A fresh crop of Richmond area eating establishments are now open, with others expanding their hours as well. Here’s your now-open hit list.
Afterglow Coffee (1719 Summit Ave.): Worker-owned coffee roaster and café serving coffee roasted on-site, espresso drinks, Axelsdotter Baker pastries and Sous Casa burritos.
Blue Habanero Street Tacos & Tequila brings tacos to Strawberry Street.
Blue Habanero Street Tacos & Tequila (421 Strawberry St.): Street taco and margarita spot Blue Habanero finally opened in the former home of Strawberry Street Café in the Fan—we’ve got our eye on the lobster rellenos and a smoky watermelon mojito made with mezcal. Happy hour runs from 2 to 6 p.m. daily and features discounted margaritas.
Café Beignet (3 N. 17th St.): The permanent location for the popular beignet food truck recently opened with a limited menu as they staff up. Most importantly, there are regular and vegan beignets.
Chewy’s Bagels (3138 W. Cary St.): The much anticipated brick-and-mortar location for beloved bagels in the former home of Jean Jacques in Cary Court. Expect a line on weekend mornings for made-to-order bagel sandwiches—yes there is one with bacon jam—and dozens to-go.
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Claudia’s Bake Shop brings a taste of N.Y. to town.
Claudia’s Bake Shop (3027 W. Cary St.): Carytown has a New York-style bakery with Claudia’s, serving black-and-white cookies, rugelach, fresh challah, croissants, and more.
Latin American restaurant Cocodrilo, at 5811 Grove Ave., has added a breakfast menu to its offerings.
Cocodrilo adds breakfast (5811 Grove Ave.): Cocodrilo is now open Tuesday through Saturday from 7 to 10:30 a.m. with a menu of breakfast burritos, masa muffins, pastries, coffee and espresso drinks. Try adding house-made dulce de leche syrup to your latte.
Jubilee (1303 Hull St.): The high-end diner in the former home of Wildcraft Focaccia from restaurateurs Mike Lindsey and Kimberly Love-Lindsey, Jubilee is now open. We have heard the desserts—blueberry shortcake, buttermilk pie and peanut butter crackle bar—are all standouts, along with the cocktails designed by Beth Dixon of Salt & Acid. Along with this opening, Lindsey and Love-Lindsey recently announced they are converting Pop’s Market on Grace (417 E. Grace St.) into a third location of theit Buttermilk & Honey quick-serve fried chicken concept and they are turning the former Fatty Smokes restaurant (326 E. Broad St.) into a creative steakhouse concept.
Lazeez Modern Indian Flair (2601 Tuckernuck Drive): A fresh, chef-focused take on Indian cuisine with dishes like buffalo mozzarella saag, copra kadai lobster served with coconut and onion-tomato gravy, chaaz fry oysters marinated in buttermilk with pepper remoulade.
Nami sushi (218 E. Main St.): The longtime home of 3rd Street Diner has been replaced with sushi. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner with a selection of sushi rolls, hibachi and bento boxes.
Supper Club Market (417 N. Ridge Road): Carlisle Bannister, former executive chef of Upper Shirley Vineyards who ran a successful catering and meal delivery service during COVID-19, recently opened gourmet grocery, butcher, seafood and prepared meal shop Supper Club Market in the former home of Impulse boutique.
Scoop up homemade ice cream at Westray’s Café.
Westray’s Café (214 N. Lombardy St.): Homemade ice cream, pastries, and a red vintage La Marzocco espresso machine for drinks, open early for coffee and late for treats. Try the Gold Rush featuring honeycomb candies and dark chocolate swirled into a sweet cream base.
Ready to drool? This is the latest list of food concepts opening soon in the area. And, we’ve topped it off with two upcoming June food events.
PHOTOS: 9 of our favorite frozen boozy drinks to try around RVA
Soft-serve hard cider at Buskey Cider
The flavor of Buskey’s dairy-free concoction changes every two weeks, so if something sounds good, hurry in to get it. To make the treat that is pulled to order just like soft-service ice cream, Buskey’s hard cider is blended with various flavors — right now it’s kiwi passionfruit. Get yours in a cup or on a cone in the Scott’s Addition tasting room. 2910 W. Leigh St. www.buskeycider.com
Frosé at Blue Bee Cider
Blue Bee Cider, also in Scott’s Addition, offers a cider-based frosé in rotating flavors. Look for fresh flavors like blackberry ginger and Mill Race Bramble frosé made from a cider infused with raspberries and blackberries, and peach frosé as the summer heats up. 1320 Summit Ave. www.bluebeecider.com
Frozen boozie pops at Tang & Biscuit
Choose the Red Pop or the Blue Pop for a grown-up take on a classic at Tang & Biscuit in Scott’s Addition. Both feature Dr. Stoner’s Island Bush Rum that’s infused with smoky Caribbean herbs, giving both pops an earthy undertone. Red pulls in watermelon, watermelon Red Bull and lime juice, and blue features Malibu, Coco-Berry Red Bull and lime juice. Both pops pack a definite liquor punch. 3406 W. Moore. St. https://tangandbiscuit.com
Pandan Painkiller at The Jungle Room
You might think of frozen tiki drinks as sweet, but the Frozen Pandan Pain Killer at The Jungle Room in the Museum District is boozy and balanced. House-made Pandan coconut cream blended with Lemon Hart Original 1804 Rum, pineapple and orange juice goes down dangerously easily. 2727 W. Broad St. www.thejungleroomrva.com
Frozen negroni at Laura Lee's
The selections at Laura Lee’s in Forest Hill change regularly, but you can pretty much assume they’ll be delicious. Whether it’s a frozen sangria featuring tropical fruit and white wine, a Painkiller, or The Undercurrent with rum, burnt apricot honey, pineapple, coconut and citrus, you’re in good hands. 3410 Semmes Ave. https://lauraleesrva.com
Soft-serve margarita at Barrio
The first boozy ice-cream style beverage to take Richmond by storm comes from Barrio in the Fan District. Barrio’s soft-serve margaritas are served swirled high in a coop glass, making them one of the most Instagrammable libations on this list. Choose from lime, a rotating sorbet of the day, or a twist of both. Of course, all flavors are blended with tequila. 2229 W. Main St. https://barriorva.com
The Cantario Conejo at Conejo
The Cantarito is Conejo's spin on the traditional Mexican Cantarito cocktail and features a dangerously drinkable combination of blanco tequila, grapefruit, orange, lime and a tangy guava twist that keeps you going back for one more sip. Another frozen option, The Coco Loco features mezcal, Fernet Branca Menta, coconut, pineapple, lime and cinnamon. 5820 Patterson Ave, Suite 103. https://conejococina.com
Frozen drinks at Saison Market
One of the first spots in Richmond to make serious non-syrupy-sweet takes on frozen drinks, Saison Market in Jackson Ward is famous for its frozen negronis, piña coladas and daiquiris made with high-quality ingredients. See what they’re serving, and snag a patio seat on the next sunny day. 323 N. Adams St. www.saisonrva.com/saison-market
Cosmic Love at Little Nickel
The Cosmic Love at Little Nickel combines vodka, Cointreau, orange blossom water, cranberry, champagne and lime for a sophisticated take on classic Cosmopolitan flavors. You can also choose to add a float of Campari, poblano tequila or Crème de Violette to amp it up even more. 4702 Forest Hill Ave. https://littlenickel.co
Megan Marconyak has been devouring every fresh flavor she can find and capturing it in writing for over 15 years. Drool along with her dining adventures and send her your #RVADine tips on Instagram @MeganMarcoStyle.
