Site ranks Richmond’s best hotels for business

A major travel site recently launched a new ranking and review system targeted strictly at business travelers.

The Business Travel Center is a new service of TripAdvisor.com. The special section ranks hotels and restaurants separately from those aimed and reviewed by tourists.

BizSense browsed the site and looked up the best Richmond destinations for traveling professionals.

The Fairfield Inn & Suites Richmond NW on Mayland Drive in Henrico was ranked number one by business travelers. Reviewers highlighted free internet access, proximity to the business park, and a good breakfast as perks that made it a good destination for a business trip.

Incidentally the hotel is ranked number one for the area on TripAdvisor.com’s overall list that includes reviews from leisure travelers as well.

The Jefferson Hotel was ranked second, followed by the Omni Richmond.

The site recommended Millie’s as the top restaurant for business, followed by Mamma Zu’s and Philip’s Continental Lounge.

There is also a discussion forum for business travelers.

New ABC program may eventually soften the hated 45% ratio

Virginia legislators can raise a drink to the conclusion of another General Assembly. And to all the time they spent debating blue laws.

In fact, out of more than 15 new laws regarding the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, six made specifications pertaining directly to blended alcoholic beverages or their vendors.

But the often-ridiculed law that requires restaurants to sell a minimum dollar value of food based on liquor sales has shown extraordinary staying power, in part because a powerful beer and wine lobby opposes upsetting the status quo. Read more

Virginia Beach restaurant coming to Gayton Crossing

An acclaimed Virginia Beach restaurant is opening a second location at the Gayton Crossing shopping center in Western Henrico.

Eurasia Cafe & Wine Bar  plans to open on May 12 and will offer lunch and dinner service Monday through Saturday.

Co-owner David Edelen said the restaurant will serve Asian, American, and European inspired cuisine with an emphasis on local and regional ingredients.

The original Eurasia Cafe opened about two years ago, and has since won numerous local food awards. It wasn’t long before customers and friends started asking them when the would open a location in Richmond, Edelen said. Fellow owner Jerry Flowers also lives in Richmond.

“We had to bow to customer pressure,” Edelen said, “We’ve been looking about a year for a good spot.”

The owners of Eurasia found that spot at the Gayton Crossing next to the Good Foods Grocery.  Edelen said the 2,400-square-foot property had been vacant for sometime, previously occupied by a Russian-owned deli.

He and his partners are investing around $350,000 to uplift the space to create an upscale dining atmosphere, complete with a pewter-topped bar and indoor seating for 75. An outdoor patio will accomadate another 20 patrons.

Edelen said that the Virginia Beach location has been performing well despite the economy.

“We’ve been killing it,” Edelen said, “We haven’t been affected in the least bit.”

In fact, Edelen said that the sluggish economy put them in a better position to develop the second location.

“I found it refreshing because we had good negotiating power with landlords and vendors,” Edelen said, “They want to get money.”

Edelen said the restaurant will offer 20 wines by the glass and 50 by the bottle. They also plan to offer four beers on tap and up to 15 bottle selections, mostly microbrews.

The restaurant’s chef, Dave Brue, has 12 years cooking experience and was the sous chef at the Virginia Beach location. Brue said keeping up with food trends and offering fresh daily specials are some of the keys to Eurasia’s success. He’ll move to Richmond to run the new kitchen, and joins Edelen and Flowers as partners in the business.

Chesterfield continues nightclub crackdown

County Rib & Ale in Chesterfield, the restaurant cited for dancing violations in March, has closed the Midlothian Exchange reports.

From the article:

As for the business, the doors permanently closed Sunday, April 26. “I have $400,000 invested,” said Donald Quicke. “The county has just bankrupted it. There is a possibility I might lose my home.”

The Midlothian Exchange reports the owners and an employee appeared in a Chesterfield courthouse last week to face five charges of operating a nightclub without a cabaret license. The case was continued until later this month.

A nearby Mulligan’s has a hearing this month for violating the same ordinance. The article said that at least one other business had been charged.

Other restaurants in the county, including a karaoke bar, are rushing to get permits to avoid the county dance patrol, according to the article.

Previously on RichmondBizSense: No shirt, no shoes…no dancing?

Restaurants forced to chomp away at prices

Five is the magic number.

First it was the $5 footlong at Subway. Now T.G.I. Friday’s is going on the offensive with its own $5 meal.

Starting Monday, Friday’s will offer all salads and sandwiches for $5 during the month of May.

These days, restaurants are using cheaper prices as a tool to take a bite out of the recession.

“It’s not just Friday’s, everybody’s doing it,” said Bill Vaughn, chief executive officer for the United Restaurant Group, which owns six T.G.I. Friday’s in the Richmond market and 32 along the East Coast. “Casual dining is working very, very hard to drive traffic.”

In addition to Subway and Friday’s, Chili’s has reduced prices, and Quiznos is offering a $4 footlong.

Gerrard “Smitty” Smith, assistant manager at Applebee’s at Short Pump, said his restaurant is offering numerous price incentives to bring customers in.

Customers who spend $15 are given a $5 off coupon that is good for their next visit, Smith said. Applebee’s also offers a punch card that knocks $10 off after a customer’s sixth visit.

Like Friday’s, Smith said his restaurant has “to offer discounts to keep customers coming in.”

To compound the problems with the economy, Smith said several new restaurants have opened up near his Applebee’s and he thinks that’s also hurting business.

