Food news: the West End gets a new burger joint, Balliceaux stops lunch, and two amazing food fests

This week Burger Bach opens their new West End location, Balliceaux announces they’ll no longer serve lunch, and a ton of Virginia chefs get busy (cooking at festivals).

October 24, 2013; 10:20 AM • by Ross Catrow

Update #1 — October 24, 2013; 10:16 AM

Late breaking food news! North Richmond News is reporting that Brookside Grille & Bar opened up yesterday. Brookside is located up on Brook Road near The Dump in the old Celebrity Room spot.

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Original — October 24, 2013

Nacho Mama’s, Carytown’s long-standing nacho rest stop, announced via their Facebook that they’re opening a second location…inside the Clarion Hotel (right at the intersection of Boulevard and I-64)!? It’s certainly an interesting spot for a new restaurant, and joins Kitchen 64 down the street and a slew of new places setting up shop in Scott’s Addition.

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Burger Bach! Home of delicious french fries, burgers, and (presumably) people and things from New Zealand! The once Carytown-bound burger joint will open a second location out in West Broad Village—which is that slightly creepy town-within-a-town out in Short Pump. Find them at 2225 Old Brick Road and order as many fries and sauces as you can fit in your stomach.

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From Fan of the Fan we learn that Balliceaux will no longer serve lunch. Luckily they’ll still offer dinner and are working on a new late-night menu to satisfy all of your truffle fries needs.

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I’m surprised it took this long, but Hardywood will begin distributing their beers to Arlington, Richmond Bizsense reports. It’s pretty exciting to see some of Richmond’s creative output popping up in other areas of the Commonwealth. I especially love this quote from co-founder Eric McKay and how it oozes commitment to RVA:

“The approach we’re trying to take is ‘hand-crafted in Richmond’ and try to play up Richmond as being a creative hub in some ways,” McKay said

Hardywood also recently upgraded their production facility with an automated bottling system—to the tune of $500,000. Dang, that’s a lot of bottles of beer¹ on the wall/fridge.

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Belmont Butchery is celebrating their 7th anniversary—a fact which boggles my mind—with a Beast Feast this Sunday. Both incredibly named and incredibly well-stocked with fantastic chefs, Beast Feast is what I imagine my funeral will be like: seven chefs cooking seven courses over an open fire using local meats and vegetables. With honky tonk music. The whole thing takes place in Beaverdam, which is a bit of a drive, but totally worth it.

Tickets are $50 and get you all seven of the courses, plus access to an open bar. Saaaay what!

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Are you free November 2nd, which is not this Saturday but next? Because the Dog and Oyster Vineyard is hosting the Virginia Wine and Oyster Classic, which looks kiiiiiind of insane. Located in Irvington, one of the most charming places I’ve ever been in Virginia, this festival / wine party / tailgate features a ton of Virginia’s top chefs making oyster-related dishes for you to eat while you taste wine from a ton of Virginia’s top wineries. It’s the tops of the tops!

Tickets are on sale until October 30th at 5:00 PM and start at $30, which includes 10 wine tasting tickets. Food prepared by the chefs will be sold à la cart.