Boulevard Burger & Brew recently reopened, while The Ace, pictured in the distance, has secured a new restaurant tenant. (Mike Platania photos)
Closed for months after a car crash damaged the building, a longtime eatery on Arthur Ashe Boulevard is now back in business, while a new mystery restaurant is setting up across the street.
Boulevard Burger & Brew recently reopened at 1300 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. The burger joint from EAT Restaurant Partners was forced to close last fall after a driver crashed a Dodge Charger into the restaurant.
The driver was charged with driving while impaired and reckless driving, WRIC reported in October.
EAT President Chris Tsui said that the company was fortunate the crash occurred when the restaurant was closed, preventing injuries, and that the building sustained no structural damage.
“It was enough where (the driver) destroyed all the glass and frames, tore up the concrete, and hit the bar,” Tsui said. “There was no structural damage, just cosmetic.”
Chris Tsui
EAT opened Boulevard Burger in early 2016 after a historic tax credit renovation of the building, which in the 1950s was home to another burger joint, Kelly’s Jet System Hamburgers. The property was later a used-car lot.
Meanwhile, across Arthur Ashe Boulevard, another restaurant is inbound a block to the south.
The new restaurant, a Japanese barbecue spot, is taking one of the ground-floor commercial spaces at The Ace, the eight-story mixed-use building nearing completion at 1201 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.
The 6,000-square-foot space was recently leased, according to an announcement from Divaris Real Estate. A spokesperson for the development team declined to disclose who the user is. Tsui said EAT is not involved.
About 7,000 square feet of commercial space remains at The Ace. Divaris’ Read Goode and Rachel James have the listing. The Ace will include nearly 300 apartments in the seven floors above the commercial spaces.
Baker’s Crust at Short Pump Town Center is set to close to make way for a new Lucky AF.
As for EAT, the company has several other projects it’s working on this year, including a new restaurant at Short Pump Town Center.
Tsui said it recently finalized a deal to open a second location of its Scott’s Addition sushi restaurant, Lucky AF, in the mall’s Baker’s Crust space in early 2026.
Baker’s Crust has been at Short Pump Town Center since the mall’s opening in 2003, but the chain is now set to completely exit the Richmond market. Last year it closed its location in Carytown after 26 years in the city. The Short Pump Baker’s Crust remains open in the meantime.
The Short Pump site is one of two new Lucky AF locations in the pipeline for EAT. Last year it signed on to open one in The Evelyn, a new-construction development rising along Forest Hill Avenue. Tsui said he’s looking to open the Forest Hill Lucky AF this November.
EAT is also planning a to-be-named Italian restaurant at 3401 Haydenpark Lane at the GreenGate development in Short Pump, as well as a Wong’s Tacos in Hanover that’s aimed for an August opening.
The company’s also planning to bring back its ramen concept, Foo Dog, at 3017 W. Leigh St. in Scott’s Addition. A timeline for Foo Dog’s return is unclear.
Tsui said EAT didn’t plan to have so many new spots in the works for 2025.
“We’re not trying to take over and do so much. Everything fell on this year, for whatever reason,” he said. “We prefer to spread it out, but that’s just how it fell.”
Boulevard Burger & Brew recently reopened, while The Ace, pictured in the distance, has secured a new restaurant tenant. (Mike Platania photos)
Closed for months after a car crash damaged the building, a longtime eatery on Arthur Ashe Boulevard is now back in business, while a new mystery restaurant is setting up across the street.
Boulevard Burger & Brew recently reopened at 1300 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd. The burger joint from EAT Restaurant Partners was forced to close last fall after a driver crashed a Dodge Charger into the restaurant.
The driver was charged with driving while impaired and reckless driving, WRIC reported in October.
EAT President Chris Tsui said that the company was fortunate the crash occurred when the restaurant was closed, preventing injuries, and that the building sustained no structural damage.
“It was enough where (the driver) destroyed all the glass and frames, tore up the concrete, and hit the bar,” Tsui said. “There was no structural damage, just cosmetic.”
Chris Tsui
EAT opened Boulevard Burger in early 2016 after a historic tax credit renovation of the building, which in the 1950s was home to another burger joint, Kelly’s Jet System Hamburgers. The property was later a used-car lot.
Meanwhile, across Arthur Ashe Boulevard, another restaurant is inbound a block to the south.
The new restaurant, a Japanese barbecue spot, is taking one of the ground-floor commercial spaces at The Ace, the eight-story mixed-use building nearing completion at 1201 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.
The 6,000-square-foot space was recently leased, according to an announcement from Divaris Real Estate. A spokesperson for the development team declined to disclose who the user is. Tsui said EAT is not involved.
About 7,000 square feet of commercial space remains at The Ace. Divaris’ Read Goode and Rachel James have the listing. The Ace will include nearly 300 apartments in the seven floors above the commercial spaces.
Baker’s Crust at Short Pump Town Center is set to close to make way for a new Lucky AF.
As for EAT, the company has several other projects it’s working on this year, including a new restaurant at Short Pump Town Center.
Tsui said it recently finalized a deal to open a second location of its Scott’s Addition sushi restaurant, Lucky AF, in the mall’s Baker’s Crust space in early 2026.
Baker’s Crust has been at Short Pump Town Center since the mall’s opening in 2003, but the chain is now set to completely exit the Richmond market. Last year it closed its location in Carytown after 26 years in the city. The Short Pump Baker’s Crust remains open in the meantime.
The Short Pump site is one of two new Lucky AF locations in the pipeline for EAT. Last year it signed on to open one in The Evelyn, a new-construction development rising along Forest Hill Avenue. Tsui said he’s looking to open the Forest Hill Lucky AF this November.
EAT is also planning a to-be-named Italian restaurant at 3401 Haydenpark Lane at the GreenGate development in Short Pump, as well as a Wong’s Tacos in Hanover that’s aimed for an August opening.
The company’s also planning to bring back its ramen concept, Foo Dog, at 3017 W. Leigh St. in Scott’s Addition. A timeline for Foo Dog’s return is unclear.
Tsui said EAT didn’t plan to have so many new spots in the works for 2025.
“We’re not trying to take over and do so much. Everything fell on this year, for whatever reason,” he said. “We prefer to spread it out, but that’s just how it fell.”
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I’m glad to see more happening along Arthur Ashe Boulevard! Although I wish it was a Korean BBQ spot—we don’t have one in the Downtown/Fan/Carytown/SA area.