He said sales over the past two weekends compared with last year were well down. Smith said the restaurant did $7,000 on Friday and $6,000 on Saturday. He said a year ago it was $10,000 a night.

Getting people in the door is clearly the biggest problem for restaurants these days, said David Urban, chairman of the marketing department at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Urban said diners can expect cheaper-priced meals for a long time because their fortunes are tied to the employment rate. Since employment is a lagging indicator, it will be one of the last areas of improvement as the recession ends.

While this is a good strategy for restaurant owners in the short run, it could have some lasting ramifications, Urban said.

“Once consumers get used to getting something for less, it’s really hard to get them to pay more,” Urban said. He cited how Taco Bell revolutionized the fast food industry during the recession in the early 1990s by pushing everyday low-cost meals that others in the industry had to follow.

Vaughn acknowledges that it comes at a cost to offer $5 meals his Friday’s franchises, but he said once you get people in the restaurant they might be attracted to other things on the menu.

Asked if the $5 deal will be extended after May, Vaughn said, “It will either be extended or we will come up with another promotion.”

He said he is seeing some signs of improvement and thinks the second half of the year will be better than the first for the restaurant industry. January was the worst month of the year and he’s noticed that the job loss numbers appear to be slowing.

Vaughn said sales at his T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants are down about 4 percent to 5 percent overall. But he said the impact varies from market to market. Sales at his store in Raleigh, N.C., for instance, are running ahead of last year, he said.

Still, Vaughn said the promotions will continue.

“If you just sit and do nothing in this economy, you may be the one who does not survive.”

Sports bar franchise eyes Richmond

Maryland-based Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille  is looking to add one or more locations in Richmond within the next four years.

The Washington Biz Journal reveals that the sports bar chain plans to target Richmond as they add up to 150 new locations. They also plan to grow locations in Philadelphia, Charlotte, N.C., and Orlando, Fla. The company currently has 22 locations in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Delaware.

According to the story, CEO Mark Sanford is betting on corporate job losses to create more franchise-minded entrepreneurs and falling stocks to encourage investors to add new business to their portfolios.

Despite a sluggish economy for restaurants, Greene Turtle reported a 2 percent sales increase last year over the previous year.

For those interested in a franchise, the Biz Journal has the details:

Business owners will need an average of $1.2 million to start up. Those costs will include a franchise license fee of $45,000 for the first location and $30,000 for each additional license. Franchises will pay 4 percent a year in royalties and 1.5 percent a year for advertising fees to Greene Turtle.

Garnetts Cafe coming to The Fan

A new restaurant is in the works at the corner of Park and Meadow, with a veteran of vegetarian cuisine at the helm.

The restaurant, Garnetts Cafe, will be at 2001 Park Ave. The business is registered to Kendra Feather, owner and operator of Ipanema Cafe.

The new restaurant applied last week for wine, beer and liquor licenses with the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Feather registered Garnetts Cafe LLC with the State Corporation Commission at the end of March.

The location was most recently occupied by the short-lived Credo’s Park Avenue Café. Previous tenants also include Table 9 and Chiocca’s Park Avenue Inn. A peek through the window confirms that an interior renovation is under way.

Feather’s first restaurant, Ipanema Cafe, has operated at 917 W. Grace St. for more than 10 years. The basement location is a popular night spot and known for its well-reviewed vegetarian cuisine.

Feather couldn’t be reached immediately for comment, so no word yet as to when it might open or what she’ll be dishing out. Stay tuned to RBS for more.

No shirt, no shoes…no dancing?

You can have a drink, and watch the live entertainment at County Rib & Ale House in Chesterfield.

But you can’t dance.

According to the Midlothian Exchange , the five restaurant investors received summons in early March for two illegal dancing incidents in February.

There is a county code in Chesterfield that requires restaurant owners to acquire a $25 night club permit to allow dancing along with serving alcohol and hosting concerts. The permit can be denied for a variety of reasons. County Rib & Ale House has been denied because police are frequently called to the restaurant, one of the owners said.

A nearby Mulligan’s restaurant was also cited last month for allowing dancing without a nightclub permit. Both restaurants have “No Dancing” notices posted on the front door.

A major with the Chesterfield County Police Department said the department had been called to County Rib & Ale more than 50 times since last January, mostly to break up fights and other disturbances.

The restaurant owners and musicians  say the “footloose law” threatens their livelihoods. 

Patrons have started a petition to change the law.

Richmond consumers shopping less but still dining out

Shoppers in Richmond cut back spending at a surprising clip in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to recently released tax data. But restaurants, long thought to bear the brunt of new-found thriftiness, didn’t see an across-the-board hit to their revenue. Read more

New life for Broad Street sports bar

Out of Bounds Restaurant and Sports Bar has sat lifeless on Broad Street for just about a year, but a new restaurant is in the works for the property.

Interior renovations have been underway for the past few months, and manager Rafid Stanley said they are hoping to open in March as Gus’s Bar & Grill.

The owner is Josephine Flemotomos, sister of restaurateur Johnny Giavos [of Gibson’s Grill and Kitchen 64]. The new restaurant is her first and is named after her father, Stanley said.

The building is owned by the Giavos family.

Stanley said they want to cater to more of a dining crowd, so the pool tables and dart boards have been removed. But they are keeping other sports bar amenities: Stanley said they recently put up new televisions for watching games.

“It is still a sports bar but with much better food, not just fried wings and chicken tenders,” he said.

The menu will offer items with a touch of Mediterranean and Greek flavor, Stanley said. The pub has started hiring and plans to have about 30 employees.

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