Food news: Crossroads closes, Sugar Shack expands, and…Chin Music

Coffee shops close, coffee shops open, plus a super secret happy hour.

December 19, 2013; 7:35 AM • by Ross Catrow

After a half dozen years, Crossroads in The Fan closed on Monday. Sad stuff. However, Lamplighter has purchased the spot and will be opening up their third fief sometime early next year. And if you simply can’t be bothered to find another coffee location, Alchemy Coffee will set up shop outside while Lamplighter does a bit of renovations inside. See, that’s not so bad.

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Four of anything is basically an uncountable number of that thing, so my hat is off to Urban Farmhouse for setting their fourth location in motion. Richmond BizSense has the good word on their soon-to-be spot at 3031 Norfolk Street. Scott’s Addition, which is where all the cool kid are opening up businesses, will host Urban Farmhouse’s biggest location to date.

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DOUGHNUTS.

Sugar Shack will open a new coffee-focused location downtown for all y’all that don’t drive by their Lombardy Street location every morning, inhaling such wonderful, wonderful smells. The expansion will serve Zeke’s Coffee out of Baltimore and also offer fresh juice and milkshakes(!). But fear not, downtown dwellers, the doughnuts are still the main draw, and, god willing, they’ll have some apple fritters.

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Richmond.com took a long, hard look at Postbellum in The Fan and came away super impressed. Here’s a secret, and don’t tell anyone because they may decide to stop doing it, but 12-ounce Virginia beers are just $2 at happy hour. I’ve been drinking my fair share of Parkway Brewing’s brown ale, so if y’all screw up an incredible happy hour that’s within walking distance from my office, I’m gonna knock some heads.

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We’re all super aware of the tidal wave of beer enthusiasm sweeping through the city lately, but, check yourself, it’s not just an urban tidal wave! Here’s proof:¹ two dudes are planning on opening up a new brewery in Chesterfield county. Garden Grove will open this spring, and will work off of a smaller, three-barrel system—which I think is both smart and charming.

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The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Center of the Universe Brewing have announced a new collaboration beer called…Chin Music. True fact: because I know almost nothing about baseball or American slang circa WWII, I definitely had to wikipedia “chin music”. The new beer will be a 4.5% ABV amber lager. This sounds wonderfully drinkable, and I would expect nothing less out of COTU’s—delicious and easy to drink is what they do. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until March to sample Chin Music, which, theoretically coincides with the start of the baseball season.

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Early Monday morning, a fire significantly damaged The Boardwalk on Broad Street. The Boardwalk is hidden just off Broad Street across from the Taco Bell. This is a huge bummer for all involved.

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Footnotes

Really, that should be more proof as there’s all kinds of non-urban breweries in the region. In fact, now that I think about it, most Virginia breweries are kind of out in the middle of nowhere. ↩

Photo by: Alchemy Coffee