Richmond Dining-Out scene

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

A new Pakistani/Indian restaurant is coming to Towne Center West.

KABAB GRILL will open (if not already open) in the big large strip mall I'm guessing near the Blue Ridge Mtn. Sports.... that area, while hated by urbanists (like me) is really well built and nicely landscaped. i'm going there cause I'm Indian though....

http://www.downtownshortpump.com/2012/02/29/popular-pakistani-restaurant-crosses-river-puts-down-roots-in-short-pump/

[jbjust]

I think it's the same Kabab Grill that went out of business between the Lowe's and Chesterfield Town Center. The food was okay, but I couldn't get past the paper plates and plastic forks.

[burt]

Dana Craig took a week off from her restaurant reviewing and, happily, is back on the job at the RTD.

Perhaps lured by pleasant memories of Zuppa which had occupied the New Orleans style building at 18th and East Franklin Streets, she selected its present tenant called MARGARITAS CANTINA for this week's review. After two visits, she awarded the quasi Mexican eatery one-and-a-half stars.

But don't give up on The Bottom, Dana. Former associates of Millie's should be close to opening Tio Pablo on Franklin near 17th. And I'm anxious to read your assessment of a new restro-lounge called 2113 on East Main between 21st and 22nd Streets.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdis...nti-ar-1730508/

MARGARITAS CANTINA

Dana's rating: One-and-a-half stars

101-107 North 18th Street (diagonally across Franklin from the excellent Julep's)

804/225-0331

@MargaritasRVA

Noise level: Average to high

Tab for two: $35

[burt]

There are rumors of a new Spanish/Italian restaurant to be called MAXIMO's coming to 14 North 18th Street in Shockoe Bottom.

The building is between McCormack's Irish Pub and Julep's and I believe it was a chic bar for a while that was praised for its upscale decor.

[burt]

MINT, the new sibling of Julep's, is aiming for an opening on March 19th in The Fan.

MINT,by owner Amy Cabiness, occupies the space once known as Davis and Main. When Mark Brandon and Barry Pruitt opened Davis & Main a couple of decades ago it was one of the first to establish West Main Street as a "restaurant row."

[burt]

News from Deveron Timberlake's "Short Order" column in the current Style Weekly (with a few added comments by me:)

Richmond restaurant mogul Johnny Giavos launched the latest in his chain called THE CONTINENTAL at 5704 Grove Avenue and had jam-packed houses during what was billed as "soft" openings.

2113 is the name of the new restro-lounge in a former jail next door to the old mansion that, until fairly recent years, housed The Henrico County Court House at 22nd and East Main Streets. 2113 is the actual address of the new bar/lounge/restaurant on East Main between 21st and 22nd Street. Its nearby neighbors include Aziza's; Honey White's; Globehopper, Station 2, Sette, Sensi and Old Original Bookbinder's. Future plans for the 2113 concept are to expand in the city with, possibly, Jackson Ward as the next location.

M BISTRO, at Rocketts Landing, is starting lunch service.

INGRID's BAKERY has opened at 2104 West Cary Street. -- Which bring me to list existing and new-ish food services along West Cary between The Boulevard and Belvidere Street:

From west to east:

CARY STREET CAFE, 2631 W. Cary

ACACIA, 2601 W. Cary

SELBA, 2416 W. Cary

FRESCA ON ADDISON (actually on the corner which would be 2300 W. Cary Street)

BOGARTS, 1903 W. Cary

LITTLE MEXICO, 1328 W. Cary

ELEPHANT THAI, 1100 W. Cary

821 which still calls itself 821 even though it has moved a few doors west to 825 West Cary

MOJO's, 733 W. Cary

And there's a teaser in the window of 815 W. Cary that advertises SWEET FROG, but doesn't say its opening a shop there. (The building is owned by Ed Vasaio of Mamma Zu.)

So, West Cary is rivaling parallel West Main Street as a restaurant/bar row.

Now, after all that, here's Deveron's column from the current Style Weekly:

http://www.styleweek...ent?oid=1682631

Edited March 8, 2012 by burt

[Steve_]

I love all the new choices for nights out, and its great to see that strip of Cary coming to lfe - hopefully someone will develop the massive city compex on the south side of Cary soon, its a great old building that would make cool apartments. Ive been on a tear and tried several new places lately -

Selba is top notch, everything was great and I like the garden room in the back. Acacia was delicious but the service disappeared halfway through dinner and our group was annoyed by their rules against splitting up checks. Pasture was my favorite - impressive food, service, and vibe. I was skeptical of the small plate only thing but ended up loving it because we just got several things and shared (I never knew brussel sprouts could taste that good). Arcadia was also very nice - a bit higher end than Cafe Gutenburg (although I loved that place). I hope they do well, that's such a strategic corner. Oh yeah - and a shout-out for the Whiskey Bar on Robinson!

[burt]

THE PARKSIDE CAFE has announced on its facebook page that it will "temporarily close."

The restaurant, at the bend in the road where Semmes Avenue becomes Forest Hill Avenue, was highly anticipated during its pre-opening phase and received generally good notices.

