Benny’s BBQ asks for help
Although not technically in the H&H area, Benny’s was an old standby before they moved out of Stratford Hills. Turns out the move hasn’t gone exactly as planned so Benny’s is looking for a little help. The following was posted to their Facebook Page.
Dear Friends and fans of Benny’s BBQ,
The recent slow down in the economy (contrary to what the government is telling us) has affected small business like Benny’s BBQ dramatically. For months I have lead the charge for our customers and local community to rally around small business like Benny’s BBQ and now I am asking for our customers and fans to rally around Benny’s BBQ itself to keep our doors open through these most difficult of times in our local community.
The super hot spring and summer kept most people dining at home. Let’s face it, when it is hot out most of us just want a be inside the house with AC, a light meal and an ice cold glass of tea or favorite brew. The constant negative attack ads from the presidential candidates can put anyone in a bad mood and make them worry more about their financial future and our economy.While we maintain our mission to provide our customers with outstanding products and services at reasonable prices we very much struggling to meet our sales expectations to pay our bills. We implore you to come visit Benny’s BBQ and rally around us to keep Benny’s BBQ from becoming part of a growing number of business that have recently closed in and around Richmond.We have done everything we can think of to spread the word about our location, including offering FREE entertainment and extended hours on the weekends to promote night life in Bon Air. This week we are saying thanks to our customers with $2.00 mince pork BBQ sandwiches (while supplies last).
It is our hope that we bring in some new customers that may not have had the chance to try the wonderful products we offer at Benny’s and for those customers that we have lost touch with over the years the opportunity to give us another try and bring back some great memories, see some of their long time staff members and catch up on each other’s lives. That is the best part of our day!
We LOVE our community and our customers and fully understand that you have your own set of circumstances that you have to deal with on a day to day basis. Please, don’t let another great family style restaurant fall victim to the chain store take over war.
Here is our entertainment schedule for this week
Wednesday Night ~ Jazz ~ 6:30 till 8:30
Thursday Night ~ Blues ~ 6:30 till 8:30
Friday Night ~ Classic Rock ~ 9pm till….
Saturday Night ~ Karaoke ~ 9pm till…Sincerely and respectfully,
Richard Cacciotti,
Small Business Owner Benny’s BBQ
Best pork sandwiches in RVA, along with some if the worst fries.
Wow…it’s everyone’s fault but his! The economy, the heat, the negative political ads… Your business is failing because of YOU! When you move a successful restaurant out of the location where it has built all of it’s customers, you are taking a risk. Sorry things aren’t going well for Benny’s, but his sob story makes me want to go there even less.
And apparently, they have terrible fries. No restaurant succeeds with bad fries!
We were big fans of Bennys in Stratford Hills, but post-move we’ve had some bad food and bad service. Although I hate to say it, we had a better experience at Dickey’s and it was closer to home.
Lived in Church Hill before I moved over to Forest Hill and Alamo is by far the best BBQ in the city IMHO. Have had Benny’s before and didnt’ care for it as much as Alamo. If you like good BBQ you MUST try Alamo. They will be at Hogtober this Saturday in Libby Hill Park…
Maybe Richard should try blaming gay marriage while he’s at it! We, too, were regulars at the Stratford Hills location but the quality of the food and service at the new location has gone down. I would go out of my way to get the onion rings but not anymore. The BBQ salad had few greens the last time and was mostly iceberg ribs. I used to recommend Benny’s to everyone, but not anymore. Also, closing at 9pm on Friday & Sat night? Really? Other small business BBQ places are now on our list instead.
I have been to the new Benny’s and had to listen to the owner COMPLAIN throughout my meal. A real turn off.
Could’ve done without the political jargon
Umm, this has everything except the address!
The address is on the Facebook page that is linked in the article but I’ll give it to you here as well. 3044 Stony Point Road, Richmond, VA. My assumption that most supporters of Benny’s would know where it had moved to has been proven false.
