A French Foundation
The year is 1970. Enter the toque-wearing French transplant Paul Elbling, who brought with him white tablecloths, polished service and a brigade-driven devotion to technique. Asked why he chose to settle in Richmond, Elbling famously replied, “Richmond didn’t have a French restaurant.” At La Petit France, his Dover sole, duck breast and escargot reset expectations and laid the foundation for the city’s fine-dining identity.
By the 1980s, local chefs began spreading their wings. Stella Dikos opened her namesake restaurant in 1983, The Aviary and The Butlery both expanded Richmond’s culinary palate, Mainly Pasta introduced fresh pasta and gourmet fare to a wider audience, and in 1989 Ellwood Thompson’s became a local staple for organic and natural foods.
Star Chefs
Sarcastic, quick-witted and unapologetically bold, Jimmy Sneed ushered in a celebrity chef era to Richmond when he opened The Frog and the Redneck in 1993. Trained under legendary French chef Jean-Louis Palladin, Sneed blended approach with attitude, declaring that the city could be a destination for serious cuisine. Sneed was the first Richmond chef nominated for a James Beard Award, in 1995 and 1996, signaling national relevance. He trained a generation of chefs who would shape Richmond dining for decades, including Dale Reitzer (Acacia Midtown), Tanya Cauthen (Belmont Butchery) and Kevin Roberts (Perly’s).
Martin Gonzalez of La Milpa
International Cuisine Expands
During the ’90s, immigrant communities from Vietnam, South Korea, Ethiopia, the Middle East and the Caribbean were reshaping the city with restaurants and grocers that reflected their roots. One of the most influential debuts was Full Kee (1994) on Horsepen Road, led by Helen Tran, where Americanized Chinese fare was secondary to dim sum and Cantonese delights. Also in 1994, Martin Gonzalez opened Mexican Market #1, a precursor to South Side’s La Milpa. Along Midlothian Turnpike, Dominican, Honduran and Salvadoran eateries took hold. In Oregon Hill, Mamma Zu (1994) delivered a master class in garlic-heavy Italian cooking. Both Full Kee and Mamma Zu used Washington, D.C.-based distributors, bringing a new supply network to the city. Other notable openings included Jamaica House (1994), Africanne on Main (1995), Mekong (1995), and Pho Tay Do (2000). For many diners, these restaurants offered an intro to untranslated tastes and shifted the city’s palate in subtle but profound ways.
The Greek Connection
Amid Richmond’s growing diversity, one of the city’s most prolific restaurant families was laying a foundation. In 1991, spouses Johnny and Katrina Giavos (daughter of Stella Dikos) — both from Greek families — opened The Sidewalk Cafe on Main Street. Their instinctive hospitality and work ethic spawned an empire of nearly a dozen neighborhood restaurants and markets, including Little Nickel and the recently opened Lafayette Tavern. The family’s influence extends through bygone restaurants The Village and Moondance and longtime favorites Joe’s Inn, Athens Tavern, Kuba Kuba, Galley and more.
Strength in Numbers
Later in the ’90s and into the 2000s, owners of multiple eateries launched restaurant groups. Michelle Williams, Jared Golden and Ted Wallof opened The Hard Shell (1995) and formed Richmond Restaurant Group, which now includes East and West Coast Provisions, The Hill Cafe, and others.
In 1998, Kendra Feather introduced the venerable vegetarian restaurant Ipanema Cafe on Grace Street, later expanding her footprint with Garnett’s, The Roosevelt and Laura Lee’s.
Chris Tsui founded EAT Restaurant Partners in 2004, building the city’s most far-reaching restaurant group, now spanning more than a dozen concepts, including Beijing on Grove, Lucky AF and Osaka. A newer player on the local scene, Mike Lindsey and Kimberly Love-Lindsey’s Lindsey Food Group is now one of the country’s largest Black-owned hospitality companies.
Full Circle and Southern Charm
As Richmond matured, chefs stepped into ownership roles. Dale and Aline Reitzer opened Acacia (1998), and a year later Dale was named Food & Wine’s Best New Chef. (Aline founded Richmond Restaurant Week in 2001.) Manny Mendez (Kuba Kuba, 1998) and David Shannon (Dogwood Grille and Spirits, 2003) also opened restaurants, and Can Can Brasserie (2005) followed. Dining pockets began to form in the Fan, Church Hill, Carytown and beyond.
