Richmond, VA for the evening

In general ... and this applies to anywhere you go, not just Richmond ... beer tours are a waste of time and money, IMO. I much rather be in control of the breweries I visit and the time I spend at each one. IMO, a limo or Uber is a no brainer. CHEERS!

 

In my experience, Uber is pretty easy/quick to come by on the weekends and you can get around to the better spots with relative ease.

 

This was going to be my exact suggestion. Pick a 2-3 stops outside of Scott's Addition you want to check out on your own with a responsible driver (Hardywood - West Creek, Triple Crossing, Final Gravity, The Answer / Mekong), check those out and then plant yourself in Scott's Addition where you can easily walk to a good number of spots. At the end of the evening get an Uber home or to your hotel. It's much more flexible in being able to check out the places you are interested in and a helluva lot cheaper.

 

Thanks TomCat, montman, and AlexM! Sounds like we're all thinking along the same lines - I will take your suggestions and avoid the tourist traps.
Looking forward to hanging out and drinking in RVA!

 

..and thanks to Beernuts as well

 

The Fan or the Museum District. I don't know if airbnb lets you search by neighborhood, but if not, the two can basically be considered one big neighborhood (they are adjacent to each other) bordered by Park Ave on the north, Cary St on the south, Thompson St on the west, and VCU on the east. The area between Broad St and Park Ave is also nice and some people would consider it to be part of those neighborhoods.

 

I will be visiting the Richmond area in a few weeks.

Maymont, L'Opossum, The Veil, The Answer, Final Gravity, and Triple Crossing are the places on my itinerary so far. I had a few questions here for you Virginians:

1) What is your favorite BBQ? For me, ZZQ looks to be the best but it's also the newest. What is the consensus on this place, and other spots for that matter?

2) The Fancy Biscuit, The Roosevelt, or Lunch and Supper if you had to pick one for brunch? It probably doesn't matter, as I'm sure all three spots are awesome, but opinions are welcome.

3) Does anyone know of any Richmond trading groups on Facebook? I found RVA Beer Trade and requested to join, but for some reason the admin won't approve me. My request is still "PENDING" even after messaging the guy.

4) Is Blue Bee worth checking out? I've read some great things about this place, and the cidery/neighborhood it's located in looks like a cool spot to check out. Neither of us have really had any alcoholic ciders, so we could take it or leave it. On a scale of 1-10 when it comes to beer nerdery, if I'm a 10, my wife is about a 9, so this isn't one of those "your wife might enjoy it" type of places.

Thanks in advance.

 

Just want to thank everyone who contributed advice in this thread. Heading to Richmond next week and look forward to hitting many of these spots.

 

ZZQ is easily the best for brisket and ribs (I prefer Alamo for pulled pork and sausage) but be prepared to stand in line ad some things may sell out before you...

what day of the week for brunch? Roosevelt and Millies are awesome on sundays (Millies will have a line). Early Bird Biscuit is really good too

that's the only one I know of; Ben has been out of town the past day or so, so that may be cause of delay

Blue Bee makes some nice cider, but pricey (at least their bottles). if you're already in Scotts Addition why not check them out (and Blackheath Meadery is like a block away too)

 

my favorite is probably Alamo, but ZZQ is good too.

I've only been to L&S but its really good, although kind of small.

there's one called RVA Tastes and Trades

Blue Bee is ok, its a unique place that you may or may not like. The way the place is set up and decorated reminds me of a winery, which is not my vibe but its well done for what they're trying to do. The cider is good but expensive, they only do bottle pours. Its worth checking out because its right by a bunch of other places.

 

RVA Tastes & Trades is definitely the one your want to join. It's the most active trade group in RVA and has over 2,500 members. They mainly deal with IP trades so good fit for your trip.

RVA Beer Trader is one too but I don't see posts in there as often. And has less than 800 members.

Weekly releases from The Veil have been lasting much of the week so you likely will not need to trade for new stuff that will be released the week you are up but if you may want to try scoring some non-recent releases then there Behind the Veil (Trades Only)

 

Thanks so much for the replies, especially regarding local trading groups.

