Fresca’s fresh

Fresca is all vegetarian, with many vegan options as well. But meat-eaters, don’t let that scare you. With imaginative dishes and simple crowd-pleasers, Fresca delivers.

Richmonders like to hop on the new-restaurant bandwagon, and it seems everyone else had beat me to visiting the new place from restaurant dynasty, Jimmy Sneed, and his daughter Jenna, Fresca. I even ran into local artist/storyteller Slash Coleman while there — another good sign.

Fresca is all vegetarian, with many vegan options as well. But meat-eaters, don’t let that scare you. With imaginative dishes and simple crowd-pleasers, Fresca delivers. The consensus from others who’ve been is that the flavors are fresh and fantastic, but the portions can seem a little small for the price. This was certainly true for my Greek salad sandwich for $7.50. Jenna sold me on it when she told me it could be made in a warm pita, and on a cold day, that was exactly what I wanted. Disappointed to find they’d just run out of the Butternut Squash soup that Slash had raved about, I hoped for the best. I felt the pita, filled with lettuce, feta, onion, black olives, pepperoncini, and organic dressing, could have been filled more, as there was a lot of negative space in there. I could have eaten two, and even considered going back for another. The side of sweet pickled cole slaw didn’t match the flavors of the sandwich, and I could have done without.

The feel of the space is more deli-counter than restaurant. Something about the wide open prep and cook area seems too, well, open. I like the order-at-the-counter-sit-where-you-like method, but the seating area seemed a little lacking in personality, a little cold. A few market items are also for sale, such as healthier chip, cookie, and snacking options, and bottled beverages.

I’ll definitely be back to try more of the veggie dishes, especially the pizzas and entrees, and to get the story behind the space-age female sculpture out front.

Open Monday through Saturday, 11am to 9 pm
22 S. Addison St.
804-359-8638
www.frescaonaddison.com

For more information on restaurant news and other happenings in the Fan area, stop by Fan of the Fan.

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Holly Gordon

Holly Gordon spends her days working with Richmond’s hearty nonprofit community and her nights singing in a community chorus. She loves her feminist book club, and is always distracted by shiny things.

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