NUMEROUS RESIDENTS AT HATHAWAY TOWER WOULD WALK ACROSS THE STREET TO EAT AT BENNY’S. WE DID FREQUENTLY. WHY USE A CAR TO GO EAT WHEN OTHER RESTAURANTS ARE IN WALKING DISTANCE, INCLUDING DICKEY’S BBQ?
SOMETIMES BIGGER ISN’T BETTER. YOU’RE OLD SPOT IS STILL AVAILABLE RICHARD.
Patty,
You can’t blame the gays for everything! I know we cause a lot of problems and whatnot for everyone else but come on…a failing BBQ joint?!?!?!?! (just kidding really)
Benny’s is great. I’m gladd Richard is reaching out to the community and letting us know their situation before they are gone. Keep the money local. Support the small business man. It’s not the best bbq in town, but the wait staff is nice, the food is good and they have almost every Legend beer on tap. Their sauce is boss. Hooray for Bennys!
Me an my lunch group used to eat at the “Old” Benny’s once a week. But due to the move its hard to get there and back in the alotted time we have. We always loved the food, and whoever thinks the fries are the worst hasn’t had good fries before. I’ll take them over any fast food chain’s fries any day.
You all know it wasn’t their choice to move right? The lease want renewed and they had to. I wish that was mentioned in the article so a few of these self righteous folks would change their tune. Dickies chopped pork or beef has gotten more and more fatty.
According to this article, it sure sounds like the move was Richards choice.
http://bonairbuzz.com/2010/12/31/bennys-bbq-is-moving-to-stony-point-shopping-cente/
“We needed a bigger space,” Cacciotti says.
It also says they doubled staff, and increased seating from 50 – 140. Even if Benny’s lease wasn’t being renewed, no one forced Richard to move to a place with double the expenses.
As an earlier poster said, the old place is still there. My family ate there for many years and I believe they had a loyal base of customers in the South Richmond neighborhood and beyond. Moving out to the ‘burbs isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There are lots of loyal city restaurants to keep my business here! No reason to drive to a place which appears to have declined in service and food. Sorry, I can’t buy all of his excuses for his business decline.
We used to walk to the old Benny’s and enjoyed their barbecue sandwiches and selection of Legend beers. We were sorry to see them leave for the greener and larger pastures at Stony Point, because if we’re going to drive it’s going to be for more than barbecue. It was a bad business decision – “you built that.”
Agree with many of the above comments. Benny’s seems to have lost something when they moved to the larger location. I miss the charm of the smaller location, sitting at the bar watching the chef chop up the BBQ, etc. We have been to the new spot a few times (like the rest of you we go out of our way to support these local restaurants) but the quality is just not at the same level as the old place. We were really puzzled that they chose to move in the first place- I don’t remember ever having to wait for a table except perhaps at a busy lunch.
If Robin Inn moved to Willow Lawn, would Fan folks still frequent it? Sometimes location IS part of a restaurant’s identity. Was for Benny’s.
When I first saw that Benny’s was moving to a different location, I knew that would be a bad decision. They are too far out of the neighborhood for all of their old regulars to visit. I agree that Alamo has MUCH better bbq. Even though it is in Church Hill, it is well worth the drive. I can’t say that for Benny’s. Alamo always has BOGO coupons on Valpak’s site. Benny’s doesn’t even have coupons in the Entertainment Book, which is free advertising. The best bet for Benny’s would be to move back to Stratford Hills and start advertising more. Dickie’s offers 50% discount to military and rescue/fire/police so that is an idea they could try too.
I was a fan of Benny’s for many years. However, the food at the new place is just not as good. When Benny owned the business he made a fantastic bread pudding on Friday nights. It was the best bread pudding I have ever had– some nice toasted parts of the bread sticking up out of the pudding gave it a wonderful texture and the lemon sauce was excellent. The bread pudding at the new place tastes like it came out of a prepackaged pudding mix. No texture whatsoever, I couldn’t tell there was any bread in it at all and the lemon sauce had little flavor. The bbq sandwich that I got at the new location was also lacking in flavor and didn’t begin to resemble the ones at the old Benny’s. Overall, the quality seemed a lot lower than it was before.