With stubborn self-assuredness and generations of loyal customers, several local restaurants have thrived—defying industry temperament and fickle dining trends—for more than five decades. Here are three neighborhood food-and-drink oases that serve as threads of cultural and culinary continuity in the dynamic Richmond restaurant tapestry.
According to Scott Ripley, the current owner of Chiocca’s, each of three Chiocca brothers opened his own restaurant—featuring specialty sandwiches and bearing the family name—in the 1950s. Two locations, one on Park Avenue and the other in Carytown, have long since closed. But the North Belmont Avenue location, which was opened by Mario Chiocca in 1952, endures.
Chiocca’s Downstairs attracted the interest of Scott Ripley, who purchased the basement bar from Mario’s son, Timmy Chiocca, in February of this year. Timmy remains a Chiocca’s employee.
As Ripley tells it, he wanted to take over a restaurant that didn’t require much alteration. And Ripley’s respect for the tried-and-true attributes that continue to lure patrons below street level is reflected in his commitment to keeping the business as it was when he acquired it. "If it’s not broken, why fix it?" said Ripley of his management approach.
With a time-tested formula, Chiocca’s continues to enjoy the patronage of customers who have been securing their sandwich and beer fixes there for years. Among the Chiocca’s faithful, Ripley pointed out, are alumni of nearby Benedictine High School who graduated in the 1950s and 1960s. "The bottom line is," said Ripley, "it’s just the best sandwich in the city."
Steadfast, resilient and undaunted by transitions in its downtown environs, Becky’s, located in an appropriately anachronistic, old-school diner on East Cary Street, has been serving American breakfast and lunch fare since 1957.
Julia Simmons was hired in 1964 by the original owner, who named the eatery after his wife, and for more than four decades, Simmons has embodied the continuity of Becky’s.
Simmons described the early days, when the diner was surrounded by houses and the Downtown Expressway was yet to materialize. "A lot more customers lived in the area back then," she remarked. Then, "In 1964-65, they started tearing down the houses." In the years that followed, Simmons recalled, architects, lawyers and advertising professionals who worked nearby began to replace residents as regular customers. "We used to know who was coming and at what time," she said. But as businesses began to move out of the city, she observed a decline in the commuter customer base.
While, today, Becky’s attracts many tourists staying at area hotels, the diner still enjoys the devotion of many long-term regulars. On a Tuesday at lunchtime, Simmons pointed out customers who have been coming in for more than 40 years. What brings them back over the years, she opined, is the "fresh food made from scratch," as well as the friendly atmosphere. "And I’m still here," she added.
Throw a stone in Richmond and you’ll likely hit someone with sentimental memories of Joe’s Inn. "I really have witnessed the first dates, which led to marriages and children and even grandchildren," said manager Tina Kafantaris, whose father bought Joe’s Inn in 1977 and expanded the Shields Avenue space in 1980 to include the northern side of the building. Her brother, Michael Kafantaris, is the current owner of the legendary Fan restaurant.
Opened in 1953 by Joe Mencarini, Joe’s has provided decades of what Kafantaris described as "comfort and consistency," securing its place among Richmond’s most beloved dining and drinking establishments. The menu still features original signature dishes, such as Spaghetti á la Joe, the widely celebrated sauce of which is still made by Mencarini’s daughter, Diana Sharpe. Much of the staff, Kafantaris pointed out, has also remained the same over many years.
Still, Joe’s does "subtly change with the times," according to Kafantaris. The tableside jukeboxes that once graced the walls were removed in the 1990s (casualties of the insurmountable maintenance challenge presented by such obsolete equipment). The décor has changed, gradually and almost imperceptibly. And the veteran business has adopted eco-friendly practices, such as recycling, introducing compostable takeout containers and installing dual-flush toilets to conserve water.
Of Joe’s Inn’s lasting appeal, Kafantaris mused, "The place is made of all the people and stories that have been there over the past 58 years. And, there is something very special in the way that Joe's seems to always be the same, feel the same, even though so many things have changed there and continue to change as we face new ideas and technologies."
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement