Best Local Ice Cream Shop
Beverly Mazursky of Bev's Homemade Ice Cream (Photo by Adam Ewing)
Bev’s Homemade Ice Cream
2911 W. Cary St., 204-2387
Bev’s has blossomed from a tiny ice-cream shop into a Carytown staple, and it all began in 1997 when Beverly Mazursky, who turns 79 this month, decided that Richmond was missing homemade ice cream. Today, flavors rotate based on seasonal ingredients but the same delicious 12 flavors are always available, from vanilla and chocolate to butter pecan.
2. Gelati Celesti
3. Sweet Frog
Best Local Gelato
Gelati Celesti
If you are the type that struggles to make a decision about dessert, Gelati Celesti is the place for you. The local chain makes more than 85 flavors seasonally, by hand and churned in Italian equipment used for more than 30 years. Today, there are three stores (and one to come in Scott’s Addition) all packing gelato by the cone, the cup or the pint.
2. DeLuca Gelato
3. Tie: Boyer’s; Castanea
Best Chocolate and/or Candy Shop
For the Love of Chocolate
3136 W. Cary St., 359-5645
Looking for an obscure truffle? Or perhaps a comprehensive Cadbury selection? Maybe an eclectic party pleaser such as dark chocolate-covered potato chips or a strawberry malt ball? Head to For the Love of Chocolate. It has the largest scope of gummies, caramels, fudge and hard candy in the city. Willy Wonka would be jealous and Charlie would never leave.
2. Gearharts Fine Chocolates
3. Chocolates by Kelly
Lunch/Supper (Photo by Julianne Tripp)
Most Underrated Restaurant
Lunch/Supper
1213-1215 Summit Ave., 353-0111
With its new-ish patio, Lunch/Supper most likely won’t win this award next year. Rick Lyons started with Lunch in 2012 and opened Supper in 2013. With 64 seats between the two of them, it is smart to get there early for a chair and a huge portion of simple food done well. Or go for brunch and try the Train Wreck — it’s as this category states: underrated.
2. Tie: Dinamo; Enoteca Sogno; Lucy’s Restaurant
3. Tie: Bacchus; Chez Foushee; C&M Galley Kitchen; Graffiato; Lalo’s Cocina; Tazza Kitchen
Best Coffee Shop
Lamplighter Roasting Co.
Noelle and Zach Archibald started small on Addison Street in 2009 with a 10-kilo Probat, a tiny coffee roaster. Since then, the two, along with Jenn Rawlings, have built a three-location coffee “empire.” The trio has upgraded to a 30-kilo Diedrich, are distributing locally and are featured in many restaurants around the city.
2. Black Hand Coffee Co.
3. Crossroads Coffee & Ice Cream
Best Smoothies
Tropical Smoothie Cafe
“Eat better, feel better,” the Tropical Smoothie tagline says, and has since 1997 when the first store opened in Tallahassee, Florida. There are five locations in Richmond, with one more on the way. “All our ingredients are natural,” says Daija Richardson, manager of the locally owned franchise at Willow Lawn. “We sell about 300 Island Green smoothies [spinach, kale, mango, pineapple and banana] a day. It’s very popular.”
2. Ellwood Thompson’s
3. Smoothie King
Best Bakery
Sub Rosa Bakery
620 N. 25th St., 788-7672
Evin and Evrim Dogu have come a long way since Evrim was baking in his dorm room at VCU. The brother-and-sister team do everything by hand, milling their own grain for their organic flour and culturing their own yeast for the naturally leavened bread and pastries. Alton Brown visited the bakery in 2014 and said it wasn’t to be missed; called the Dogus “hardcore.” Locals agree.
2. Westhampton Pastry Shop
3. Shyndigz
Best Biscuits
Early Bird Biscuit Co.
119 N. Robinson St., 335-4570
Tim Laxton has a following and it followed the biscuit-maker from Lakeside to his new location in the Fan. Early Bird’s jolly owner seems to live at his space, making an average of 600 biscuits each weekday and more than 700 on the weekends. He relies on staff brainstorms and local, seasonal ingredients for his creative creations. A recent favorite was a riff on an orange Creamsicle, which came served on a popsicle stick.
