The new building sits across from Little Nickel along Forest Hill Avenue. (Mike Platania photo)
It’s shaping up to be a busy fall for EAT Restaurant Partners.
The local restaurant group recently signed a lease to open a location of its sushi restaurant Lucky AF at 4701 Forest Hill Ave. The first Lucky AF location opened in Scott’s Addition in 2020.
EAT also is working on a new, mystery concept at GreenGate in Short Pump, according to a recently submitted plan of development in Henrico County.
This all comes just a few weeks after EAT purchased a plot of land in Hanover where it’s planning to build a new location for its Wong’s Tacos.
The Forest Hill Lucky AF will occupy about 3,900 square feet in The Evelyn, a new, mixed-use building from local firms Evolve Development and Dodson Development Group that’ll also bring 40 apartments to the neighborhood.
EAT president Chris Tsui said the restaurant group has been in discussions for the new Lucky AF for about a year.
“It’s an area that we like, and it happened that I liked the way (Evolve and Dodson) build,” Tsui said.
The Forest Hill Lucky AF will operate with the same name, menu and hours as its Scott’s Addition counterpart, Tsui said. In addition to sushi and sashimi, Lucky AF offers such entrees as miso salmon, sesame chicken and a variety of bento boxes.
Tsui said the aim is to open the location in late 2025. Plans for the Southside Lucky AF were first reported by Axios Richmond.
Landing Lucky AF leaves The Evelyn with around 2,000 square feet of commercial space that Evolve’s Daniil Kleyman said is expected to be leased soon. That’s in addition to Janet’s Cafe & Bakery, a new concept from a pair of Charlottesville bakers, that signed on to open in the development.
Much of the building’s façade and masonry have been completed and Kleyman said the builders are planning to begin pre-leasing apartments soon and have them ready for a March 2025 move-in.
Preliminary plans for the new restaurant building planned for GreenGate. (County documents)
As for EAT’s new spot in Short Pump, plans submitted to Henrico last week for a new, 7,000-square-foot restaurant building at 3401 Haydenpark Lane list EAT as the tenant. Tsui said he can’t comment on the plans quite yet while the deal is being finalized.
The documents don’t specify what the concept will be, however floor plans included in the filing list a “pasta prep” area, private dining room and wine storage space behind the bar.
The site is currently a pad behind Richmond Restaurant Group’s West Coast Provisions. EAT has two other restaurants in GreenGate: Wong’s Tacos, which opened in late 2019, and Red Salt Chophouse & Sushi, which opened as one of the development’s first restaurant tenants in 2017.