Bye-bye pollo, hello pizza
Style Weekly had this tidbit about recently shuttered Chicken Mania;
Chicken Mania, the fragrant Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken joint, has closed for good — although owners say they may try another venture in Richmond in the coming months. A pizza restaurant plans to move into the building at 7524 Forest Hill Ave.
By my quick count (not including Manchester, Midlo, and Bon Air) we can get pizza of various quality at 8 places; Little Caesar, Papa John’s, Rockfall Tavern, Maldini’s, Mediterranean Brick Oven, Crust and Cream, O’Toole’s, and Vinny’s. Does that seem like a bit of overkill to anyone else? What style of restaurant would you like to see?
RT @HillsHeights: Bye-bye pollo, hello pizza: http://t.co/pxvF9Fp0 This will make 9 places for pizza in our area. #rva #rvadine #novariety
That’s unfortunate. I enjoyed Chicken Mania. It was sometimes a little rough around the edges, but the food was good and the staff was friendly. I think a somewhat casual seafood restaurant would be an awesome addition.
Can we get La Milpa to open up a satellite store around these parts? We could use some decent Mexican food around here.
Don’t think I realized you could get pizza at med brick oven and I don’t really count little Caesar or papa johns. I avoid crust and cream, what a sour disappointment to what could have been.
Yeah, we have pizza but in most cases you’re better off throwing away the pie and eating the box.
What we NEED is a decent deli or Chilopies (sp)
Add the gillion pizza places to the other side of us, in Carytown, and I think pizza is pretty much covered. I wish we had more “fresh” food closer by. Great salads and such. I pretty much would like Camden’s Dogtown to be smack in WH, including their swell little market.
I’d like to see a Vietnamese restaurant in our ‘hood!
I’ definitely vote for Vietnamese . I cross the river to go and seek good pho or noodles . Or a nice quaint Thai, homestlyle , not fancy. Anything but pizza which is so easy to make anyway and so many options even in the grocery store.
Agree with wanting a Vietnamese place, or Indian.
I’m feeling under the weather so pho sounds awesome. What I would really like is a cheap Teriyaki place, the kind that I used to frequent in the PacNW.
Good discussion in the comments on what food folks would like to see in H&H. Spoiler it’s not pizza. http://t.co/4Zz1DBl6 #rvadine
We are in dire need of a good sushi place on this side of the river
Wait, did we all just agree to open a restaurant together? I’m in!
Most pizza in this city is barely able to be called pizza. It is sad that ChickenMania didn’t work out though. It has to be hard to try to compete with Chicken fiesta on midlothian. I think we need a nice market, the spot next to Maldini’s would be perfect for a small neighborhood grocery/deli. somebody get on that stat.
oh yeah and what Knit hat said….
I really enjoy the pizza (and the pasta dishes) from Papa’s Pizza (NOT Papa John’s). Papa’s is over in Hull in Manchester. Really nice people and the sauces are made from scratch and are fresh. And they deliver!
http://papasdeliver.com/
Too bad about Chicken Mania. I hope they relocate on Broad Street.
I’m with Scott re:Papa’s in Manchester. The San Daniele pizza is one of my favorites. I like Maldini’s schiacciata better than any pizza in the area, though.
Add my wife and I to the list of folks who think a good deli would be mighty nice. I wouldn’t mind seeing a bistro/food market like Olio near Main and Meadow open somewhere in the H&H area (like Erick said, the empty former Ferguson storefront seems ideal).
Hopefully the expanded TaZa can fill the food market void in the area whenever they’re done fixing things up.
we need a bakery. Fresh bread daily and a couple of croissants on the side.
Vegetarian/vegan cafe like Harrison Street Cafe or Ipanema. An authentic Mexican or Indian restaurant would be good too.
WHY OH WHY MUST IT BE CALLED CRUST AND CREAM
Indian would be awesome. Farm-to-Family market would be cool. Seafood would be awesome. A decent ice cream shop would be so awesome!!! A good veg place would be great. I like all these ideas. I love this neighborhood!
If there was some way to put small versions of good ethnic cuisine , and farmers market vendors under the rooftop of the old Fergusons store. Its huge inside and probably too expensive for any one small food buisness. In Northern Virginia they have several indoor food malls in strip mall locations. filled with Vietnamese, Thai etc..Dont know if it would work here. It would take a very savvy business person to put it together . How about a commercial kitchen space that we could all rent , they have one in the West End. that would be awesome.
