Illustration by Nathan Arizona
Best bowling alley
939 Myers St., 804-331-0416
Live music, food, drinks and bowling — it has it all. Located in Scott’s Addition, River City Roll offers an upscale bar, a full menu, a dog-friendly patio and music. What makes River City Roll so hip is HyperBowling. It’s one of eight sites in the world with this attraction, which takes bowling to the next level with illuminated targets on the bumpers that players either hit or avoid to win points and complete levels.
2. Uptown Alley
3. Bowlero
Best farmers market
4021 Forest Hill Ave.
“Rebuilding a Richmond Tradition.” As the South of the James farmers market enters its 15th season, Karen Grisevich, founder of GrowRVA, says this tagline represents the move forward as South of the James has switched from a large Saturday market to a more intimate market on Sundays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. in Forest Hill Park. Grisevich says the most special thing for her is watching kids who have grown up at South of the James become shoppers and even farmers.
2. RVA Big Market
3. The Farmers Market at St. Stephen’s
Best local band or musician
Richmond native Lucy Dacus returned to her hometown in July to perform on Brown’s Island. Though she’s now a Philadelphia resident, she still feels a connection to the city and spoke about it last year in a Richmond magazine interview. “I think I feel so known [in Richmond], I feel so understood, that occasionally I just need that distance to figure out what I think about myself,” she says. Take your time, we’ll be here.
2. No BS! Brass Band
3. Tie: Carbon Leaf; Three Sheets to the Wind
Photo courtesy Science Museum of Virginia
Best museum or attraction for kids
2500 W. Broad St., 804-864-1400
No matter your age, there is always something to learn at the SMV. From learning the scientific properties of skin in the “Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity” exhibition, to examining 370 million-year-old fossils in “Planet Shark: Predator or Prey,” the museum’s exhibits have a broad appeal. “There’s no expiration date on curiosity,” says Jennifer Guild, manager of communications and curiosity.
2. Children’s Museum of Richmond
3. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Best arcade
3121 W. Leigh St.
Opened in October 2017, The Circuit advertises itself as Richmond’s first “dedicated retro and modern arcade bar.” Located in booming Scott’s Addition, The Circuit offers classic arcade games, food and drinks. If you want to immerse yourself in nostalgia, join their Skee-Ball League and become a “Sunday Funday Baller.”
2. Bingo Beer Co.
3. DraftCade
Best escape room
7025 Three Chopt Road, 804-477-6369
Founded by the Czarda family as a distraction amidst a family tragedy, Ravenchase Adventures is a game for “spirited intellectuals,” according to its website. “I think what makes us stand out is we build our rooms from the ground up,” says Assistant Manager PJ Pray. “We do everything in-house from creating the puzzles to creating an atmosphere that almost seems eclectic to customers.”
2.Tie: Breakout; Escape Old Towne, Petersburg; River City Escape Room
Best nonmusic festival or event in the counties
4611 Sadler Road
A homecoming of a family of 40,000 — that’s how coordinator Sandra Brown describes the food festival hosted at St. Anthony Maronite Church in May, its first festival since 2019. Drawing volunteers from age 3 to 93, the 37th festival brought back favorites such as tabouli, fatayers, baked kibbe and falafel, all made with their special ingredients: “love and passion.”
Arts in the Park returned to the Carillon in May. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Best nonmusic festival or event in the city
Tie: Arts in the Park; Richmond Greek Festival
1301 Blanton Ave., 30 Malvern Ave.
After two years of COVID-19 cancellations, these two festivals are eager to greet the public once again with food, drink, art and culture.
“It was unbelievable the crowds that came out,” says Paige Quilter, Arts in the Park spokesperson, which returned to the Carillon in May. “What the artists told us was this was their best show ever.”
The Richmond Greek Festival will return with a mini Greek Festival Sept. 22-24. Nothing brings organizer Andrea Baker more joy than seeing people coming together to enjoy Greek culture. “Our Greek Orthodox Community is joyful when we are able to give back to the community that gives us so much,” she says.
2. Riverrock
3. St. Benedict Oktoberfest
Best concert series
13191 Dawn Blvd., Doswell, 804-217-8800
In 2021, After Hours Concerts hosted Sublime and Dirty Heads, a show that Producer Matthew Creeger credits with having the “most animated people” he’s ever seen. “It was the longest merch line I’d seen in my 10 years of business.” This year will be another big season, with artists Darius Rucker on Aug. 27 and Sam Hunt on Sept. 3. Both are predicted to draw large crowds to Meadow Event Park, Creeger says.
2. Friday Cheers
3. Richmond Symphony
Best movie theater
2908 W. Cary St., 804-358-3056
This 1928 historic movie theater, with its 8-foot Czechoslovakian crystal chandelier and classic red-and-gold decor, has remained primarily unaltered for the past 93 years — except for updated technology and some much-appreciated new seats in recent years. Offering screenings of recent releases, as well as favorite classics, the theater provides a nostalgic experience, complete with music on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ.
2. Bow Tie Cinemas Movieland at Boulevard Square
3. CMX CineBistro
Photo courtesy Richmond Folk Festival
Best music festival
What serves as a relaxing and entertaining experience for its audience is the culmination of a year-long process of selecting and booking vendors and artists from around the world. The planning for one of Virginia’s largest events begins shortly after each festival ends. Director of Events Stephen Lecky says a “must see” for this year’s festival is Grammy-winning blues musician Cedric Burnside. The 2022 Richmond Folk Festival takes place Oct. 7-9.
2. Tie: Riverrock; Richmond Jazz and Music Festival
Best live music venue in the counties
8982 Quioccasin Road, 804-447-8189
Watching your favorite artist on a stage with a crowd of 220 people for their last tour would be a treasured experience for die-hard fans. For lovers of singer-songwriter Janis Ian, this became a reality in April at The Tin Pan. Sam Rettig, a box office worker there, says Ian’s sold-out show had one of the best crowds and atmospheres because it was a “very intimate show.”
2. After Hours Concerts
3. Virginia Credit Union Live
Best live music venue within city limits
708 E. Broad St., 804-612-1900
This historic theater first opened in 1923, hosting vaudeville acts and silent movies. Restored and revived as a live music venue in 2008, today the venue boasts a “state of the art V-DOSC sound system,” seven bars and a robust slate of performers, including Thundercat (Sept. 4) and The Wailers (Oct. 2).
2. The Broadberry
3. Brown’s Island
Best theater event/series
6 N. Laurel St., 804-592-3384
When Cindy Creasy, spokesperson for Broadway in Richmond, saw fans lining up for shows post-pandemic, she says it was “the most touching thing” she witnessed after the pandemic paused productions such as crowd favorite “The Lion King.” Now, people are returning to their seats. “For those of us who work at the theater and with Broadway in Richmond, it was very emotional,” she says.
2. Virginia Repertory Theatre
3. The Byrd Theatre
