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Polls
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$5 and under Front Rated Restaurants
The folks at Estes get excited about their barbecue. It’s fun to hear them talk about how much they love the food they’re making. (Even if it is hard for most humans to get that pumped about slow-cooked meat.) Their passion for pork pays off. They make good meat. The pulled pork sandwich with slaw is excellent every time. It only costs $4.50 and it contains more meat than any other barbecue sandwich I’ve had in Richmond. I gave this […]
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$5 and under Front Rated Restaurants
What did one ugly slice of pizza say to the other ugly slice of pizza? Who cares. They’re ugly. I had a great time with my friends at Michael’s Pies and Pints last night. The food was bad. We gave our meal 180 out of 304 points. But, maybe bad food is a good reminder that evil exists in the world. It takes the terrible to remind us to give praise to the good. So, I say they’re providing an […]
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$5 and under Front Rated Restaurants
Capriccio is one of the top 3 pizza restaurants in Richmond. Having moved to Richmond from the Northeast, I am a pizza snob. Of course, everyone knows that the pizza in the Northeast is the best in the country. We were very happy to have found this place. It’s good New York style thin-crust pizza with just the right amount of attitude. 2 slices of pizza for lunch will cost $4.20. Capriccios is at 9127 W. Broad St. Richmond, VA. […]
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$5 and under Rated Restaurants
I sit on the outside of Richmond foodie orthodoxy. In part this is true because I brag about eating very inexpensive food. Lately, I’ve needed my food to be extra-cheap. Here are the things I’ve been eating for lunch lately. They are all $4 or less. Tarrant’s – $3 Fish Tacos City Dogs – $1 Richmond Original Chili Dog on Mondays in the Slip/Tuesdays in the Fan Nick’s Produce and International Market – $3.95 Egg Salad on Rye “all the […]
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$5 and under Front Rated Restaurants
My office is very close to Tarrant’s and I eat lunch there at least weekly. I very rarely spend more than $6 on food there, though. Tarrant’s is at 1 W. Broad St. in downtown Richmond. This is the stuff I get most often – in order of frequency. It’s good food. Most of it is cheap. 1. Fish Tacos – $3 These grilled Mahi Mahi tacos on a flour tortilla with corn salsa have become one of my favorite […]
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$5 and under Rated Restaurants
The Fried Chickpeas are a great $5 standalone dish. Right now, I’m eating them as an alternative lunch. I’ve been hanging out in the lounge for a while. There’s free wifi, drink specials, comfortable furniture and a good menu. I hang out at the Berkeley because I’m obviously a big deal.
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Everyday Specials Front Rated Restaurants
There’s not really anything on the menu here that amounts to a $5 lunch, but $7 comes pretty close. The Rustic Skillet comes with 2 over-easy eggs (they’re serious about the definition of over-easy), a good portion of sausage, lots of potatoes and some sliced onions. There’s also a side of lettuce and tomato and a great chunk of bread. It’s all served on a sizzling hot skillet.
