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(From left) Beaucoup owners Elias “Eli” Adams and Donnie Glass (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
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The dining room inside Beaucoup seats about 45 guests.
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The bar area at Beaucoup
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The chalkboard in Beaucoup lists daily oyster selections.
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An original canvas found at a thrift store hangs in the dining room.
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Nicole Lee of Richmond-based Forge Design Group helped with renovations to the Beaucoup space. The tiling is meant to resemble that of a Paris subway station.
A Parisian-inspired “dive bar” with oysters and cocktails at the forefront is now open in a former Fan standby. Located in the old Commercial Taphouse space at 111 N. Robinson St., Beaucoup — French for “a lot” — invites diners on a budget to indulge in the finer things.
“We took French food and wine and oysters, which are three things in America that have a connotation of being expensive, luxury and special occasion and try to dress those things down to what they really are, which is for everybody,” says Donnie Glass, chef and proprietor of Church Hill’s Grisette and Main Street wine lair Jardin, who also owns Beaucoup with longtime Grisette bar manager Elias “Eli” Adams.
Leaving pretense and fuss behind, the partners strive to keep it accessible, a running theme in everything they do. A “Cheers”-like version of a neighborhood oyster bar, Beaucoup exudes an easygoing, casual demeanor amplified by $1 oysters during happy hour and the familiar, tenured cast of characters at work there.
Aligned on shared values concerning what they appreciate in a workplace and in life — and a shared affinity for Vans sneakers — Glass and Adams originally met working at the bygone Citizen Burger Bar. They quickly bonded, and when Glass opened Grisette in 2019, Adams joined as bar manager. Now at the seven-year mark in their relationship, often considered a make-or-break moment, the duo have leveled up. When the opportunity to snag the former Commercial Taphouse space appeared, they seized it.
“This was very organic for Eli and for me,” says Glass, whose first executive chef job was with Public Fish & Oyster in Charlottesville. “We’re never going to sit down and say, ‘What do we want to open in 2026?’ If something happens, something happens.”
Leaning into a timeless feel, ditching the previous tenant’s string lights, dark walls and wood for a refreshed, minimal, yet moody interior, Glass says, “The vision was for it to feel like one of 10,000 different hole-in-the-wall bars in Paris. It needed to look totally different. It had been that restaurant for over 56 years; any time you’re taking an establishment, it needs a complete change.
“I also end up thinking it keeps some real soul in the place, it doesn’t feel fancy or foreign,” he continues. “Even when you walk into Grisette, you don’t feel like you’re in a high-end place, which is what we want. This is a Grisette version of an oyster bar.”
A chalkboard similar to the one at Grisette that lists charcuterie selections displays the oysters available each day at Beaucoup, such as Lynnhaven Fancies from Virginia Beach or Wild Blue Points hailing from Long Island Sound off Connecticut. Patrons may also spy little nods to the past among the decor, including a framed Richmond Times-Dispatch review of Commercial Taphouse that mentions a “raw bar” upstairs, a dartboard on the wall and an old specials board.
The kitchen crew, led by Executive Chef Dylan Nemetz, is letting the dishes, driven by seasonality and what is fresh on the docks, showcase their expertise. Much of the offerings at Beaucoup were created with groups in mind, the menu split between “oysters” and “not oysters.”
Bivalves are served all ways — raw with a choice of accoutrements; fried with gribiche and lemon; or roasted with creamed greens, bacon and Parmesan. A celebration of French fare, the menu lists gougères, pillowy, crispy pockets of cheesy dough; a simple wedge of Comté, a firm French cheese; panisse (chickpea fritters) served with Calabrian chile oil; frites with garlic aioli; and chips and fromage. Royal Osetra caviar is also available by the tin.
Other offerings include oeuf mayonaisse, a soft-boiled egg fried and draped in a Dijon aioli; warm rapini greens with lemon chevre and pistachios; and a delicate bluefin tuna crudo with diced apples, foie gras and hazelnuts. Guests will also find a scallop roll, mussels with white wine and fines herbes (a classic French blend of tarragon, parsley, chives and chervil), as well as a flounder filet with brown butter hollandaise.
Happy hour (daily from 4 to 6 p.m.) presents bivalves for a buck, $6 crispy “Big Beers,” $8 ice cold martinis and a $30 bottle of Muscadet — the essentials.
A huge emphasis at Beaucoup is the bar, and Adams is the mastermind behind the beverage program. His bookworm tendencies are reflected in a From the Books section on the drink menu, a collection of cocktail classics and other favorites with short descriptions including when and where they were invented. Eight original creations include This One Simple Trick (rhum, cachaca, Thai basil, lemon, pineapple and coconut) and Forest for the Rees with bourbon, blended scotch, Zirbenz pine liqueur, oloroso sherry, turbinado sugar and angostura bitters.
Wine drinkers will discover over 40 bottles, including a number of white Burgundies.
An added bonus at the new venture is its upstairs space, which will now serve as a pastry and dessert production space and bakery for Beaucoup, Grisette and Jardin. Glass says that once the bake shop finds its groove — in about six months, he predicts — Jardin will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. six days a week and offer espresso, pastries, breakfast and bread. He also hopes to open Grisette on Mondays.
“We’re at such a crushing critical mass of not being able to bake another loaf of bread at Grisette or Jardin, and it’s such an integral part of our concepts,” Glass says. "[Jardin] will be the storefront of essentially the company bakery, and that space is so perfect for that.”
Beaucoup’s opening also means growth for the rest of the employees who work for the restaurant group.
“My role is changing drastically and significantly within the group, and that’s OK with me; I think it’s healthy for it to change,” Glass says, spouting off the employment anniversaries of staff members. “The tenure of the leadership position is nuts. It flies by, and it’s amazing.”
Beaucoup is open Wednesday through Friday from 4 p.m. to midnight and Saturday and Sunday from noon to midnight.
