RVANews

821: Almost perfect

Tess Shebaylo — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:00:48 +0000

The skinny:

A single, unisex bathroom at the back of the restaurant.

Pros:

The folks at 821 have taken the graffiti conundrum and made it fun, providing chalkboard walls and chalk so that bathroom defacers can have their (very non-permanent) excitement. This usually makes for entertaining slogans and retorts for the rest of us to observe. The more practical bathroom necessities are there as well; the sink and toilet seem to always be in good working order, and they've never run out of paper towels or soap when I've been there. Having a single, lockable room is also a plus for those of you who make privacy a top priority.

Cons:

The only drawback to this lavatory is its location. While it's in the place that makes the most sense given the space they have to work with, it's sandwiched between a table and the walkway at the end of the bar where servers walk in and out of the kitchen. This means that when exiting the bathroom too quickly, you can clock a diner getting ready to sit down or a waiter carrying a tray full of food. Translation: take your time when opening that door.

821 Cafe
821 W. Cary St.
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 649-1042

Photo courtesy of Wahig.

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Empire: Uninspiring but not digusting

Tess Shebaylo — Fri, 08 May 2009 11:30:36 +0000

The skinny:

Two ramshackle stalls, conveniently close to the front door.

Pros:

The existence of two stalls means you rarely have to wait long for a turn, which is a valuable asset in the bar scene. There's a nice, long mirror to check your face in, and the sink isn't inside the bathroom so that cuts down on the clutter. Toilet paper is almost always stocked. This bathroom doesn't strike me as overwhelmingly clean, but there isn't garbage all over the floor.

Cons:

Yet another restroom with no purse hooks. At any given time, one or both of the stall doors are unable to stay shut, so you have to maneuver some way to take care of business while keeping the door shut with your foot, or with your purse lodged purposefully in the door jamb. Lots of dramatic, specific, catty graffiti graces the walls and contributes to the general squalor. The problem with the sink being in the hallway is that you have to wash your hands under the only bright light in the whole bar, usually spraying other people with the overzealous faucet in the process. And I'd say about 67% of the time, there are no paper towels, so you get the pleasure of walking back to your booth with dripping hands.

Empire
727 W Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 344-3323‎

(Image courtesy of F33)

Aladdin Express: Hookahs, graffiti, and grime, oh my!

Tess Shebaylo — Mon, 04 May 2009 02:06:17 +0000

The skinny:

One individual bathroom, one chance to escape the hookah smoke.

Pros:

The graffiti, the graffiti, a thousand times, the graffiti! This bathroom should be a must-see during your Richmond travels. Don't miss the "Smoke Til Ya Eyes Bleed" tag above the sink, and for a special bonus, look closely at the wall opposite the toilet. You should be able to see the words "Albus + Aberforth 4 eva," which someone tried to wash off the wall. If you have to deface some poor business owner's bathroom, at least it was for hilarity's sake. Another pro is that toilet paper and soap are almost always available here: two things that make most of the cons bearable as far as I'm concerned. I've also never had to wait in line for this bathroom.

Cons:

There's nowhere to hang your purse. The floor is usually filthy, which doesn't help the purse situation, and don't even think about setting that purse on the back of the toilet. It's filthy there, too. Actually it's filthy everywhere. This is one bathroom that is rarely cleaned, so if stench and visible bacteria colonies make you squeamish, try elsewhere.

Aladdin Express Restaurant
801 W Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 359-8500

Cous Cous’s bathrooms = Manhaters

Taylor Burton — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:30:07 +0000

(Please note that the 4-star rating applies to the women's facilities only. The men's room gets two.)

It's Saturday night. You've had a long week, working on the chain gang, making donuts, calculating fish-stick totals, or whatever it is you do during the week, and you just want to have a good time. You remember hearing your friend telling you about a righteous Bollywood Dance Night at Cous Cous, and you decide you simply must be there. 11:30 rolls around, and chances are you may have had a drink or two whilst watching yours truly dance like a fool and lead a conga line around the building a few dozen times. Then you realize YOU HAVE GOT TO GO!

