Your Top 5 Favorite Richmond Restaurants
Is there another website that has a list of restaurants and their menus? We are coming in from the West Coast to Richmond and want to know everyone's favorite Top 5 Restaurants....any cuisine...as long as it is memorable, delicious and tasty.
By Pink Wasabi
on Jan 22, 2006 04:45 PM
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Go to StyleWeekly.com and it has a list of Richmond restaurants, their hours, price range, short desciptions, etc.
Hubby and I eat out about 4 nights a week on average. If you are coming from the west coast, these are the places I would take you (in no particular order).
#1 Millies (MilliesDiner.com)a unique and wonderful casual spot. Terrific and innovative menus and the Sunday Brunch is fabulous but prepared to wait. Saturday brunch tends to be less crowded, but it's always good to be there when the door opens. The Devil's Mess is my single favorite brunch item in Richmond.
#2 Comfort. This is a great place to try southern food and it's hip too. Lots of variety, something for everyone. This is a casual spot also. Has a very solid wine list (and reasonable).
#3 Lemaire, The Jefferson Hotel. Jefferson-hotel.com. This is a formal, special occasion place. At least stop by the hotel to see the rotunda and have a drink. They have a more casual restaurant, TJ's, but I have never been there. They also have a wonderful Sunday Champagne Brunch (reservations required).
#4 Edo's Squid. Don't let the name scare you or the location. In the heart of VCU in downtown Richmond and above a sub shop, it has great Italian food. Lots of good seafood and pasta and veal. Menu changes based on availability. It's noisy. It's very casual. No chicken. Great veal marsala and the squid, beans and arugla appetizer is a must.
#5 Buz & Ned's. If you want some good ribs and mac and cheese, this place is for you. Very casual. Great sweet potato fries also. Buz's Hard Lemonade is not to be missed.
If you need additional information, let me know.
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Thank you so much for your suggestions. It sounds like you know exactly what we are looking for! Can't wait to try them. If you're ever in Orange County, California...I'll give you my top 5!
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From a former-Orange County resident to a current Orange County resident:
The one thing to note about Edo's Squid is that it gets real noisy in the dining room due to the exposed brick walls. But you can make reservations and not have to wait too long. Its sister restaurant, Mamma Zu, is much more casual to the point where some diners are put off by it even though the food is wonderful. They're both owned and operated by the same folks and the menus are almost identical. Personally I like the atmosphere and ambience at Mamma Zu much better and you're more. You can also snag a seat at the bar and watch the action in the kitchen. But get there early because it is popular and they don't take reservations. We always try to get there by 6:30 even on a weeknight.
You won't be disappointed in the food at either restaurant.
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I wanted your take on the following:
1. Pomegranite-Euro Bistro.
2. Andre's Grille
3. Hardshell
4. Martini Kitchen
Thanks.
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1. Have not been there. Has a decent reputation. It's down in Shockoe Slip, so that's fun.
2. Have only been there for lunch (it's near my office). Very ordinary.
3. Hardshell. Go there about once a year and everytime I do, I wish we had gone to Millie's instead. Solid seafood, good atmosphere but nothing special.
4. Very trendy. Okay for drinks. But for just drinks, I'd rather go to CanCan in Carytown.
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I wanted your take on the following:
1. Pomegranite-Euro Bistro.
2. Andre's Grille
3. Hardshell
4. Martini Kitchen
Thanks
1. Wonderful cuisine. Great atmosphere. Fantastic pumpkin soup
2. Never eaten at Andre's and have heard mixed reviews
3. Hardshell is ok/fair in my opinion. Not outstanding, just good. If you want great seafood, I would take a day trip towards the water (Tappahannock or Norfolk) to get it. Not many seafood options in Richmond.
4. Martini Bar. Stay away if you plan to eat. One of the worst, overpriced, sloppily executed meals I've had, hands down, I have had in Richmond. (See recent review in Richmond Times Dispatch for an idea.) Drinks ok, but plan on spending $15 a drink, which is really unheard of in Richmond. Very smoky, loud and packed.
I would recommend a new place called Sensi in downtown Richmond. Great nouveau Italian. I would also recommend Millie's, Mamma Zu's (hard to find but worth it for hard core Northern Italian) and Acacia, a great place for some heavily Virginia focused contemporary cuisine.
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I had lunch at Millie's on Thursday thanks to the rave reviews from this site. It was great! I had a great meatloaf sandwich. Will definitely be back again when I head over to Richmond from Charlottesville. I look forward to trying it for dinner and brunch.
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Millies Diner is great, but Comfort is the classic overrated restaurant-- the restaurant everyone in Richmond loves to say is great, but really is not that good. Ironically, it is probably the most uncomfortable restaurant I've ever been to-- you sit in Ikea wooden chairs and, assuming you weigh less than 250, your a** starts hurting after 15 min. Lemaire is not worth the money. Edo's Squid is great, but know that you're in for a loud meal with not much atmosphere. The food is well worth it. Buz & Ned's is okay, but the BBQ has no identity-- its definitely not Carolina style, not really Texas, not quite Memphis, and not really KC. But, its good. A couple other great places are Kitchen 64-- especially for the price, Cajun Bangkok-- a new place on Cary Street that has been transplanted from their Woodley Park, D.C. location.
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