Northsider

Six Burner has a prix fixe three-course dinner menu Monday through Thursday all year for $19.95. Actually a better deal than restaurant week. And usually some great options. Plus wine deals on Tuesday and Wednesday!

Went out to Zeus Gallery tonight for restaurant week. Had great food and great service. I would highly recommend going before restaurant week is over. I had calamari with pesto, flounder stuffed with crab meat, and tiramusu. All great! Other appetizers included a soup (I think sweet potato and apple puree) and a seasonal salad with pumpkin seeds. Other entrees included a hangar steak (which I tasted and highly recommend), meatloaf, a pasta dish, and a shrimp and scallop dish. And, finally, other dessert options were an apple cobbler and chocolate pate (tried both and, again, very tasty). So hurry up before the week's over!

I had one of my worst dining experiences in Richmond at Bella Arte a couple years back. Won't go into details, but I certainly don't plan on going back -- unless I hear that some major changes have taken place there. Despite the 45-minute wait at Northside Grille the other night, Bella Arte was empty. Which didn't surprise me!

Just got back from our first trip to Northside Grille. First time I've seen folks hanging out on the Bellevue Avenue sidewalk! In fact, there was a 45-minute wait when we arrived around 7 PM. But my husband and I were able to grab a spot at the bar immediately, so we ate there. The food was okay, but nothing great. It's mostly a bar food menu (sandwiches, wraps, and so forth), with a handful of entrees. We stuck to sandwiches this time. My husband had the buffalo chicken sandwich with the pasta salad. He mentioned that the pasta salad was good and the sandwich was nice and spicy. I had the crabcake sandwich, which was good as well. Lots of crab in there! It was served with mustard, which I thought a bit odd. But the crabcake tasted just fine on its own. I had the potato salad on the side, which I probably won't order again -- way too much mayo. Anyhow, all in all, an okay experience. Nothing to write home about. But, it is a very cool (non-smoking) space. And only a couple blocks from our house. So we'll definitely be back.

Walked by the Northside Grille (on Bellevue Avenue) yesterday. The sign outside says Grand Opening this Monday at 11 AM.

Pretty sure Nanci Raygun closed because of issues with the lease and the owner of the building. There were some maintenance issues on the part of the landlord. And the Nanci Raygun folks wanted to buy the building from him, but he wouldn't sell for a reasonable price.

Very excited about the progress being made at the Northside Grille, as I only live a few blocks away. It will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood! And I'll be sure to let you all know when it (finally) opens. Just a quick update on Dot's Back Inn. Been there a few times since ownership changed and the food's still great. The dinner menu's the same, although I've heard that they're planning on making changes (for example, getting rid of the Chicken Macarthur entree). They're open for Sunday brunch now (used to only be open for Saturday brunch) -- and making additions to the brunch menu, if they haven't already. And one of the waitresses told me recently that they're going to try to get some outdoor seating (in front) okayed through the city.

I agree with BGW on Sumo San. Pretty awful sushi. Nearly as bad as Nara, in my opinion. I've made better sushi at home!

As a HUGE sushi lover, I would recommend Akida. Best sushi in the city, in my opinion. Only been to the Fan location, but they do have a West End location as well. Also recommend Kobe in the Slip. And just tried takeout from Roda up near Virginia Center Commons the other night and it was pretty good. Would NOT recommend Nara (near VCU) or Sumo San (in the Bottom).

I was just there a couple weeks ago and had the worst service I've ever had there. The hostess wouldn't seat us at a table for which we had a reservation -- even though there was a table for four in plain sight and no one else was waiting for it. The server was inattentive (as they always seem to be). The food was good, but not good enough to overlook the overall experience. So unless this 180 has taken place in the last week or so, I'm not agreeing with SW on that one.

Saw Can Can's "Restaurant of the Year" article in Style Weekly today. While I've had one good experience at Can Can, I've also had extremely bad experiences there, including an extremely rude hostess and outright bad service. Ridiculous service, in fact, considering how much a tab at Can Can comes to. There are so many better restaurants in Richmond!

Has anyone tried Helen's in the last six months? Thoughts?