2. Hardee’s
3. Saison Market
Best To-go Eats
8 ½
401 Strawberry St., 358-8505
Don’t feel like waiting for a table at one of Ed Vasaio’s popular restaurants? Then don’t. Head to 8 1/2 on Strawberry Street and choose from a short but simple menu that reads like a Mamma ‘Zu/Edo’s Squid/Dinamo greatest hits album with a B-side that includes sandwiches like the addictive arugula, prosciutto and mozzarella hero.
2. Proper Pie Co.
3. The Dog & Pig Show
Best Organic/Health Food Store
Ellwood Thompson's (Photo by Jay Paul)
Ellwood Thompson‘s
4 N. Thompson St., 359-7525
Ellwood Thompson’s began in 1989 next to a Blockbuster Video. In the almost 30 years since, the organic food supplier has expanded three times, having absorbed the entire building with its organic grocery store, coffee and smoothie bar, made-to-order food counter and its newest “upgrade,” The Beet, with beer and cider on tap, wine, music and film screenings.
2. Whole Foods
3. Good Foods Grocery
Surliest Staff
Mamma ‘Zu
501 S. Pine St., 788-4205
Some things never change — and Richmond still isn’t feeling the service at Mamma ‘Zu, brainchild of the elusive Ed Vasaio. It may be true that your server doesn’t want to know the habits of your first-born or any detail about your day, but it’s a good bet that he/she won’t forget your order and knows the wine list intimately, and the side spaghetti will be garlicky and delicious.
2. Edo’s Squid
Best Restaurant Atmosphere
The Boathouse (all locations)
Down by the river, next to a lake and adjacent to a shopping center, all three Boathouses have distinct personalities and separate menus, and each has memorable ambience. Serenity and scenery are a winning combination for Kevin Healy, who began his Boathouse vision at Sunday Park in Brandermill. A fourth location with the same mission is planned on the Appomattox River in Hopewell.
2. Tie: Can Can Brasserie; L’Opossum
3. Tie: The Daily Kitchen & Bar; Max’s on Broad
Most Overhyped Restaurant
Tie:
Heritage, 1627 W. Main St., 353-4060
Southbound, 3036 Stony Point Road, 918-5431
With so much regional and national attention, it’s easy to believe these places are a bit overexposed. “[We] wanted to own a neighborhood restaurant and make good food,” says Joe Sparatta, co-owner of both. “And that is exactly what we are doing.” (Now see Best Restaurant in the Fan and Best Restaurant in South Side.)
2. Mamma ‘Zu
3. Tie: Lemaire; Rappahannock; The Daily Kitchen & Bar
Most Difficult Place to a Get a Table
Stella’s
1012 Lafayette St., 358-2011
Richmond will line up for Stella Dikos. We can’t get enough of her Greek food, making the third incarnation of her iconic restaurant the toughest place to snag a table. Constantine Giavos, Dikos’ grandson, suggests calling several weeks ahead for reservations or (pro-tip) coming in for meze ora (small plates) from 4 to 6 p.m. where you can slide right in at the bar.
2. L’Opossum
3. Mamma ‘Zu
Best Place to Have a Quiet, Intimate Dinner
Lemaire
101 W. Franklin St., 649-4629
It could be the low lights or maybe the new patio. It certainly is the sexy ambiance, Patrick Willis’ delicious cuisine and the exceptional service. Lemaire has nooks and crannies that create romance without forcing it, so whether you’re taking advantage of the three-appetizers-for-$20 special between 4 and 6 p.m. or doing dinner all the way, love is in the air.
2. The Melting Pot
3. Chez Max
Best Cooking Classes
Sur la Table
Stony Point Fashion Park, 272-7094
Do your knife skills need help? Maybe you’re stuck in a casserole rut? Sur la Table can help. In September, the cooking store offers classes that will teach you how to go Greek, master Thai or tour Italy with date-night diversions such as Tuscan suppers and the how-tos of ravioli. The classes sell out fast, so hop toward culinary knowledge quickly.