@ncaudle Brunch would be Sunday. Early Bird Biscuit looks awesome too. Might actually opt for here since I'll probably be dropping a ton of money on beer and other meals. Always nice to find good meals at good prices. Blackheath Meadery sounds cool too. Definitely will check it out.

Thanks too @beernuts and @TomCat11 . Odd that Blue Bee only does bottle pours, but the cidery sounds like a nice way to break up the beer drinking a little bit. And you'll probably see me posting in the Facebook group soon. Much appreciated help guys. Looking forward to visiting.

 

1. ZZQ is probably consensus best BBQ in RVA, though I find it to be a bit overpriced. However, it's centrally located to all the breweries and likely your best bet for that reason. I also enjoy Deep Run Roadhouse, but again their location(s) are in the far West End and VCU area, so not convenient to breweries.

2. All are great places. I prefer Roosevelt for dinner over their brunch. Lunch and Supper will be your best bet again in terms of location to breweries in Scott's Addition. Would also highly recommend Heritage for brunch.

3. Shoot me a PM about RVA tastes, I know Ben pretty well and can shoot him a text message for you.

4. Blue Bee might have the best venue in Scott's Addition. Absolutely centrally located, and really cool spot to sit out and enjoy some cider. I don't personally love their cider, and find it to be a bit expensive, but it's definitely worth checking out, and splitting a bottle or grabbing a draft.

Other places I would highly suggest are Stella's Grocery (it's next to Vasen, you can skip Vasen though, as I can't name a single beer I have truly enjoyed there) for their sandwiches, Union Market (if you hit TCB Fulton, this is a must stop IMO. Great sandwiches, beers on tap, and decent selection of beer to go), Saison (yeah it's a bit expensive and not centrally located, but the food is really damn good, and good draft selection though again on the higher side for RVA). Finally, I know you have Answer on there, but absolutely hit Mekong as well. It seems to be less crowded these days (as The Answer seems to be more out of towners preferred stop), but the draft list just keeps getting better. Was in there yesterday and they had Foam, Equilibrium, and a Horus Aged Ales beer on draft to name a few. Absolutely worth the stop. Enjoy the trip!

 

1). ZZQ's online menu only shows meat beings old by the pound, but the pictures on Yelp seem to show platters and smaller portions so I was confused. That's crazy expensive/odd if they only sell it by the pound though. I've never seen that before, and it pretty much limits what one is able to eat (especially for me since the only meat my wife eats is turkey).

2. Location doesn't matter to me. I love driving and ubering around cities and seeing the sights. Heritage was one of the other places that I had on my initial list, but there was a fried chicken thigh on Roosevelt's brunch menu that caught my eye. Maybe I'll end up at Heritage. My itinerary is always changing because I have a hard time making up my mind, lol.

3. I actually got accepted yesterday. This trading group is huge. The one we have in Pittsburgh (which is super active) has less than 800 people.

4. To be honest, the pics of the outside is what got my attention. Probably wouldn't have been interested it if it was just in a small, divey place. This and the meadery mentioned above are places I'm definitely going to check out now.

Is there a tapas placed called Stella's too? This was on my list a while ago when I was first deciding what place to make dinner reservations for, but I chose L'Opossum. Thanks for the Mekong suggestion too. I didn't know their beer list was different than The Answer's. Foam, Equilibrium, and Horus? Yes, please.

 

@jeevo be sure to also print out the Richmond Beer Trail Map. It's kept current regularly so you can know all of the area breweries (along with cideries and distilleries). You can print it out or there should be brochures at all of the breweries. get it stamped at each stop and once you have 5 then get a free gift. I think the current item is a pair of RVA Beer Trail logo sunglasses.

 

At ZZQ you can order 1/4 pound or 1/2 pound, but the pricing on brisket and such is by the pound. They also have a variety of sandwiches and sides. Stella's is a Grreek restaurant and it's the best one in town without a doubt. They have two grocery stores (one near the restaurant, and the other in Scott's Addition). You really can't go wrong going there, but definitely get a reservation if you plan on going. Pretty small place and fills up quickly. And the best thing about Answer and Mekong is they have two completely different tap lists.

 

A quarter pound of brisket is like 2 slices, so its a weird ordering system but in the end its pretty much the same as any BBQ place, you aren't buying in bulk.