Simultaneously, a Southern identity crystallized with Comfort (2002), where Jason Alley and Michele Jones turned banana pudding and pimento cheese into a calling card for the city, along with Julep’s (2003). The next wave brought Mama J’s (2009), The Roosevelt (2011) and Pasture (2011).
Tanya Cauthen of Belmont Butchery
The Locavore Movement
While Manakintowne Specialty Growers began planting produce directly for chefs in the mid-1980s — and Jimmy Sneed brought fishermen, farmers and foragers straight to kitchen back doors — it took years for the practice to take hold. By the 2000s, intentional sourcing came into focus, and menus shifted from evergreen offerings to seasonally driven showcases. Tanya Cauthen’s Belmont Butchery (2006) put small farms and humanely raised meat front and center. Farmers markets surged with the debut of Birdhouse Farmers Market (2007) and the South of the James Farmers Market (2008). This was the true beginning of the chef-farmer connection, with menus proudly listing purveyors, diners asking questions and “local” transitioning from a buzzword to a value.
An Imbibing Boom
The late 2000s and early 2010s saw the rise of craft beer and cocktails. A 2012 law change, driven by Hardywood Park Craft Brewery (2011), allowed on-site brewery sales and sampling, turning tasting rooms into community hubs and, incidentally, fueling a food-truck boom.
Blue Bee Cider, Richmond’s first cidery, was founded in 2012, putting Virginia apples and terroir on the map. In 2014 alone, The Answer brewpub and Ardent, Strangeways and Triple Crossing breweries opened, followed by The Veil Brewing Co. and Black Heath Meadery in 2015 and Buskey Cider in 2016. Scott’s Addition became the city’s beverage epicenter.
The cocktail scene came into its own with Saison, The Roosevelt and Heritage leading the charge and training a generation of talent. Years later, The Jasper (2018) established itself as the city’s go-to cocktail bar. Together, these venues helped show Richmond there was more to life than highballs and PBR.
Culinary Culture
In 2014, the Fire, Flour & Fork food festival from Maureen Egan and former Richmond magazine Editorial Director Susan Winiecki emerged. It positioned the city among the country’s major food players by inviting chefs, writers, industry leaders and food lovers from across the country for themed dinners, farm visits, demos and discussions, until it ceased in 2021. Richmond Restaurant Week (2001), Broad Appetit (2008) and the Richmond Black Restaurant Experience (2016) helped foster a growing sense of pride, innovation and inclusion, while Richmond magazine’s Elby Awards (2013-2019) celebrated the local dining community.
National Stage
By the mid-to-late 2010s, Richmond’s scrappy but skilled underdog persona gained wider recognition. In 2015, the James Beard Foundation declared Sally Bell’s Kitchen an “American Classic.” Nominations followed for chefs David Shannon, Lee Gregory, Sunny Baweja and Brittanny Anderson, along with Evin and Evrim Dogu of Sub Rosa Bakery, and An Bui of The Answer. In 2019, Bon Appétit dubbed Richmond a “restaurant-obsessed town,” and praise rolled in from other national outlets.
Pressure Points and the Pandemic
In 2018, Richmond raised its meals tax to 7.5%, pushing the combined tax on city restaurant bills to 13.5%. Restaurant owners felt targeted, diners balked at higher checks and skepticism lingered over how the funds — a portion earmarked for schools — would be used.
Then everything stopped. In March 2020, dining rooms closed, and food and beverage businesses went into survival mode: protective gear, takeout windows, alcohol delivery, outdoor seating, capped reservations. Government support lagged, and it was a relentless test of resilience. Many restaurants shuttered. Dining habits shifted permanently, delivery became a norm, and the RVA Dine & Drink page on Facebook surfaced as a popular forum with over 100,000 members sharing information, advocacy and debate, accelerating social media’s role in shaping the city’s food narrative.
Next on the Menu
Today, Richmond's food landscape faces new pressures. The costs of food, real estate and labor continue to soar, while rapid development brings high-rises with ground-floor space for restaurants and cafes. Some owners see opportunity — a chance for locals to stake a claim — while others mourn the loss of the creaky floors and quirky charm that have long defined city dining. Richmond’s small-town allure has attracted transplants, patrons eager to explore the local scene and chefs ready to add to its legacy.
