821 Cafe owners Andrew Clarke (left) and Chip Cooke. (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
Andrew Clarke had just finished his degree at Virginia Commonwealth University when he got an idea seemingly out of the blue. Instead of pursuing work as a Spanish teacher, he decided to try to buy 821 Cafe, the restaurant where he had been working part-time for three years. With his friend Chip Cooke, who was cooking at Palani Drive at the time, Clarke convinced the owners to sell, and the duo spent the next year learning the back end of the business and pulling together the funds to buy it. Two decades later, Clarke and Cooke remain owners, and you can still find them working the line and pulling doubles just like any other employee — they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“The day we bought 821 was the definition of a quick change,” says Clarke. “I worked the morning shift as an employee, then we took a break and went to a lawyer's office, signed some papers and came back to work the nightshift as the owner.”
Back then, 821 Cafe was located at 821 Cary St. In 2010, the business moved a couple doors down to its current location, 825 Cary Street, where it now shares a wall with the 821 Bakery Cafe mural painted years before by local artist Chris Milk. In a recent post on Instagram, Clarke shared a photo from the old building — just a tiny glimpse, really, of a shelf of beer bottles above a coffee maker and a row of beer taps, including Legend, Anchor Steam and Sierra Nevada. The post elicited an outpouring of love from former and current staff and longtime regulars, including some pining for the sound of the old screen door creaking open and slapping shut.
When Clarke and Cooke originally purchased 821, the staff included a tight group of friends, bandmates and housemates. “There were definitely some growing pains as we went from being fellow employees to bosses,” Clarke admits. “I will say we have always done our best to be co-workers. Chip and I are still hands-on owners, and [we] spend a lot of time cooking, for a few reasons: mostly because we love it, but also because, as a small business, you have to!”
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The 821 Bakery and Cafe mural (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
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Inside dining room of 821 Cafe (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
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Booth inside 821 Cafe (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
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Patrons sitting on stools at the bar at 821 Cafe (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
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Sketch of 821 Cafe (Photo courtesy of 821 Cafe)
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Owner Andrew Clarke in the early days of 821 Cafe. (Photo courtesy of 821 Cafe)
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Framed pic from an 821 Cafe holiday party (Photo courtesy of 821 Cafe)
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[From left]: Former workers Ben Cronk (current owner of Petersburg's Buttermilk Bake Shop, which supplies desserts for 821 Cafe), Jay Morris, and Kate Koyiades (Photo courtesy of 821 Cafe)
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Employee Rich Bollinger and owner Andrew Clarke (Photo courtesy of 821 Cafe)
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Group photo during a work party (Photo courtesy of 821 Cafe)
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[From left]: Former employees Brendan Traeche, Justin Owen (who landed Andrew his original job at 821 Cafe) and Josh Small (Photo courtesy of 821 Cafe)
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[From left]: Former employee Josh Barker with owner Andrew Clarke and fellow coworker Cole Hutchinson (Photo courtesy of 821 Cafe)
These days, 821 enjoys a dedicated fan base, especially for their vegetarian and vegan offerings, which include a seitan-based gyro, the Nashville Hot vegan fried chicken sandwich and the Billy Philly, an original vegetarian riff on a Philly cheesesteak made with a garden burger and named for 821 regular Billy Lamberta. On the weekends, you can reliably find a line of people waiting for brunch that snakes out the door — VCU kids with or without their parents and families with kiddos who clamor for Monster Pancakes.
Not surprisingly for such a community-focused cafe, Clarke says it's the people that make 821 so special. “We have always been staffed by the best collection of musicians, artists and creators,” Clarke says. “And we have always tried to support them when their story takes them away from 821.” That includes folks like George Barry, who worked the line while attending culinary school before going on to cook all over the world; Kate Koyiades, who now works as an artist/designer for TV and film; and at least one member of every band in Richmond.
Clarke says 821 has had a hand in raising multiple generations of babies and also seen some of its dearest friends pass away. “I can’t imagine 821 without thinking of Jonny Z [Jonathan Zanin], Jay Moritz and Kelly Tuck,” Clarke says. “It’s so hard to lose friends, and you definitely develop close bonds with people in the trenches of restaurant life.”
To commemorate two decades, Clarke says they plan to offer new merch, including t-shirts that feature the classic 821 mural and a special 20th anniversary design that Clarke describes as more "streamlined." They’ll also hang a banner for guests to sign and, as they do every anniversary (which happens to fall on April 20), they’ll sell beer for $4.20.
When it comes to describing what makes 821 special and why it’s lasted when so many other Richmond restaurants have come and gone, Clarke says, “It’s not one thing, but the sum of a bunch of parts. It’s the people that work here, it’s the customers, it’s the love. Of course being smack in the middle of VCU’s campus helps!” he adds, laughing. “We come from the pre-hype era of Richmond restaurants. You didn’t need a concept or to be fancy. We learned the ropes in Richmond neighborhood classics like Joe’s Inn, Coppola’s and Palani Drive. So we reflected this in 821. 821 is a comfortable neighborhood spot, where you can come everyday. I think this is a huge part of why we have stayed relevant.”
