Order up: Richmond restaurant recap for 2022

Niki Loupassi at the Robin Inn, where she’s worked since 1976. (Jack Jacobs photos)

(Scroll to the bottom for a full list of restaurants on the move in 2022)

So long, farewell

In 2022, Richmond bid adieu to some long-running restaurants, including The Robin Inn, which closed over the summer after nearly 60 years in the Fan. Others to shutter included Buffalo Wild Wings in Shockoe Bottom after 19 years and Saison and Saison Market after 10 years in Jackson Ward.

Popular Italian restaurant Mamma Zu had been closed since the pandemic’s arrival in 2020, but it was unclear whether it would ever reopen. Its permanent closure became official when the restaurant’s Oregon Hill home sold in June to a mystery buyer.

Buz and Ned’s Real Barbecue shuttered its Arthur Ashe Boulevard location in early 2022, capping off a nearly 30-year run in what was its first permanent location. Buz and Ned’s continues to operate its West Broad Street restaurant in Henrico.

New concepts from familiar faces

Drew Schlegel and Randy O’Dell opened Get Tight Lounge in the former Roxy Cafe space in the Fan. (Mike Platania photo)

The Fan saw at least five local operators roll out new concepts this year.

Randy O’Dell of En Su Boca and former Fuzzy Cactus co-owner Drew Schlegel opened Get Tight Lounge in the former Roxy Cafe space, serving Baltimore-style barbecue, draught negronis and more.

Mario Alvanes opened The Nest, a classic American brunch spot, just a block down from his Salvadoran spot El Pope. The owners of Gersi swooped in to take over Secco Wine Bar’s space, where they recently opened another Italian restaurant, Uliveto. Sarabeth Hagen, the S.B. of SB’s Lakeside Love Shack, took over the old Starlite and Brunch space along Main Street for a Fan version of her B-52’s-inspired restaurant.

The crew at New York Deli also stayed busy. A pair of employees from the restaurant are taking over Lady N’awlins’ old space on Main Street, while Deli owners Demetrios Tsiptsis, Rodion Tsiptsis and David Zemlan are working on a cafe in Byrd Park.

Over on the other side of town, Adrienne and Carlos Londoño, the couple behind La Bodega, Casa Fiesta and more, opened both the Miami-inspired Papi’s in Shockoe Slip and Besos Mexican Kitchen & Cantina in Rocketts Landing.

The food hall cometh

The Hatch Local food hall was announced in fall 2020 and is the first such concept to open in Richmond. (Mike Platania photos)

After some fits and starts, the food hall trend formally touched down in Richmond in the spring when Hatch Local opened in Manchester with a lineup of vendors from local restaurateurs including Lindsey Food Group and Lee Gregory of Alewife. Gregory’s food hall concept, Odyssey Fish, is also getting its own space in the West End.

A food hall is also one of the many offerings at The Park at RVA, a self-proclaimed “indoor wonderland” that recently opened near The Diamond.

More food halls are on the way, as the team behind Regency’s redevelopment is working to modernize the old mall’s food court into a food hall with an outdoor plaza and new tenants. In Scott’s Addition, EAT Restaurant Partners, one of the area’s largest restaurant groups, spent $3 million on a warehouse that it’s converting into a 17,000-square-foot food hall.

Chains

Shake Shack is known for its burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries and shakes. (Courtesy of Shake Shack)

The biggest news out of the chain restaurant world during 2022 was that Shake Shack is coming to the Richmond market with a location on West Broad Street near Libbie Avenue. Work on the burger chain’s new building began in the spring and Shake Shack has said it aims to open sometime in 2023.

After signing on in Carytown last year, Austin, Texas-based Torchy’s Tacos also showed its interest in the Richmond suburbs as it leased locations in Short Pump and Chesterfield.

Fried chicken slingers Popeyes, Raising Cane’s and Chick-fil-A all signed on for new locations in the region.

A decades-old Hardee’s in the city served its last biscuit, while a relatively small chain in Cabo Fish Taco opened in The Summit along Broad Street.

Indian restaurant chain Eggmania opened at 2610 Tuckernuck Drive in Henrico County in January 2022, entering the local market for the first time. Teriyaki Madness, another newcomer to the area, opened in December at 14273 Winterview Parkway in Chesterfield County.

Maple Street Biscuit Co. made its local debut in 2022 as well, and opened locations in Midlothian and in Short Pump.

Maple Street Biscuit Co. is a breakfast chain that will expand into Virginia this year with two Richmond area locations. (Courtesy of Maple Street Biscuit Co.)

In with the new

Here’s a list of who’s hopping in where.