2. Mise en Place
3. University of Richmond
Best Breakfast
Joe’s Inn
205 N. Shields Ave., 355-2282; 2616 Buford Road, 320-9700
Matt McDonald, the manager at Shields Avenue, maintains that it is the close-knit family at Joe’s Inn that keeps the food consistent. Breakfast is served all day every day and the prices seem to be stuck in the 1970s. For $8.50, you get a truckload of diner-style eating: two eggs, your choice of meat, pancakes or French toast and home fries. Everyone knows Joe.
2. Millie‘s Diner
3. The Egg & I
Best Brunch Menu
Millie’s Diner
2603 E. Main St., 643-5512
You have not one but two chances each weekend to get the Devil’s Mess, an amalgamation of peppers, eggs and spicy sausage that packs a punch that will zap your brunch blues. Richmonders know to expect a line for Saturday and Sunday brunch but the wait is easily abated by a bloody mary or a mimosa.
2. The Jefferson Hotel
3. Tarrant’s/Tarrant’s West
Best Child-Friendly Menu
The Mill on MacArthur
4023 MacArthur Ave., 716-1196
Got young’uns? The Mill metaphorically blasts Mighty Mouse’s theme song, “HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY!” Besides having every size high chair imaginable, you’ll find games, coloring books, a play area, juice boxes and a children’s menu that guarantees happy plates (see: gummy worm Oreo cream cake) while including healthful options.
2. Mellow Mushroom
Best Fast Lunch
Christopher’s Runaway Gourmay
christophersrunawaygourmay.com, 400-3663
Since 1985, Christopher’s has been hanging out downtown. “We serve lunch in 10 to 12 seconds with our four locations,” says owner Chris Zechini, adding, “We haven’t changed the menu in 30 years. I’ve had people leave Richmond and get excited they could get the same lunch they had 10 years ago.” For $5.75 (with two sides!), the lemon-and-dill tuna salad will always be there.
2. Tie: Chick-fil-A; Ellwood Thompson’s
3. Tie: Chicken Fiesta; Citizen; The Continental; Coriander
Be-seen-spot for Breakfast or Lunch
Can Can Brasserie
3120 W. Cary St., 358-7274
Can Can is a binary restaurant. It’s either full-bore on with patio rocking, dining room buzzing and beef Bourguignon braising; or closed. Outside, Christopher’s flower stall blooms into the views behind the truck-sized windows facing Cary Street. Dress snazzy and nosh on buttery croissants. They’ll make your lips glisten.
2. The Daily Kitchen & Bar
3. Millie’s Diner
Best Steakhouse
Ruth’s Chris Steak House
11500 W. Huguenot Road, 378-0600
Shrimp cocktail, gin martinis beading into linen and the smell of steak sizzling on a red-hot dinner plate: Nothing spells out old-school luxury as well. Except perhaps a fireplace in the lounge, the classified growths on the wine list and the fact that no matter the woman’s age or status, her waiter will address her as “Miss.”
2. Buckhead’s Chophouse
3. Hondos
Best Indian
Lehja
Short Pump Town Center, 364-1111
Lehja’s sexy dining room began forking out inventive bites of garlic-scented plantain frites alongside classic, comforting Indian butter chicken in August six years ago. Don’t sleep on the wine selections or the frosty, kulfi dessert du jour. Order chef-owner Sunny Baweja’s over-the-top tasting menu and join the birthday party.
2. Lemon Cuisine of India
3. Anokha Cuisine of India
Best Asian
Peter Chang China Café
11424 W Broad St., 364-1688
We’re willing to breathe chili-smoked clouds and forego dessert in order to eat Peter Chang’s food. Like any mad scientist/culinary genius, his brand of perfectionism isn’t everyone’s Kool-Aid, but we can proudly say it’s Richmond’s Sichuan punch. He sells more dry-fried eggplant and bamboo fish here than in his restaurants anywhere else.