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Front Rated Restaurants
I enjoyed my lunch at Bistro Bobette. I had the Bistro Steak and a side of Macaroni and Cheese. It was just about enough food to satisfy my better-than-average appetite. The steak (about 5oz, I think?) was prepared perfectly and the Macaroni and Cheese was better than therapy. I would have had a glass of wine with my lunch (If you find that scandalous, please keep reading. A little discomfort is good for the soul) but I couldn’t find a […]
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$5 and under Front Rated Restaurants
On The Rox on 18th Street in Shockoe Bottom has good, cheap food. Cheap is a relative term, I know. But, if I can afford to frequent a place, I call it cheap. I appreciate restaurants that make me feel like someone is happy to see me when I walk in. Mike Pendergrast, chef/owner, makes people feel welcome at On the Rox. I also like restaurants where I can eat for $5 or less. On the Rox has several dishes […]
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$5 and under Rated Restaurants
Warning: This post breaks the “don’t review a restaurant too soon after they open because the #RVA food cabal will send neckless henchmen after you” rule. Uptown Market and Deli has been open for just over two weeks. @CaMeKeRVA suggested that the prices alone were enough to make it my kind of lunch spot. She was right. I have already included this restaurant on my list of spots to find lunch for $5 or less. I had the “Homemade Meatball […]
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Other Stuff
1. We cook for the art of it. The most heinous restaurant snobbery is made evident when the food and ambiance are treated as more important than the customer. Stop pretending that you cook for the sake of the art. A great restaurant cooks for the customers. Make them happy. 2. Customers are stupid Restaurant staff too often gets duped into thinking that customers are stupid because they don’t know industry lingo and information. Temper your customer pet-peeves with a […]
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Other Stuff
Repent from these wicked ways: 1. Jackassing Be nice. Spending money in a restaurant does not buy you license to treat people as products. “Please” and “Thank you” are also important. 2. Disrespecting the kitchen. Avoid making special requests with your order. Menus are usually thought out as careful and creative expressions of what the chef would like you to taste. It’s not usually polite to try to create something different. Cook at home for that. 3. Not controling your […]
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$5 and under Rated Restaurants
I went with a couple friends to Twiggy’s Panamanian Caribbean American Cuisine on Brookland Park Blvd. I accidentally found this place while driving around lost in the North Side. I had to get lost to find it again, but we found it. After we ordered and paid through the plexiglass, we sat down inside. The only dish available at the time was the $5 chicken curry lunch special. We ate chicken curry. It included chicken, rice and beans and cabbage. […]
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Everyday Specials Rated Restaurants
Did you know that you can get lunch at Secco Wine Bar for $7? (plus tax and tip. Don’t skimp on the tip, that’d be sucky of you. In fact, some of you should know that tipping less than 20% is bush league.) There are actually lots of lunch options here for $10 or less. I had this pulled chicken sandwich and loved it. Everything about it was good. Writing this makes me want another one. I also can’t think […]
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Rated Restaurants
I wonder how many reviews have already been written about Mamma Zu. I bet it’s in the triple digits. I think it’s the most famous restaurant in town. I had spaghetti and meat sauce for lunch last week. It cost $8.50. It was regular. I was hoping for better-than-regular. Mamma Zu is one of those places where people are happy to be treated poorly in exchange for the right to brag that they’ve had some religious food experience there. I’m […]
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Rated Restaurants
Holy crap, this was good chicken. It was fried and then covered in some sweet barbecue sauce stuff. Wow. It costs $7. It’s not a huge portion, but I recommend it. The meal comes with rice, beans and cabbage. All of those extras end up being covered in the sauce. Excellent. I give the sauce 5,000,000 out of 5,000,000 points. The chicken was great too. There are a few Jamaican places within walking distance to my office. They’ve all got […]
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Rated Restaurants
Pasture serves lunch. The lunch menu isn’t a cool list of “small plates” like the dinner menu. I had the $8 “Frankfurter”. It was about 6″ long, with spiced ground beef, slaw onions and mustard. I should have ordered the $11 cheeseburger. I’ve had the burger before and it’s excellent. The hot dog wasn’t bad, it just didn’t taste like $8. I’m almost sure I’d know what eight bucks tastes like. The hot dog comes with a side of chips […]
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Rated Restaurants
Update 5/2012: Cameron’s Seafood Closed for a while and reopened a few months later. New ownership? I like crabs. Before I moved to Virginia, I didn’t really know what to do with a whole steamed crab. Now I know. Cameron’s Seafood on Broad is a cool place. They have an informal seating area, but really, I think of Cameron’s as a takeout place. They usually advertise the price of crabs by the dozen on the old-fashioned lighted sign outside. You can […]
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Everyday Specials Rated Restaurants
