A few years, an addition and a major renovation later, the former Mamma Zu building in Oregon Hill is set to come back to life.
Restaurant Adarra is preparing to open at 501 S. Pine St. by the end of the year.
The Spanish restaurant had operated on First Street in Jackson Ward since 2019, serving fare inspired by the country’s Basque region.
Mamma Zu was a popular Italian restaurant from Ed Vasaio, whose other spots include 8½, Edo’s Squid and Dinamo. Its nearly 30-year run ended amid the pandemic in 2020.
Adarra owners Randall and Lyne Doetzer purchased the century-old building in 2022 and unveiled their plans to relocate there a few months later.
Randall and Lyne Doetzer (Photo credit: Nick Hancock)
Over the last two and a half years, the Doetzers built a roughly 1,100-square-foot addition onto the existing 1,600-square-foot building, and embarked on an extensive renovation of the space.
Randall said the building had myriad issues, including lead paint on the walls, asbestos in the roof, and water and sewer lines that were rated for residential, not commercial use. They also had to pour new concrete flooring and re-engineer the building’s entire plumbing system.
Aside from the building’s exterior walls, nothing from Mamma Zu remains in the new Adarra, he said.
“If we’d just knocked it over, we’d have been open a year ago,” Doetzer said.
Much of the hardware in the new Adarra was custom-made, from a wood-burning oven that Doetzer said they sourced from Atlanta, to its tables that were made by local carpentry firm Kettlewell Construction. The Doetzers paid $900,000 for the building, and Randall said they probably spent two to three times that amount renovating it.
“Suffice to say it’s been a process,” he said. “And it still is.”
Commonwealth Construction Management was the general contractor, SMS Architects was the architect and Renmark Design was the interior designer.
The restaurant has seating for 50, up from the 30-seat capacity Adarra had in its Jackson Ward space. The Doetzers run it with a staff of roughly 10. Once fully open, Adarra will be open Thursday through Monday.
A few years, an addition and a major renovation later, the former Mamma Zu building in Oregon Hill is set to come back to life.
Restaurant Adarra is preparing to open at 501 S. Pine St. by the end of the year.
The Spanish restaurant had operated on First Street in Jackson Ward since 2019, serving fare inspired by the country’s Basque region.
Mamma Zu was a popular Italian restaurant from Ed Vasaio, whose other spots include 8½, Edo’s Squid and Dinamo. Its nearly 30-year run ended amid the pandemic in 2020.
Adarra owners Randall and Lyne Doetzer purchased the century-old building in 2022 and unveiled their plans to relocate there a few months later.
Randall and Lyne Doetzer (Photo credit: Nick Hancock)
Over the last two and a half years, the Doetzers built a roughly 1,100-square-foot addition onto the existing 1,600-square-foot building, and embarked on an extensive renovation of the space.
Randall said the building had myriad issues, including lead paint on the walls, asbestos in the roof, and water and sewer lines that were rated for residential, not commercial use. They also had to pour new concrete flooring and re-engineer the building’s entire plumbing system.
Aside from the building’s exterior walls, nothing from Mamma Zu remains in the new Adarra, he said.
“If we’d just knocked it over, we’d have been open a year ago,” Doetzer said.
Much of the hardware in the new Adarra was custom-made, from a wood-burning oven that Doetzer said they sourced from Atlanta, to its tables that were made by local carpentry firm Kettlewell Construction. The Doetzers paid $900,000 for the building, and Randall said they probably spent two to three times that amount renovating it.
“Suffice to say it’s been a process,” he said. “And it still is.”
Commonwealth Construction Management was the general contractor, SMS Architects was the architect and Renmark Design was the interior designer.
The restaurant has seating for 50, up from the 30-seat capacity Adarra had in its Jackson Ward space. The Doetzers run it with a staff of roughly 10. Once fully open, Adarra will be open Thursday through Monday.
It looks beautiful.i wish them the best and I plan to visit one day for dinner. I cannot fathom how much food and liquor must be sold to pay down the debt. It has to be daunting.
Lets try and help them with that Bruce! Hope you are well
I’m a big fan of food so I’ll be heading over there.
Looks stunning. Can’t wait to dine there. So glad someone took over such an iconic spot.
It looks amazing! Welcome to the neighborhood! I can’t wait to visit.
It looks absolutely wonderful! I hope they happily feed Richmonders for another 30 years in this totally rebuilt space.
Make it make sense. Mamma Zu was perfectly crafted for their audience and the neighborhood and likely spent no more than was needed to make the magic they made there. Whatever this is – sure – do it, build it, renovate it – somewhere. But there? For that price tag? It’s easy to imagine this being done somewhere more appropriate for whoever it is they are trying to attract – and for 1/2 the price.
Now whoever thought Mamma Zu would be a hit in a dirty run down space in a rough area of town? It attracted folks from all over the area for countless return visits. Make it great and they will come.
Kay, the owner did. Although understated, Mamma Zu was carefully crafted for the space and for the location.
L’Opossum sits 200 feet from this location as an upscale fine dining restaurant and has thrived for years.
LOVE the food from L’Opossum. The service, especially for the food prices? Meh – at best. Hopefully, the service for Adarra will mirror the beauty that’s been put into the building. Looking forward to this.
L’Opossum is excessively eclectic and eccentric which matches the character of the neighborhood. To me, this just looks – severe.
What are you an Oregon Hill taste-maker? That’s a lot of unnecessary harshness for folks trying to open/operate a small business and by the looks of things putting a lot of trades people to work in the neighborhood. How about give them some encouragement instead of peeing in the punch bowl, fella?
Lol…Think of the tradespeople! Look, I’m just calling it like I see it. $3M to turn a cinderblock shack into a 2.7k square foot upscale Atlanta steakhouse in a student ghetto has all the hallmarks of an unmitigated fiasco… but I wish everyone the best.
I’m uncertain how you derived “upscale Atlanta steakhouse” from Adarra’s previous menu; clearly, you never ate there. Getting resos there was often difficult during prime meal hours and the food was simply spectacular.
Nonetheless, just as Mama Zu’s wasn’t necessarily the exact restaurant one would expect in “a student ghetto,” it thrived because the food was excellent. I have zero doubts Adarra will duplicate the success this space has enjoyed as an eating establishment.
I don’t think agreeing with Randall makes one a hater. He’s certainly not criticizing Adarra or its owners. They are an amazing couple. I hope I’m wrong to be concerned that it’s going to take a lot of customers who are willing to squeeze into that area, find a parking spot, and enjoy an exceptional culinary treat. It’s going to mean these fans are willing to do it fairly frequently. I hope they are right. I hope their business acumen matches their culinary skills. I’d hate to see a great restaurant fail because its ROI didn’t justify the cost. To… Read more »
Absolutely stunning! Can’t wait to try it out. Now that’s how to do it right!
That’s a lot of money to put into that place, I wish them all the luck in the world.