You attempt to make your way to the bathroom, and upon doing so realize that the line is as long as the sky is blue. Time passes, and you find yourself at the front of the line after much waiting. A bathroom finally opens and it is your turn. But wait! Tis' not the appropriate bathroom for your corresponding gender…but you don't care because remember, YOU HAVE GOT TO GO! Now let us just say, hypothetically, that as you are dashing into the open bathroom, the other bathroom door flies open. Whilst viewing both bathrooms simultaneously, you may think that you have entered a parallel universe, and you are probably right. They make no sense!

Now after many times spent using the men's bathroom, I had settled on the assumption that the women's bathroom was just as horrible and disgusting as the one I had become so accustomed to (no fault to Cous Cous mind you. Unfortunately for me, most dudes do not particularly care about being sanitary….or not trying to flush 10 rolls of TP at the same time). I was sorely mistaken as I was on my way into my usual room one night as the women's Room door was opening. "?!?!?!?!", I thought to myself as I peered in reluctantly. The bathroom was not only clean, but it actually matched the rest of the restaurant! The walls were a deep burgundy, and the sink was a clean light marble. I also seem to remember a wonderfully woven basket full of sundries near the door, though I may have made that up.

Now cleanliness aside, as I am sure the men's bathroom is not in its weekend condition during daytime hours (when it is not catering to drunken zombies and what not), it seriously looks like it has been transported to Cous Cous from another realm. The color scheme doesn't match anything in the place (aside from the white walls in the kitchen), and it is about 1/3rd the size of the women's bathroom. It contains a standard-sized toilet, which is often begrudgingly cloaked by a slew of graffiti and complimented with a black cylindrical paper towel dispenser, which goes quite interestingly with the tiny wooden frame mirror, the likes of which one might find in a family yard sale. The hunter green tile work is consistent with the rest of the waiting area, and it probably does look very much like an ACTUAL Moroccan bathroom...but I somehow feel that that was not the intention. One point of interest however, is the section from a church confessional which dons the ceiling. (Hmm…I swear I have seen that somewhere before...I wonder). My recommendation? Paint that junk! Maybe clean some of that graffiti of the crapper and put in a less intrusive paper towel dispenser. And if you absolutely HAVE TO GO on a crowded Saturday, opt for the ladies' room... it's also big enough to formulate new moves before you hit the dance floor again.

Cous Cous
900 W. Franklin Street
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 358-0868

(Image courtesy of Tim Gumto)

In the can at Can Can

Brandon Fox — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:30:31 +0000

It’s authentic. From the tiny little octagonal floor tile to the toilet’s high, high tanks with a long, dangling chain for flushing, Can Can’s Francophile obsessiveness reaches its fever pitched mania in the bathroom.

Not only are the toilets from France, there’s French soap sitting on the sink, the little shelves that hold paper towels in a nice, neat stack (don’t knock those over!) are French, and the sinks and sink fixtures are also from France. In fact, just in case you paused to contemplate the whisper of a question about authenticity, you can look down while washing your hands and actually read French words right on the faucets. Quelle détail!

The stalls need to darken a little with age, but the flower-like sconces and ceiling lights have that perfect leftover-from-the-nineteenth-century feel about them. It’s slightly on the dim side in there, however, and despite all of the shiny white tile, the corners have shadows where grime might lurk. Could it be imported grime? Or is the alleged grime just an illusion?

A real French brasserie’s bathroom would have at least a hundred years of ground-in flotsam build-up on the floors and the whole room would be deeply stained by Gitanes smoke. Why stop smoking because you have to pee? Why stop peeing because you need a smoke? This is the secret we Americans never quite learned from the French. Luckily, we can now teach them how to text and pee at the same time. Or is that the Japanese?

I digress. Like the big zinc bar out front, imported along with a real, live Frenchman to install it while the restaurant—once a bridal shop—was being refitted, it’s the little details that help to complete the fantasy at Can Can. Most restaurants merely offer food; Can Can, right down to its bathroom fixtures, offers a glimpse into another world, another culture. Sure, it’s just set dressing, but isn’t a fake pissoir a lot more fun to visit than all the other real bathrooms out there?

Can Can Brasserie
3120 W Cary St
Richmond, VA 23221
(804) 358-7274