Food and Drink

Soft opening: Big Wife's Mac n' Cheese

Photo: Ned Oliver/Axios

A new macaroni and cheese spot recently enticed me away from the boxed stuff.

What's happening: The owners of Old Original Bookbinder's Seafood & Steakhouse — a restaurant that sounds so fancy it has never occurred to me to even consider dining there — opened Big Wife's Mac n' Cheese about a month ago on Arthur Ashe Boulevard in Scott's Addition.

Richmond restaurant news: New seafood spot opens

Illustration of competing restaurant neon signs.

Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios

The new seafood restaurant from chefs and co-owners Lee Gregory and Bobo Catoe is finally here: Odyssey opens Thursday at the corners of Patterson and Three Chopt.

  • The 40-seat restaurant is in the former Billy Pie space.

The new names in Richmond food, per Food & Wine

Welcome to Richmond, where the food is awesome and the weather is... well, 🤷🏻‍♀️. Illustration: Axios Visuals

Food & Wine called Richmond a "culinary powerhouse" in a new piece out Friday, and if you thought you were having a flashback to 10 years ago, you'd be wrong.

What's happening: Recent appearances — and wins — on national food competitions is "making the world take notice of the state’s capital," Food & Wine wrote, noting:

The brands behind some of Richmond's ghost kitchens

Animated gif of a chef's hat with ghost eyes floating above the ground

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

On Wednesday, three new restaurants will celebrate their Richmond openings, but you'll never dine in any of them.

Driving the news: ChefSuite, the latest ghost kitchen to hit town, officially opens Wednesday on Broad Street near Staples Mill.

The Girl Scout cookies available in Richmond in 1958

A 1950s Girl Scout cookies flyer from VCU Libraries' Special Collections and Archives. Photo: Ned Oliver/Axios

Here's a look at the lineup of Girl Scout cookies available for sale in the Richmond area back in 1958.

Of note: It appears Thin Mints are the sole survivor.

What technology can tell us about the state of Richmond dining in 2023

Illustration of a fork and knife folded in a napkin made of a hundred dollar bill.

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Inflation doesn't appear to be affecting Richmonders’ willingness to dine out.

Driving the news: Richmond restaurants saw a 7% increase in transactions in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with the same time the previous year, per a restaurants trends report released last week by Toast, a digital point-of-sale system for restaurants.

Ask Axios: When are Tio Pablo and TJ's reopening?

Illustration of an otter with a word balloon with a question mark in it coming out of its mouth.

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

This week, we have a pair of questions from readers on restaurants that have been closed for a bit.

Question: "Tio Pablo has been 'temporarily closed' since early summer. Can you do some investigating and find out what the deal is? " asks reader Gabby T.

Richmond Black Restaurant Experience is back starting Sunday

Mobile Soul Sunday when it was at Kanawha Plaza. Photo: Courtesy of Courtney Jones

Richmond Black Restaurant Experience is back for its seventh year starting Sunday and running through next weekend.

Why it matters: The weeklong event celebrates Richmond's diverse and thriving Black culinary scene while honoring the significant historic contributions Black people made to the city and its food culture.

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