Toast restaurant opens new spot at Scott’s Walk near The Diamond

Toast was the final restaurant tenant to open at Scott’s Walk. (Mike Platania photos)

Activity continues along Arthur Ashe Boulevard, as a local restaurant group has debuted its latest spot across from the forthcoming Diamond District. 

Last week Toast New American Gastropub opened in the Scott’s Walk development, its third in the Richmond region. 

Located at 3038 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., the new eatery is just down the street from where the Flying Squirrels’ new ballpark recently kicked off construction. 

Toast first opened in the West End’s Village Shopping Center in 2012 before adding a Powhatan location at Winterfield Place in 2017. The restaurants are open for brunch, lunch and dinner, serving things like shrimp and grits, pimento cheese wontons and a variety of sandwiches and burgers. 

Co-owner Chris Staples said the new spot’s menu will be mostly identical to the other Toasts’, with some homages to The Diamond area. 

“We have a special sandwich that’s a nod to Bill’s Barbecue that was across the street back in the day,” Staples said. “Then we have a couple different additions on the brunch menu that are more indicative to the younger audience that we hope to have over here in Scott’s Addition.”

The restaurant’s bar stocks over 200 types of bourbon.

While the other Toast locations typically close up by 10 p.m., Staples said they’ll keep the Scott’s Walk spot’s bar – which stocks over 200 types of bourbon – open until around midnight in an effort to capture an after-dinner crowd in Scott’s Addition. 

“We’re hoping that we’ll capture a lot of traffic (from nearby apartments) as people are coming back from whatever they’ve been doing,” Staples said. “The idea is to keep the bar open later after the kitchen every night and make this a great place to have a nightcap.”

Toast’s 3,200-square-foot space has room to seat 110, plus around 30 more on its patio. It’s open Tuesday through Sunday. 

Toast is the lone full-service restaurant at Scott’s Walk, joining other tenants including Raising Cane’s, Starbucks, Chipotle and Marco’s Pizza. An HCA Virginia emergency center is also planned to rise at the northern end of the development. 

Staples and co-owner Bob Graham are also working on a coffee shop and ice cream parlor at Winterfield Place with Black Hand Coffee Co. owner Clay Gilbert. The new spot, dubbed Corner Rock Cafe, is aiming to open later this month, Staples said.