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by FuzzBob_Archive
Ex-Louisvillian in Richmond here, with 2 years under my belt. Damn, I wish I was available next week. SuperFly knows the crevasses of this town like I don't.
Using Louisville neighborhoods as a reference, you could form Richmond by fusing Prospect with Iriquois Park, throwing in 1/6 of the Highlands, taking only the assholes from PRP and putting them in one corner, and leaving out the rest.
Plan 9 is kinda like a scaled down Ear X-Tacy without the specialized indie rock vinyl section, but with and the occasional gaggle of fraggles (i.e. white folks with dreadlocks panhandling) by the front door. The staff is cool, and used CDs intermingle with new which is a feature I wish more records stores (that means you, Waterloo Records) would implement. Plan 9 is in the heart of Carytown.
Carytown is like the shopping aspects of Highlands except much more compact and compressed, and with worse parking (if you can imagine). It runs along Cary Street one way, starting at the exit from I-195 heading toward campus and eventually downtown.
Nightlife happens in Shockoe Bottom; the strip is Main Street east of downtown but there's a lot of collar-poppin'. It gets Iriquois Park-ish if you head too far east. Richbrau is the local brewpub on Cary Street in the middle of downtown. You can shoot pool there and the mid-priced pub grub is decent. The Camel is a decent club along West Broad St. if you can manage to not get stabbed on the way.
Food? Bottoms Up Pizza and Billirds is the local Boombozz equivalent. If you're vegetarian/vegan, a subterranean hole in the wall called Ipanema has some kick-ass seasonal salads and a decent revolving draft beer selection. Avoid the "New York Deli" since it's anything but. Chinese, Indian and Mongolian food is average to fair; Kobe downtown has some good sushi, and there are two Thai places in Carytown across from the mini-mall with EQ3 and American Apparel. I forget their names, but you want the hole-in-the-wall one with no patio.
The best restaurant in town, hands down, is well out of the way in Midlothian: Crab Louie's, in an old Revolutionary War house. Even the complimentary relishes, flavored bread and 3-bean salad served at dinnertime is mind-blowing crazy good. There's no dress code, but the clientele is generally old money dressed down, so it's understood that you'll be wearing a nice, not too loud and preferably unstriped collared shirt.
My general impression is that Richmond is not a young town. Its amenities are geared toward old-money tidewater region types. Don't expect an Austin Lite experience like the Highlands; manage your expectations and you can have a nice mellow evening shooting pool and having a nice meal. Marsup kinda has a point, though.
One last point: take note of where the toll roads are (i.e. I-195 and the Powhite Pkwy). Powhite is expensive, riddled with potholes, and will most likely not go where you need to go. Midlothian and Glen Allen are the best areas for hotels.
iembalm wrote:Can I just point out, Rick, that this rant is in a thread about a cartoon?
