Reasonably-Priced Richmond Restaurants

By general location – Last updated December 22, 2025

We are often asked to recommend restaurants to visiting friends, so here is our list. With only a few exceptions, we have tried them all; those we haven’t tried are on our shortlist of restaurants to try. They are all moderately-price restaurants; there are a number of up-scale restaurants here in Richmond, but they aren’t listed here. I do not list any national chains.

They are listed in no particular order.

This is a purely personal list and are our very favorites.

There are lots of neighborhood corner grills scattered throughout Richmond. We haven’t been disappointed by any of them, but I list a special few that we frequent.

Be sure to check hours and days when open before going!!!

Cary Street Corridor:

  • Lolita’s Mexican. Very good food, great atmosphere. A little elevated from “just” a Mexican restaurant. Near Carytown.
  • Burton’s. American food, very good. Carytown.
  • Can Can. French, cool ambiance, great bread! Gets loud. Make a reservation or be prepared as a Plan B to eat at one of the other great restaurants all along Cary Street. Carytown.
  • Angela’s. Good pizza and lots of just Italian dishes, very good. Carytown.
  • The Mantu. Afghan food, very good. Carytown.
  • TBT El Gallo. “Elevated Mexican” taqueria. Well-regarded, but we haven’t eaten there. Carytown.

The Fan:

  • Garnett’s. Excellent sandwiches, but very small seating area – get there early or plan to take home.
  • Bamboo Café. Typical and well-known Richmond staple corner bar/grill. More than 50 years old. Its name came from the wrappers used to roll marijuana cigarettes.
  • Joe’s Inn. Another quintessential Richmond café. Especially known for its spaghetti. Two locations; This is the original in the Fan.
  • Kuba Kuba. Cuban. Get there early, crowded.
  • Stanley’s. Philly-inspired hoagies which are very good. Unassuming restaurant. 
  • Curbside Café. Fan area. Well-regarded local bar/grill but is known for its French onion soup. We haven’t been there.

Around VCU:

  • Pupatella’s. Our favorite pizza place, it serves real (certified) Neapolitan pizza, delicious, plenty of parking. We eat here often.
  • Polpetti’s. Really good Italian sandwiches. Owner is famously known for personally driving to New York once a week to purchase the bread and deli items he uses. Two locations, this one at 515 N Harrison is supposed to have some seating. We haven’t been to it yet.
  • Village Café. Typical old-time neighborhood corner grill, American food, we’ve never had anything but a good meal here. When the university is in session, parking can be tricky and the café can get crowded. Serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Shockoe Bottom / Downtown:

  • Bottom’s Up Pizza. Near the Triple Crossing, a train might go overhead! Not our favorite pizza place, but a lot of people like it.
  • Yak Yak Thai. We haven’t tried, but it looks good. Shockoe Bottom (old town).
  • LuLu’s. From 9 am to 3 pm only. Gets full; make a reservation. Shockoe Bottom (old town).
  • Siné Irish Pub. Best fish and chips I’ve found; other sandwiches are really good. Located in a beautiful old building.
  • Café Rustica. German.
  • Irie Ting. Jamaican. Excellent. Very fresh, made to order when you order, so the wait for the food can be a little long.
  • Millie’s Diner. Reservations required. Brunch only. Tiny place, well-known. We loved it the couple of times we were there.

Church Hill Area:

  • Blue Atlas. Global, contemporary, located sort of near Libby Hill, chef-driven, always gets really good reviews. Vegetarian. We’ve eaten there once and will definitely go again. It’s in an old high school which doesn’t look at all like it would house a restaurant. But open only Wednesday-Sunday.
  • The Hill Café. Good food. American.
  • Proper Pie Company. Savory and sweet hand-held “pies.” New Zealand chef. Popular place. Only open Wednesday through Sunday.

