Find doughnuts and biscuit sandwiches galore when Virginia's first Rise opens this summer. (Photo by Alex Caterson)
A new Short Pump addition could help the area live the sweet life — and one filled with fresh-baked biscuit sandwiches —when North Carolina-based Rise Biscuits Donuts opens this June.
"I think Richmond is the right market with the food culture that is there ... We look at creativity and how it's handled," says franchise partner David Dowdy, adding, "[We're] just three Virginia boys who want to bring an awesome concept to the Commonwealth."
Located at 11561 W. Broad St., across the street from Short Pump Town Center, the fast-casual doughnut and sandwich shop will offer 15 varieties of doughnuts (at 95 cents to $3 each), seven days a week, plus a selection of country ham, fried chicken and fried bologna sandwiches (from $3 to $7) available on a biscuit or Martin's Potato Roll. Doughnuts fall into one of three categories: "old school" — think classic glazed, cinnamon twists, and lemon-iced cake doughnuts; "new school," the chef-driven selection including one doughnut with basil cream filling and pineapple glaze with crushed pistachios; or "our school," which offers Rise's signature flavors such as strawberry buttercream cake, and the banana pudding, which features banana chips and crushed Nilla Wafers.
Dowdy, born and raised in Farmville, is already the owner and operator of one Rise location, in Raleigh, North Carolina, and will team up with partners Nash Osborn and Matt Hurley, who co-own The Fishin Pig restaurants in Farmville and Waynesboro. The Short Pump shop will feature limited seating indoors, picnic tables outdoors, and a menu that mirrors that of Dowdy's other location — it also marks the franchise's first foray into Virginia. The trio plans to open a second Richmond-area Rise, most likely in South Side and opening early next year, in addition to three other Rise outposts throughout the state throughout the next few years.
"By the time we open our first one in Richmond, [there will be] 15 open, including one in Georgia and one in Texas," says Dowdy, who notes that the company has currently sold between 85 and 99 current and future Rise franchises. "By the end of the year, I would tell you there'll probably be about 25 open."
Rise Biscuits Donuts is expected to launch at 11561 W. Broad St. sometime in June, open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.
