Richmond Dining-Out scene

[rjp212]

New sushi joint by EAT, called Lucky AF, is going to be taking over the Aloi space.  I imagine it’ll be pretty popular. 
 

https://www.richmond.com/food-drink/restaurant-news/lucky-af---a-new-sushi-restaurant-from-eat/article_a82269ed-3726-5463-be92-81e38072b7f1.html

[Icetera]

Citizen and Greenleaf's Pool Room are closed for good.  Hopefully Hotel Greene will reopen after the pandemic.


https://www.wtvr.com/eat-it-virginia/citizen-restaurant-closing-for-good-coronavirus-cited-as-a-reason

Greenleaf's Pool Room
March 15 at 10:34 AM · 

With a heavy heart we are closing indefinitely— thanks to all of our friends and customers who brought the room to life over the years. Stay healthy and safe.

[wrldcoupe4]

We may lose 50% or more. Very sad.

[Icetera]

3 hours ago, wrldcoupe4 said:

We may lose 50% or more. Very sad.

I know it is technically a virus, but at least we are seeing that organic growth that has been touted so much!

[I miss RVA]

i fear this is but the first of many business casualties we will see forthcoming.

[rjp212]

Vinny’s on Broad across from the new development in front of UMFS has closed.  That entire block has to be prime real estate now, and would make for an awesome Flatiron style building. 

[I miss RVA]

2 hours ago, rjp212 said:

Vinny’s on Broad across from the new development in front of UMFS has closed.  That entire block has to be prime real estate now, and would make for an awesome Flatiron style building. 

Definitely! I can totally see it - a 12-story Flatiron-style residential building. Would be a nice addition to that part of town. Here's hoping!

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

If only we had an angled intersection like that downtown. It might have actually happened

[I miss RVA]

3 hours ago, RVA-Is-The-Best said:

If only we had an angled intersection like that downtown. It might have actually happened

That would have been great! Closest such intersection to downtown, I think, is on the VCU campus at Monroe Park, where the Cathedral is.

[rjp212]

Morton’s in Shockoe has permanently shut down. 

With Cha Cha’s, Shiplock, Billy Jacks and now Morton’s closed, that’s a lot of available space in one small area. 

[rjp212]

Posted a few days ago on RTD, an update on the Food Hall going in at the Current.  Seems they are shooting for a Spring opening.  
 

https://richmond.com/business/new-food-hall-expected-to-open-in-spring-as-part-of-mixed-use-development-in/article_3f5b48d9-922f-5156-9304-90123e1d1f44.html?fbclid=IwAR3w5xS0EXi0b1RASjMyzr00kl18OnjOoGBnItoM2c28B7E8xszwEqrkYXY

[Icetera]

Adding this separately as it is easy for us to not notice seemingly minor increases in costs without having comparisons.  If it is not clear by now, I enjoy numbers and data, but I also enjoy traveling.  Since I keep a detailed budget I can compare expenses in  Richmond to elsewhere and I have been surprised to see how expensive Richmond has become over time in comparison.  I used to think of DC as being pricey but as I have ended up traveling there more for shows and events (obviously all pre-pandemic), it has been shocking to see that it no longer feels relatively more expensive.   This applies as well to international destinations.  Below, I have a comparison of two like dining experiences around the same time in 2018 (same meal and beer options for two) between Cafe Rustika in Richmond (highly recommend) and Zeughauskellar in Zurich, a popular restaurant in a city known for being expensive.  Since gratuity is not part of their culture, of course food cost ends up higher, but ultimately this seems to balance out.  Note that our tax has since increased to 13.5%.

Note the TOTAL.  EXTRAS is the sum of tax + tip.  Tip is 25% vs typical 20% so RVA TOTAL would actually be more accurately identical to Zurich.

This is not an outlier either.  While I cannot make the same perfect examples in other cities I do see similar results in other relatively expensive cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Paris, etc.  Richmond dining is surprisingly expensive given the city's size and status, an industry that has had a great impact on our renaissance.