Folks, if you want decent pizza you’ll need to go to JoJo’s on 12th and Main. Not convenient, but the best I’ve found in town, hands down, all around, make a sound!
I would love to have a Filipino restaurant back in town but failing that, a pho shop or a Vietnamese restaurant would work too.
Thinking of opening a restaurant in Southbank #rva? Read these comments. Seriously, do it. http://t.co/4Zz1DBl6 #rvadine
If you want good Thai on the southside, give Ruang Tong a try. My wife and I have gone a few times and always had great food.
I’m with the Veg/Vegan folks and glad to see I’m not the only one! Go Vegan! Feel better, live longer.
Noodle place recently failed in Manchester. A vegi only place doesn’t draw enough. There’s already good Mex at Ceto Lindo(sp?). There aren’t any local sandwich or deli spots. Papa in Manchester is great and reasonable pizza.
Hate to break the bubble, but having worked at Piccola in college and knowing the owner, Piccola, Mary Angela, Papa’s, and Maldini’s are all exactly the same. Same food distributor, same owners (or relatives) and same recipes. Papa’s has dollar slices on mondays BTW. Maldini’s, for being “upscale” is really the same thing as the sit down side of Piccola. Not knocking it, just pointing it out.
Tim, sorry, I can’t get behind JoJo’s as the best pizza in RVA particularly when we have several places with brick ovens. For my money Tarrant’s and 8 1/2 have the best Za’ in my opinion and in that order.
For the Deli lovers, we should petition Nick’s on broad to open up over here. Local Hanover tomatoes for 1.59 a pound too….that’s like a $1 cheaper than Martins.
two words: “Dixie Chicken”
Dixie Chicken is the BOMB! Love em!
The only place we really lack is a good deli – with real deli meats like homemade pastrami and corned beef, cheeses, fresh breads, rolls and bagels, real smoked salmon AND nova lox, real homemade kosher dill pickles, cole slaw, German potato salad. You know, one of those places where the smell when you walk in is a hors d’oeuvre and the sandwiches are 3 inches thick and they have great hot lentil soup in the winter. A deli!
why can’t we get an ellwood thompson’s type market? instead we get places like crust and cream (nast) and a dialysis center. ugh.
It’s a lot better than it was, though! Those of us who have lived here 10+ years remember when there were no coffee shops, no Target, and only O’Tooles, the Forest and Liberty Valance for restaurants.
I miss the movie theater a little bit, but I’ll take the selection we have now over Anne’s list, plus the Quarterdeck and the Stabby Patrons Foosball Club. I just hope O’Toole’s stays open forever.
I agree about Crust and Cream…big disappointment! And Parkside. Dixie Chicken, strange hours. A nice market would be great or 8 1/2 #2!
I really wanted Crust and Cream to be a legit BBQ joint (like Alamo in Church Hill). My vision was leaving the service bays as is and putting picnic tables in them and outside. I will say, my kid likes walking to get their ice cream, and that’s all I’ll buy there.
A good deli would be awesome, and I second the deli/market for the empty building next to Maldini’s. It’d be the only place you could walk to in the ‘hood and would likely do lots of low margin business in food staples. Not sure we could sustain it though realistically.
I am surprised by all the negative comments on Crust and Cream. My wife and I love the pizza there and order regularly. We also have ordered pizza when family and friends visit and have always had very positive reviews. Makes me wonder if some of these people have actually tried the pizza. There is a steady stream of customers coming in from the neighborhood and their phone is always ringing when I am in there. Someone must like it!
Just a reminder that there is a new place about to open up in the Stratford Hills shopping ctr in the old Stratfod Grill space, from the owners of Kuba Kuba and Bacchus.
Howver, agreed- would be so nice to have a pho house but I just don’t think the area would support it.
Hey Mike, we have some tidbits on Galley (the new spot in Stratford Hills) here: http://goo.gl/I4aLh I for one can’t wait to give it a try. Still no confirmed opening date though.
For those of you yearning Vietnamese place, try Raung Tong(spelling)? . It is in Stratford Hills Shopping Center across from Hathaway Towers. Fresh and flavorful Asian food. We need to support our locals!!!!