Jackson Ward:

Near West End:

  • Lulabelle’s. Near Staples Mill and Broad. A mostly sandwich and soup lunch spot located in a retail establishment. Good location when visiting the large antiques mall and huge art gallery in the same shopping plaza.
  • The Continental Westhampton. American food, good sandwiches, good burgers, lots of food options, reasonable price, retro atmosphere, huge servings of everything, parking can be difficult, you may have to walk a couple of blocks.
  • Bell Greek. Several of these in outlying Richmond suburbs. The one we go to most often is on Three Chopt.
  • Ben Wong’s Tea. Asian bakery, Willow Lawn.
  • Stella’s. Greek, famous in Richmond, busy all the time, you will need reservations. Several locations, but best known in the Near West End.
  • 88 Street Food RVA . Asian, mostly bowls. No internet site.
  • Mekong. Vietnamese, very near us, well-liked. Somewhat weirdly, they are also known for their extensive beer list.
  • Vietnam One. We haven’t tried this, but Redditors like it.
  • Pho Tay Do. We haven’t been here but have heard it is very good and it’s on our shortlist to try. Located in an unassuming little house. No website.
  • Mosaic. Near the Huguenot Bridge (and near the University of Richmond) before crossing over to Southside.

Northside / Brookland:

  • Auntie Ning’s. Filipino. Easy parking. In an area of town that is up and coming. A few other interesting restaurants very close by.
  • Northside Grille. American food, but strangely perhaps, offers lumpia (Filipino) as an appetizer which is very good. Burgers, fries, onion rings are all good. No website but is on Facebook.

Scott’s Addition (a booming, young professional’s area, tricky parking):

  • Wood and Iron. American food; good hamburgers, American food. Slick, modern restaurant.
  • Tazza Kitchen. American food with a little different twist. Slick, modern restaurant.

A bit further afield:

  • Cheng Du. Chinese, on Broad about halfway to Short Pump. Afterwards, it’s fun to visit Brecotea, an Asian bakery and pastry shop, which is nearby. Cheng Du is located in a modest building.
  • Chicken Salad Chick. An anomaly in this list because the ownership is in North Carolina, but the chicken salad sandwiches, flavors of your choice, are hard to beat. Plenty of tables and service (you order at the cash register) is very fast.
  • Con Salsa. Venezuelan. Very good, outside eating or take-out only.
  • Balkan Restaurant. We haven’t tried yet, but heard it’s really good.
  • Chicano Boy. A Mexican-inspired taco and bowl place. Very good, very fresh food. We eat here a lot.
  • Hob Nob. Contemporary Southern dishes, very fresh food, really good, can be a little pricey.
  • Croaker’s Spot. in Manchester / Southside. “Soul food and seafood,” very good, a bit of a trip, parking can be tricky, food takes a while because everything is cooked from scratch.
  • S. B.’s Love Shack. Brunch place. Used to have one downtown, but it closed. This one is in Lakeside.
  • Mr. Noodle. Out toward Short Pump. They make hand-pulled noodles and dumplings. We haven’t been there yet, but we love hand-pulled noodles and it’s on our short list!
  • Pho Thien Phat 2. On Broad halfway to Short Pump. They don’t have a website, but there is a Pho Thien Phat 1 which is listed in the Near West End section above, and the menu may be the same.
  • The Little Nickel. “Tropical diner.” Southside, good food and cute atmosphere.
  • Southern Kitchen. Across the Huguenot River near Trader Joe’s. Southern food, very good.
  • Dot’s Back Inn. We haven’t been, but it is a quintessential Richmond staple, appeared on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives twice, known for being a noisy, happy, bustling place. Bellevue neighborhood across the river.

General:

Tons of other restaurants everywhere.

Almost any Greek restaurant you come across is good.

Lots of taco places everywhere, many of them regional chains; the taqueria places operated by Hispanic residents are very good.

Gelato. Lots of Gelati Celesti ice cream shops all over town and outlying areas. Our favorite, but there are many good ice cream shops in Richmond.

Contact me!