2. Mekong
3. Fat Dragon
Best Italian
Edo’s Squid
411 N. Harrison St., 864-5488
We owe Ed Vasaio big ups. Shad roe with anchovy, skate wing and belly clams became mainstream at Edo’s, as did best-quality olive oil and Parmesan Reggiano— pantry staples other places skimped on when this upper-level seafood trattoria opened in 2001. Chef/co-owner Brad Wein says he serves “the stuff we always eat. It’s innate at this point.”
2. Mamma ‘Zu
3. Azzurro Ristorante
Best Greek
Stella’s
1012 Lafayette St., 358-2011
Not many restaurateurs take their staff to the motherland in order to school them on what they’re serving, but Stella Dikos did. In Greece, like in the restaurant, they found summer-ripe tomatoes, buttery eggplant, sea-smacked octopus, flaky pastries next to ouzo and yogurt as thick as cheesecake. Luckily for us, we don’t have to hop on a plane to learn.
2. The Crazy Greek
3. Bell Greek
Best Mexican/Latin
Mexico Restaurant
If you rewind the tape back to 1990 when the Garcia family opened its first of seven locations, you’ll find todays greatest hits (chiles rellenos, enchiladas supreme, swirly margaritas) synched up to a steady loop of chips and dips — salsa, queso and guac — that keeps soccer teams and Tinder meet-ups alike singing Mexico’s alabanzas.
2. Maya Mexican Grill
3. Lalo’s Cocina
Best Pho
Pho So 1
6403 Rigsby Road, 673-9940; 9135 W. Broad St., 562-5531
Pho So 1 serves the ultimate hangover cure or rainy day pick-me-up: Both locations feature 17 types of pho, from traditional (soft tendon and tripe) to non-traditional (grilled pork chop). A small bowl could feed a family of four and a large bowl is lake-sized, allowing comfort to extend over several meals.
2. Mekong
3. Vietnam 1
Best Seafood Restaurant
Rappahannock
320 E. Grace St., 545-0565
The summer-weight flannel and denim clad bartender with the James Dean profile looks like a ’90s alt-country singer, but the rest of the restaurant calls up the Chesapeake Bay oyster (and soon, scallop) revival circa 2016. A chalkboard map lists aquatic farms, including newbie Tangier Island Oyster Co. Those soft-shells though…
2. The Boathouse (all locations)
3. The Hard Shell (both locations)
Best New Restaurant
Southbound
3036 Stony Point Road, 918-5431
Richmonders want Virginia-bred food and drink in a comfortable, pulled-together atmosphere with friendly pricing. “Yes ma’ams” are optional, but warmth isn’t; Southbound artistically fits that bill. Custom-made tables bedecked with Pinterest-ready butterbean hummus and crudités speak summer, but when Bon Appétit hot-listed Southbound last year, ’twas the crispy catfish and grits that caught writers’ eyes.
2. Vagabond
3. Boulevard Burger & Brew
Best Restaurant in the Region
Cider Braised Rabbit from L'Opossum (Photo by Ash Daniel)
L’Opossum
626 China St., 918-6028
“I looked around [town] to see what was popular, and then I said, ‘No, I’m going to open the place I’ve always wanted: French, comfortable, not too serious,’” says L’Opossum ringmaster David Shannon, a James Beard Award best chef Mid-Atlantic semifinalist. He succeeded. L’O is a pop-culture bomb shelter with filet mignon and crab cakes served amidst Barbie collectors’ plates.
2. The Roosevelt
3. Lemaire
Best Restaurant in Church Hill
The Roosevelt
623 N. 25th St., 658-1935
The menu at the Roosevelt is like a Southern Baptist picnic on an acid trip — with booze hidden in the trunk. Break bread over the Vidalia onion dip with ranch pork rinds and caviar; smoked chicken wings; and the Southern poutine— fries blanketed with pimento cheese, pickles and sausage gravy. Virginia cider will deliver your tummy from evil.
