Kevin Roberts is opening a restaurant at 805 N. Davis Ave. (Photo by Piet E. Jones)
The news that the iconic restaurant The Black Sheep — known locally and beyond for its massive “battleship” sandwiches — had closed was hard news for RVADine. Fortunately, the sadness is going to be short-lived.
If you wander over onto Davis, you’ll notice that the recently closed Betty on Davis is sporting a fresh coat of spiffy black-and-white paint. The new hues were applied by none other than Kevin Roberts, owner/chef of The Black Sheep, and his team, working hard to give the space a bright new look.
“It was time for a reset,” says Roberts of his move to The Fan. He clarified later that the restaurant on Davis will not be a replication of The Black Sheep, but "a new endeavor."
After a summer of plumbing and sewer issues that caused the restaurant's Marshall Street location to close for days at a time, the exploding population of students leading to increasingly difficult parking, and simply too many years of going up and down all the stairs in the original space, it’s easy to see why Roberts was anxious for a move. The new space is all on one level (“better for their knees!” Roberts says), and while it isn’t quite as large as the old building, it’s better designed for both service and cooking, plus it will have an actual bar. Parking should also be less of an issue.
Roberts hopes to get the doors open at 805 N. Davis Ave. soon. How soon? Possibly by Christmas, almost definitely by the first couple weeks of the year. Roberts plans to concentrate on lunch and dinner service for the time being, with many of the old favorites remaining on the menu and an emphasis on fresh daily specials.
You can hear RVADine cheering in the background.