Akida is the ugliest restaurant in Richmond. It’s also my favorite sushi restaurant in town. The food is good and cheap and the service is great. The restaurant is employed mostly by one family. I kind of love that the whole restaurant (about the size of a big walk-in closet) is plastered with home-made “Do not park at Bank of America” signs. There is no pretense here. Just sushi. There’s nothing about the food that will make you shout hallelujah […]
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$5 and under Everyday Specials Rated Restaurants
I go to Nick’s Produce at 400 W. Broad St. whenever budget, time or indecision prevent me from having something else for lunch. It’s my dependable “Plan B” lunch spot. That’s actually a compliment. It’s good enough to eat several times a week. It isn’t new or exotic. It doesn’t surprise or tease. It’s just really good. Nick’s is an international market with a sandwich counter. The Sandwich Man is great. 30% of the attraction here is personality. 70% is everything […]
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Everyday Specials Rated Restaurants
I ate Jerk chicken at the Jerk Pit. Some restaurants are cool even though (or because) they are a little gruff and chilly. I like those places. I walked into the Jerk Pit for the first time and I instantly loved it. The Godfather at the counter didn’t trouble himself in the least. He was memorably unfazed. I’m also pretty sure he doesn’t remember me. I had a quarter chicken, rolls and coleslaw for lunch. It cost $5.40, it was […]
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Rated Restaurants
Bistro 27 is a very good restaurant. The food is good and the atmosphere makes people feel more important than they really are. Good stuff. I have eaten there a few times and I have always enjoyed my meal. The cheapest entree on the lunch menu is usually $9. There is a Kobe / Wagyu beef burger on the menu for $12. Every time I see it on the menu, it taunts me. It says (in a British via Tokyo […]
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$5 and under Everyday Specials Rated Restaurants
On a tip from @KSiddall, I went to lunch with my family to Citizen. It is not an easy place to find. I think they like it that way. It’s a sandwich shop. Nothing on the menu costs more than $6. They get their bread from La Sabrosita bakery and they refer to their sandwiches as “Tortas”. In Mexico, a “Torta” is a torta because it is served on a specific type of roll. In some ways, these sandwiches are […]
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Everyday Specials Rated Restaurants
I never had a crush on any of my friends’ mothers. Moms always seemed old and ordinary to me when I was young-er. I usually think of American Thai food like I thought of other people’s moms – old, ordinary and not apppealing. Thai Corner recently opened very near my office. I have been twice so far. Today, I had the Nur Nam Tok (beef slices seasoned with ground roasted rice and other things) for $8.95. The crushed and roasted […]
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Rated Restaurants
I had this “Heritage Burger” made from “ancient breed” beef at Balliceaux. I had no idea what “ancient breed” beef meant, but it looks so cool on the menu. I had an ancient hamburger. I feel like I can brag about that. The burger was good. It tasted like beef. The cheese on the burger was strong and salty. I liked it all. I would order this burger again. I also had the potato salad. It was OK but I […]
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Rated Restaurants
I live just a couple blocks from Globehopper. I happily walk right by Starbucks to get there. I go to Globehopper for a few different reasons: A. To do homework and drink coffee. B. To have meetings and drink coffee. C. To sit and read with my kids and drink coffee. D. To hide out on the very cool back patio and drink coffee. The food and furniture are good, the people are friendly and the internet is free. Globehopper […]
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Rated Restaurants
Last week, the folks at C’est Le Vin complimented this blog and then pointed out that I hadn’t been to their restaurant yet. Since my patronage can be purchased with that kind of stroking, I went to visit them for lunch the next day. I took five friends with me. It seems that most of the menu items are Italian inspired. The average price of lunch entrees was about $11. The Twitter suggested I try the Four-Cheese Gnocchi. I did. […]
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Rated Restaurants
I had lunch on a Saturday at Lady Nawlins and the food was good. Today, I came back for more. I did feel like an unwanted invader in an insiders-only club when I first walked in and sat down. But, I eventually got served and everything got better. I had the house-smoked hot-sausage po-boy for $9. It was very good. I was impressed that they smoke their own stuff. I don’t really know why that impresses me. One of the […]
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Rated Restaurants Wednesday
We’re experimenting. On Wednesdays at 6pm I’m going to be teaching a spanish class at The Empress. We’re calling it “Happy Hour Spanish”. For $10 you’ll get a Conversational Spanish for Beginners lesson and one of two beverage options. Feel free to order more on your own! The idea is that we’ll have fun, learn some conversational Spanish and enjoy drinks+ at The Empress. The class will be a weekly event for a while. Come try it!
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Rated Restaurants
These are my 10 favorite restaurants in Richmond right now. This isn’t just about food. It’s about lots of things. Food, money, service, friends, memories, character, characters etc. I expect that this list will change frequently. ______ The Empress Can Can Sue’s Country Kitchen 8 1/2 City Dogs The Boathouse Racine Patrick Henry Pub King’s Fish Market The Hard Shell ______
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