, twenty- and thirty-something locals also cherish the bistro for its light, eclectic dinner menu and fun, reasonably priced wine list — not to mention the chance to hear emerging musicians at non-ear-splitting levels.

An orange-and- blue tiled entryway beckons you in from the street, at which point you’ll have to climb a steep stairway to get to Michael’s. Once inside, you’ll find wood floors, tile tables and fake leather chairs. Brass tea-light holders and cool painted bottles with fresh pink and purple flowers adorn each table. Intriguing, simply framed photographs line the east wall, and a huge cupola skylight sprouts out of the wood-beamed ceiling. One particularly nice feature is the French doors opening to a narrow suspended patio overlooking Main Street — a coveted place to sit and people-watch. —Kim Mattingly