2. Dutch & Co.
3. The Hill Café
Best Restaurant in Shockoe
La Grotta
529 E. Broad St., 644-2466
We will miss chef Tony Capece’s subterranean Shockoe Slip warren and wine cellar; it closed July 2 to move into the Miller & Rhoads building at Sixth and Broad streets. But according to Andrea Capece, La Grotta’s manager and Tony’s wife, “the homemade pasta, bread, desserts, game and seafood will remain the same.” Plus, a patio is in the works.
2. Bottoms Up Pizza
3. The Hard Shell
Best Restaurant in Chesterfield
Tazza Kitchen
1244 Alverser Plaza, 415-6224
The list of purveyors on the menu looks like an unending David Foster Wallace footnote. Winnowed down, try the Rock Barn sausage at brunch and the Bell & Evans chicken rolled into a five spice-rubbed tomato jam taco. There’s a time and place for a highfalutin supply chain and it’s right now, with a bloody mary, on the South Side.
2. Tie: The Boathouse at Sunday Park; Pescado’s
3. Tie: Latitude Seafood; Ruth’s Chris; Sedona Taphouse; Wild Ginger
Tazza Kitchen, Short Pump (Photo courtesy Tazza Kitchen)
Best Restaurant in Short Pump
Tazza Kitchen
3332 Pump Road, 716-6448
We really needed an alternative to TGIFridays’ everyman hospitality. Tazza provided one. It’s a modern-day fern bar, if you will, with succulents over fronds, earth tones instead of brass, and wood-fired pizza and tacos in place of fried food with ranch dressing. Drinks are crafted, not mass-produced. A knowledgeable staff, sans suspenders, completes the experience.
2. Peter Chang China Café
3. The Boathouse
Best Restaurant Downtown
Pasture
416 E. Grace St., 780-0416
If Pasture’s menu were as big as co-owner/manager Michele Jones’ heart, you’d never reach bottom. Instead, it’s a short list of Southern favorites: fried okra with comeback sauce, house-made “candy bars,” city ham. Mixologist Beth Dixon keeps her bar real with seasonal shrubs while helping Jones raise a glass (and supplies) for children in foster care.
2. Lemaire
3. Julep’s New Southern Cuisine
Best Restaurant in the Fan
Heritage
1627 W. Main St., 353-4060
Name a place that impresses everyone — gluten intolerant, meat and potato eaters, traveling gourmands, high-maintenance bar princesses. Struggling? Use my restaurant safe word, Heritage. Its croquettes, roasted chicken, and pasta with foraged ingredients make rough times disappear. Plus, there are Asian-inspired snacks and a nationally heralded bar program.
2. Tie: Acacia Mid-town; Joe’s Inn; Strawberry St. Café
3. Kuba Kuba
Best Restaurant in Carytown
Can Can Brasserie
3120 W. Cary St., 358-7274
Can Can may be the hardest working gal in Carytown. She’s known for perfectly proofed baguettes and morning café au lait, but I admire her relatively late-night, rococo bar; plats du jour (Hello, duck breast Thursdays!) and $21 prix-fix menu. Level 3 Sommelier and in-house wine director Bob Talcott coordinates themed, French-focused wine dinners, too.
2. The Daily Kitchen & Bar
3. Mellow Mushroom
Best Restaurant in North Side
The Mill on MacArthur
4023 MacArthur Ave., 716-1196
There must be a space/time warp flowing through The Mill. No matter how long the line, the wait is never longer than 10 minutes. I credit the servers, who can direct you to the best eats (wraps, blue plates and a ginormous Brussels sprouts salad), traversing dietary concerns as they work their way through hyperspace.
2. Dot’s Back Inn
3. Enoteca Sogno
Best Restaurant in Richmond’s South Side
Southbound
3036 Stony Point Road, 918-5431
Even though Southbound’s doggedly imaginative chefs Joe Sparatta, Lee Gregory and chef du cuisine Craig Perkinson sliver up some seriously fine scallop crudo, this isn’t a “Oui, Chef” outfit. To wit: A cocktail dubbed the “Yas Kween” and the soft-shell crab biscuit, both of which will make you want to snap in a Z-formation. Now with brunch!
2. C&M Galley Kitchen
3. Croaker’s Spot