From today's Richmond Biz Sense:

http://www.richmondb...-parkside-cafe/

[burt]

Dana Craig's RTD restaurant review this week is of a town house on Main Street in The Fan called LOCAL EATERY & PUB that specializes in Irish cuisine with a nod to American collegiate tastes.

In addition to Irish stew, bangers and shepherd's pie, the kitchen also puts out beef stroganoff, mac 'n' cheese and lots of sandwiches -- all at reasonable prices.

The busy bar provides appropriate beers and ales by the pint as well as whisky.

One of the unique "sides" Dana enjoyed was fried turnips which she says are reminiscent of fried green tomatoes.

Close to the VCU campus (as is another new restaurant called S$mple), THE LOCAL is building an enthusiastic following.

There's a photo of the house containing the restaurant, but no slide show.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/entertainment/food-dining/2012/mar/08/tdweek03-homemade-goodness-savored-at-the-local-ar-1748404/

THE LOCAL EATERY & PUB

Dana rating: Two-and-a-half stars

1106 West Main Street in The Lower Fan

804/358-1862

Twitter: @TheLocalRVA

Noise level: High

Tab for two: $36

[burt]

Coleen Curran lists the restaurants she'd gladly wait in line to enter.

From Richmond dot com:

http://www2.richmond...eat-ar-1741521/

[burt]

Karen Newton is (I think) the gal who pens the intriguing blog titled "I Could Go On and On and On...." Occasionally she writes for other publications including River City Rapids and Style Weekly.

Today, she shares her opinion of a new restaurant on West Main Street in The Fan. It is PEACOCK'S PANTRY which Karen likens to a private dinner party in a gussied up home.

The restaurant serves only three nights a week and offers brunch on Sundays. Background music is swing and old standards and the menu would probably appeal to old folks like myself.

From the current Style Weekly:

http://www.styleweek...ent?oid=1672581

PEACOCK'S PANTRY

1731 West Main Street

804/732-3333

http://www.thepeacockspantry.com

Here's another luke-warm review of PEACOCK'S PANTRY.

Jon and Leah Nelson rated it with two-and-a-half stars.

From today's Richmond dot com:

http://www2.richmond...iew-ar-1750498/

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

A soft opening for the highly anticipated CONTINENTAL WESTHAMPTON is to take place this week.

Here is Richmond.com's take on it: http://www2.richmond.com/entertainment/2012/mar/02/7/opening-soon-continental-westhampton-ar-1735356/

And RVANews' take on it: http://rvanews.com/features/continental-opens-on-grove-carytown-cupcakes-looks-to-expand-and-a-taste-of-mint-is-in-the-air/57485

Richmond.com also features a few neat looking photos of the new eatery, and RVANews also includes some bonus news regarding CARYTOWN CUPCAKES and MINT.

[burt]

More than 75,000 people work in downtown Richmond and many of them like to pick up lunch at one of the food carts and carry it back to the office -- or maybe, on a nice daay, nosh on a park bench.

From RVANews:

http://rvanews.com/f...t-culture/57510

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

More than 75,000 people work in downtown Richmond and many of them like to pick up lunch at one of the food carts and carry it back to the office -- or maybe, on a nice daay, nosh on a park bench.

From RVANews:

http://rvanews.com/f...t-culture/57510

Those are some neat pictures! :good:The 75,000 workforce statistic was quite shocking to me, really, but from all of these pictures, it seems Downtown is full of these neat little meals on wheels vans and is very vibrant and full of people. It is just what the doctor ordered

Also, I have eaten food from Hunan Cafe's lunch express cart before. The picture of the cart just reminded me of my spring roll and everything.... I'm glad that RVA is full of these little restaurants.... if Richmond counted the food carts as restaurants, we'd have like 200 or 210 restaurants in downtown (including Financial District, Shockoe Bottom, Shockoe Slip, Canal Walk area, Capitol Square, Monroe Ward, Jackson Ward, VCU Medical Center area, and City Center, from Richmond Magazine's 2012 sourcebook)

[burt]

Johnny and Katrina Giavos, and Katrina's mother Stella, have established a restaurant empire in Richmond with THE SIDEWALK CAFE, KUBA KUBA, 3 MONKEYS, KITCHEN 64, STELLA'S and THE CONTINENTAL. They also opened and operated GIBSON'S GRILL in The National Theatre before turning it over to new owners.

The next generation of the Giavos clan, Constantine, is now establishing a name for himself in the Richmond restaurant scene while mingling with cafe society and show folks in New York City.

From today's Richmond dot com:

http://www2.richmond...vos-ar-1753853/

[burt]

Deveron Timberlake's lead story in her current Short Order column is about the recently rejuvenated restaurant called LUNCH at 1213 Summit Avenue in Scott's Addition.

Back in the early '70s a friend of mine named Jake Rothman opened a hot dog restaurant in the building that now houses HAVANA 59 in Shockoe Bottom. The building is directly across the promenade from ROSIE CONNOLLY'S PUB on North 17th Street. It was only one story high at the time (HAVANA 59 added 3 levels.)

