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Ben Wong’s Tea
A fast-casual tea house with a plethora of pastry
This mochi, bubble tea and Korean snack house opened two years ago in Midlothian and has expanded to a second location across from Willow Lawn, where the in-house bakery is the star. Midlothian has a larger mochi selection (hat tip to the Fruity Pebbles mochi doughnut). Willow Lawn leans into airy, mousse-y cakes and savory and sweet croissants, stocked for self-serve as well as mounds of ’grammable, fruit-bedecked shaved ice. Both have immense drink menus including bubble and milk teas, as well as fruit teas and coffee drinks. Sweetener is applied with a heavy hand, but guests can customize sweetness levels when ordering.
Location: 1700 Willow Lawn Drive, #111
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily, Friday and Saturday until 10 p.m.
Signature Items: Brown sugar bubble milk tea, strawberry shaved ice, passionfruit mousse, croque monsieur, scallion bun, nonalcoholic mojitos, occasion cakes
Ambience: Bright and cherry, plenty of tables for meetups and social media ops
Rutba Indian Kitchen
Elegant, affordable Northern India-inspired cuisine in a former Wendy’s
At this sister restaurant to Anoka Unique Cuisine of India in Short Pump, restaurateurs Jassi Sih and Charanjeet Ghotra have brought a much-needed option to Midlothian, adapting classic Indian fare to suit newbie palates. The jewel box setting is tended with knowledgeable service. This former fast-food restaurant now resembles a modern escape, with comfy seating, a small bar and partitioned dining areas in a feminine palette that feels far away from the strip mall it’s located in.
“Rutba,” by definition, is a word that conveys elevated status and distinction. The dishes and presentation here do just that; via shared plates, tandoori oven-baked bread, and roasted lamb and goat meats. The bountiful vegetarian and vegan options merit ordering extra to share. Take out is packed in earth-friendly packaging and swiftly prepared.
Location: 13822 Village Place Drive
Hours: Monday-Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m.
Signature Items: Rutba Kebab Sampler, chicken tikka masala, Punjabi herb salmon, garlic anardana lamb, saag, jackfruit mushroom pulimunchi, kadala black chickpeas, mango lassi
Ambience: Casual, but impressive date night — think of an artsy Airbnb styled with soft lighting and streamlined decor.
Mela Cafe
A bare-bones noodle house and Sichuan eatery with a focus on takeout
Sandwiched between a smoke shop and a massage parlor on Mechanicsville Turnpike, this unassuming regional Chinese spot is dimly lit, with six cafeteria-style tables. To-go orders line a prep table near the front door at peak dining hours. The dining room is quiet: You can hear the counterman turn the pages of his book as the chef woks. Not every dish hits — the Dan Dan noodles were watery and lacked tingle on my visit — but the ones that do are snuggly, garlic-studded home runs. Soups and plump, freshly made dumplings will keep you coming back to support this mom-and-pop cafe.
Location: 7999 Creighton Parkway
Hours: Monday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Signature Items: Dumplings in Sichuan style, Beef Noodle Soup in House Spice Sauce, Wonton in Chili Oil, Mung Bean Jelly Noodles, House Pickled Vegetable Peanuts, chicken noodle soup
Ambience: Go here for a quiet table to catch up on work, or to hide out.
Pizza Square & Italian Market
Brooklyn-inspired takeout and delivery with fresh pasta by the pound, prepared dinners and Italian grocery items
La Famiglia restaurant group owns the adjacent Casa Italiana Restaurant, and with Pizza Square’s summer opening, they doubled down on feeding guests fresh pasta. This corner market complements what the Famiglia team does best, simple, Southern Italian and Italian American fare made with soul. The thick, bready pizza squares and pepperoni-stuffed focaccia are hearty afternoon snacks but also come sized for dinner and parties. Lunch options include soup du jour, grilled panini on focaccia and entree salads.
Location: 8801 Three Chopt Road, Suite A
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Signature Items: Homemade noodles and pasta sauces, housemade mozzarella, penne ala Norma, Italian beer, soda, wine, candies and sweets — plus canned tuna, capers, imported dried pasta and other savory options
Ambience: This neighborhood market is staffed with friendly faces that recognize regulars.
Yak Yai Thai
Family-run authentic Thai in the former Tio Pablo in Shockoe Bottom
This Asian snuggery checks all the boxes. Service is attentive, and the food can arrive fast enough to savor on a quick lunch break. If speed is needed, cue the waitstaff to guide you when ordering; Yak Yai is a scratch kitchen. Boxes of fresh produce are queued in the slim hallway outside the kitchen, offering a guide to what to put on your plate. Tangy, sweet, sour and savory flavors lead the charge, with crisp, fresh and herbal textures and aromas in lockstep. The footprint of the dining room is tiny but mighty, meriting a call ahead to procure seating. Owned and run by the Sourinphoumy and Wiphatwibulkit families and serving until 11 p.m. on weekends, this restaurant’s opening is the best thing to happen to Shockoe Bottom in years.
Location: 1703 E. Franklin St.
Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday-Saturday until 11 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Signature Items: Summer Shrimp Roll, Thai Jerky Beef, tom yum pork noodle soup, duck, green curry, basil fried rice, pad thai, pad see-ew, mango sticky rice, papaya salad
Ambience: Dark wood tables and bar with dim lighting in a tight room, Yak Yai translate to “immense” in this case, heartfelt and intimate.
Sicilian Bakery
A Venezuelan coffee shop and bakery inspired by an admiration for Sicilian craftsmanship and quality
Isabel Bautista, the owner and baker at Sicilian Bakery, kitted out this space alongside friends and family, building the chunky counter and coffee bar and transforming an empty shell of a building into a thriving commercial bakery. Bautista started out selling baked goods from her garage two years ago, before lugging industrial-sized bags of King Arthur flour to the West End. Though the name suggests Italian lineage, the pastry is primarily South American, with French, Italian and American specialties filling the cabinets. Venezuelans looking for a taste of home flock here for steamy coffee and overstuffed pan de jamon.
Location: 9502 W. Broad St.
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Signature Items: Freshly squeezed orange juice, espresso drinks, breads: sourdough, pinitas (soft, pull-apart rolls), guava or cheese bread, croissants, cinnamon rolls, paledonia (cinnamon clove), cachito (ham), bombas (Berliner doughnuts), golfeados (sticky buns), pan Suizo (Swiss chocolate rolls)
Ambience: Yeasty and sweet-spicy scents waft across a bustling counter while the espresso machine and milk steamer hum in the background. There’s little seating; the shop is mostly takeout.
O!nigiri
Japanese street food from an izakaya master
Chef-owner Wakako Reno started shaping onigiri — seaweed wrapped rice triangles stuffed with delectables such as tuna, salmon, mushroom and walnuts — at her family’s izakaya, a neighborhood bar known for its extensive snack menu, as a youngster in Japan. She channeled her skill to open O!nigiri’s original location in Carytown before the pandemic. COVID closed her doors.
Reno’s hungry fan base remembers her oversized rice balls and has been clamoring for them outside her new location near the Lotte Plaza Market. It’s common to see a line outside the door before the grab-and-go counter opens.
Location: 7801 W. Broad St., Unit 22
Hours: In flux, but usually open by 11:30 a.m.
Signature Items: Onigiri flavors: mentaiko (spicy pollock roe), Spam musubi, furikake (seasoned rice), umeboshi (salted fermented plum), avocado, aalmon, spicy tuna, walnut miso; bottled Asian teas and juice drinks
Ambience: Japanese pop, anime and video memorabilia accents the cheery takeaway shop.
