As One Restaurant Serves Last Meal, Another Opens Doors

While Short Pump has fared better thus far than other areas in Richmond during the recession by many estimates, the restaurant industry has been struggling as a whole, like many other industries. Add to that a slew of new chain restaurants opening in the area, and local dining establishments have started feeling the pinch. For […]

January 11, 2010; 11:36 PM • by Trevor Dickerson

While Short Pump has fared better thus far than other areas in Richmond during the recession by many estimates, the restaurant industry has been struggling as a whole, like many other industries. Add to that a slew of new chain restaurants opening in the area, and local dining establishments have started feeling the pinch.

For almost a decade, the Manakin Grill on Route 623 in Centerville has been serving meals to area residents, drawing customers from both Goochland and Short Pump. But with more than twenty new restaurants opening in the past year in the Short Pump area and diners tightening their wallets, the restaurant’s customer base has steadily declined, causing owner Darrin Witten to lose more than $5,000 a month recently. He said he had no choice but to close.

And just as one restaurant closes, another has just opened. The Wine Loft opened its doors Saturday night in West Broad Village.

“There’s currently nothing like this in the West End or really in Richmond,” owner Jeff Ottaviano said in an interview with Downtown Short Pump last October. The Wine Loft even has its own music channel that can be customized to the mood or time of evening. The tempo increases and the type of music changes as the evening progresses.

The Short Pump location is The Wine Loft’s first in Virginia and 23rd nationwide. The first location opened in New Orleans in 2005, only to be destroyed a few short months later when Hurricane Katrina struck. It was relocated to Baton Rouge before the company branched out into other cities with franchising agreements.

The Wine Loft’s Short Pump location offers 250 different bottles of wine, 70 of them by the glass, and for any occasion and budget, ranging in price from $6 to $65. You can even get an $800 bottle of wine if the occasion warrants.

January 11, 2010 11:36 PM 0