BlowToad opened early this year on West Cary Street. (Photos by Lena Price)
BlowToad, a Carytown pizza joint owned by Richmond chef Jimmy Sneed, has closed after less than a year in business.
The restaurant opened about 10 months ago and specialized in coal-fired pizza. It took over the space at 2907 W. Cary St. previously occupied by Double T’s Barbecue.
Sneed co-owns vegetarian bistro Fresca on Addison with daughter Jenna. His other past restaurant ventures included The Frog and The Redneck in Shockoe Bottom, which closed in the early 2000’s.
The building is owned by Cary Donlon LLC, according to city records.
BizSense was unable to reach Sneed.
BlowToad opened early this year on West Cary Street. (Photos by Lena Price)
BlowToad, a Carytown pizza joint owned by Richmond chef Jimmy Sneed, has closed after less than a year in business.
The restaurant opened about 10 months ago and specialized in coal-fired pizza. It took over the space at 2907 W. Cary St. previously occupied by Double T’s Barbecue.
Sneed co-owns vegetarian bistro Fresca on Addison with daughter Jenna. His other past restaurant ventures included The Frog and The Redneck in Shockoe Bottom, which closed in the early 2000’s.
The building is owned by Cary Donlon LLC, according to city records.
BizSense was unable to reach Sneed.
As a young lady from fiction once said…”What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet;”
I don’t often find myself in Carytown so I cannot comment one way or another about the food or the restaurant, but am I the only one who doesn’t find the name BlowToad particularly appealing? I get eclectic, and loved The Frog and the Redneck, but BlowToad??? I’m just wondering if that was an amphibian too far.
A Blow Toad is a delicious fish.
Perhaps it was the awful name that killed it. Sounds like something you do when you get food poisoning.
Or the early news coverage of sneaking bull testicles on the menu yet calling it swing steak.
Double T’s is closed?
I’m really sorry to hear this. BlowToad was one of my new favorites–wonderful pizza, great beer list, and excellent service. I feel for the employees, particularly during the holiday season.
A BlowToad is another name for a SugarToad, or a type of Puffer Fish that is common in the Chesapeake Bay; hence the logo for this restaurant…
From my understanding, the restaurant did not close due to anything Jimmy S. did, rather there seems to have been a property issue that was out of his control…
Good luck Jimmy; looking forward to your next awesome venture!
Is it just me or is the whole door thing odd? Is it an intelligence test? The door to the left has the sign to use the “other door” pointing to the right, but then there are three doors one of which is painted bright red. The whole thing doesn’t look like a restaurant to me. And as for Blow Toad, well it could be a fish in the James that everybody knows and loves, but it still sounds more descriptive of what follows food poisoning than the name of a good restaurant. Just sayin’
If the place had specialed in rare delicacies, then the name might have been appropriate. But if it served pizza and beer and regular fare, the name was a poor choice. I never went in because I assumed it was more exotic fare based on the name.
I find this mysterious. I ate there last week, and the place definitely did not appear to be at death’s door.
The name of the restaurant is associated with the shape of the clay oven used to cook the pizzas….When looked at from the front, it resembles a Puffer Fish/Blowtoad….
It absolutely closed because of what Jimmy Sneed did. He didn’t hire a manager for months, made a horrible decision on the POS system, put tacky banners up front, changed the hours of operation half a dozen times with no reasoning or notice, displayed zero control over consistency of the kitchen staff, rushed the opening beyond what was reasonable, was antagonistic towards his business partner, turned a blind eye to the real problems of the restaurant, and blamed everyone else for the restaurant’s problems. The employees are still owed their last paycheck as of this writing, as well as their… Read more »
So how many restaurants has Jimmy Sneed opened and closed over the years?
I ate there once this past summer with a date and despite what we’d both heard, neither us of were thrilled over our selections. Too many yummy restaurants out there to settle…
I bet his partner wanted Hot Dogs on the menu