When one of the disasterous hurricanes swept through Richmond (I believe her name was Agnes) Jake's hot dog space was flooded to the ceiling. About 50 of his best friends (including myself) spent the Sunday after the storm cleaning out the mud and Jake re-opened soon after.

But he didn't stay long in The Bottom. He opened a diner in one of the back streets of Scotts Addition where he remained as proprietor until his death.

I bet a quarter Jake's diner and LUNCH are one and the same.

From the current Style Weekly:

http://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/short-order/Content?oid=1685828

[burt]

The word "hana" (or derivatives of it) is often found in the names of Japanese restaurants. I believe it translates to "rose."

The latest one is HANAMI SUSHI in the Shoppes at Innsbrook.

Dana Craig found it very much to her liking in today's RTD and awarded it 3 stars.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/entertainment/flair/2012/mar/15/tdweek03-tasty-creative-dishes-at-hanami-sushi-ar-1766128/

HANAMI SUSHI

Dana's rating: 3 Stars

4040-H Cox Road (Innsbrook Shoppes)

804/270-3289

http://www.hanamisushiva.com

@Hanami SushiVA

Noise level: Low

Tab for two: $48

[burt]

When sporting events occur in the City (which is frequent), hotel occupancy rates climb above 80%.

Local restaurants reap benefits, also.

From today's RTD:

http://www2.timesdis...tor-ar-1771220/

[burt]

Next to New York City, Savannah celebrates St. Patrick's Day probably more than any city in the country. It's a mad house down there and hotel rooms are hard to come by.

But Richmond does a pretty good job of letting loose on the Irish saint's birthday. They have something called "Shamrock the Block" in Shockoe Bottom.

Richmond dot com has compiled their list of bars where you're sure to have a good time. A notable exception to their list (and every body else's) is OFF THE HOOKAH. The operator of To-the-Bottom-and-Back buses says he hauls hundreds to that multi-level, Egyptian themed bar in The Slip every weekend.

Here's the article from Richmond dot com:

http://www2.richmond.com/entertainment/2012/mar/05/33/st-patricks-day-bar-guide-ar-1733241/

[burt]

MINT in the former Davis & Main is the newest restaurant in The Fan and it has been packed during its soft opening phase.

Meanwhile, the proliferation of dining and entertainment spots in The Fan has stretched the parking problem to its limits.

Is the former GRTC car barn a possible answer?

From NBC12:

http://www.nbc12.com...urants-increase

[burt]

For an interestiing, entertaining and informative read about Richmond's restaurants, check out this story from the current Style Weekly:

http://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/2012-state-of-the-plate/Content?oid=1685836

PS: The Weekly named THE ROOSEVELT on Church Hill "Restaurant of the Year."

[burt]

525 AT THE BERRY BURK is close to opening..perhaps in April, although a date has not been announced. Construction moves apace on the ground level of the former high end clothing emporium.

Upper floors were converted to elegant apartments several years ago.

The nearby Richmond Marriott Hotel is lending office and kitchen space for the training of chefs and front-of-house personnel so that the restaurant will be ready to go when design work is completed and equipment has been installed.

525 is the street address of Berry Burk on East Grace Street at the corner of 6th. It is diagonally across Grace Street from The Carpenter Theatre (Richmond CenterStage.)

The website is not ready, but here's a teaser:

http://www.525rva.com/

[burt]

THE PEACOCK'S PANTRY has been getting reviewers' comments leaning to the favorable in several ways but restrained overall.

Dana Craig wrote yesterday about pleasant surroundings but over-priced menu selections.

From yesterday's RTD:

http://www2.timesdis...ons-ar-1783928/

THE PEACOCK'S PANTRY

Dana's rating: 2 Stars

1731 West Main Street in The Fan

804/732-3333

Open for dinner Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Brunch on Sundays.

Noise level: Average

Tab for two: $82

[burt]

How many years has MAMMA 'ZU been the most talked about Italian restaurant in Richmond? I would guess a couple of decades.

Here is a reappraisal by dining critics Leah and Jon Nelson of Richmond dot com:

http://www2.richmond.com/entertainment/top-features/2012/mar/23/mamma-zu-demystified-ar-1786269/

MAMMA 'ZU

501 South Pine Street in Oregon Hill

804/788-4205

NOTE: Owner, Ed Vasaio also owns and operates EDO'S SQUID at 411 North Harrison Street near the VCU academic campus. Many gourmands consider EDO's superior to MAMMA 'ZU.

[burt]

Carytown has just seen the opening of BLOWTOAD, and BURGER BACH, and now comes along another restaurant. It is called DON'T LOOK BACK at 2929 West Cary Street and is the new baby of NEW YORK DELI owner Hamooda Shami.

DON'T LOOK BACK is a kind of taco bar but the kind that has endeared Richmonders because its chef is Nate Gutierrez of Nate's Taco Truck fame.

DON'T LOOK BACK opened today, but regular hours won't begin until the opening shake-down has run its course.

From Nathan Cushing in today's RVANews:

http://rvanews.com/f...tes-tacos/57980

DON'T LOOK BACK

2929 West Cary Street

804/353-8226 (call ahead since regular hours are not yet set.)