What happened with Ejay Rin?, Church Hill gets another restaurant, and Secco makes Mondays and Tuesdays fun again

Ejay Rin looked like it was going to be the new thing, sadly that didn’t pan out. Shenanigans in Northside is having some landlord drama that will result in the restaurant leaving. And if you don’t feel like making Thanksgiving dinner this year, we have a list of restaurants and menus to take the burden of cooking off your shoulders.

November 17, 2011; 9:33 AM • by RVANews staff

The biggest restaurant news to happen in the past week occurred this past Thursday evening, so we’re sure you’ve heard already but in case you were on vacation – Ejay Rin has closed. Richmond Magazine broke the news and was quickly picked up by Richard Hayes who runs Hills and Heights for us (way to go Richard!). Andy Howell is known for bringing Richmonders great restaurants such as Avenue 805, Zeus Gallery, and Cafe Rusica with a great combination of business and food sense about him. The restaurant officially closed on November 12th and will now serve as a deli lunch spot for Richmonders until he comes up with a more concrete plan for 2012. We will have an interview with Howell on RVANews soon so stay tuned for more (UPDATE: you can read our article HERE).

In other closing news, we’ve heard rumors that Shenanigans will not have the option to renew their lease. The Northside restaurant is located at 4017 MacArthur Ave on the same street as Dot’s Back Inn. We’ve got calls into the landlord to figure out the reason he didn’t offer up a lease renewal. A new restaurant going in? We’ve heard rumors that Greek restaurant will take over. We’ll get to the bottom of it soon.

One restaurant closes and another opens, right? Church Hill has been seeing a lot more dining options recently and they’ve got another one coming their way. According to Style Weekly, DéAndre and Stephanie Johnson-Brandon the owners of OMG Cafe located at 412 N. 25th St. in Church Hill are opening their second restaurant in the area. They are taking over the former Jumpin’ J’s Java space at 2306 Jefferson Ave. for an upscale dining spot, Johnson’s Southern Comfort, which is set to open in early 2012.  When Johnson’s is open it will offer “a bigger menu, more soups and salads, and a large array of Virginia wines,” and OMG Cafe will focus on breakfast and lunch.

Wine, who doesn’t love it? Even if you ARE a beer person you can trust that Secco is going to lead you in the right direction in wine choices. Mondays and Tuesdays are now the key nights to check Secco out. They offer Flight Nights starting at just $10, which includes a trio of special tasting flights from 5pm to 7pm. Trust us, it is absolutely worth going to. Head over there, taste some wines, maybe grab an appetizer and then head out in Carytown for dinner. Yeah, we just planned your next night out–you’re welcome.

If you haven’t realized yet, Thanksgiving is a week from today. RIGHT!?!?! If you just peed yourself a little bit, don’t worry we’ve got you covered. The following places either have takeout or dine in options for Turkey Day:

• Mosaic is offering takeout items for your entire family.
• Olio is offering takeout service as well for Thanksgiving (PDF). Make sure you order by November 18th for the best selection.
• Omni is offering a full Thanksgiving menu for Thursday which you can check out HERE
• Tobacco Company is also offering up a Thanksgiving dine in option. Here’s their menu (PDF)

If you know of more, please share!

 

photo by tinney

November 17, 2011 9:33 AM 3