Charted: Richmond nightlife is still going strong
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Richmonders continue to embrace nightlife post-pandemic, according to a new report from payment processing system Square.
The big picture: RVA had the second-highest growth in the nation in "late night," in-person restaurant and bar transactions in spring 2024 compared to spring 2019, the company says.
- Richmond had a similar strong showing for nightlife transactions last year, also taking the No. 2 spot (along with Miami) for the highest share of late night charges.
- Square defines late night as 7pm or later, so basically the same way your mom (and Karri) does.
How it works: Square looked at the share of all in-person restaurant and bar transactions using its platform between 7pm and 4am from January 2019 to June 2024 for its summer quarterly restaurant report released last month.
Zoom in: Just over 35% of Richmond's bar and restaurant transactions on the platform took place after 7pm in June, compared to about 24% in June 2019.
- Prior to the pandemic, only around 25% or less of Richmonders' Square transactions happened late-night, per an Axios review of detailed Square data.
- The share of locals dining later jumped up to 35% in June 2021. It's consistently hovered around there since then.
Fun fact: Those stats put Richmond alongside Miami and NYC as cities with a high share of later diners (and drinkers), per Square data.