When I lived in The Fan in my little cruddy apartment on
Rowland St., I went months without realizing that one of the best places to eat
in Richmond was literally right around the corner from me. Officially categorized on their website as a
restaurant and European market, the bistro/market/caterer known as Olio is the
perfect blend of fresh food, good beer and wine, and limited but awesome
groceries. Stumbling upon this small
restaurant was one of the best random occurrences to happen to me while I lived
at that apartment.
With food selections varying from Adult Mac and Cheese with smoked
gouda and fontina, to Fresh Kale Dinner Salad to Tuna Puttanesca (which are
this weeks specials) and generous homemade (a lot of the time even *gasp*
healthy) sides, they have something for meat lovers, vegetarians, vegans,
gluten-freers, and anyone that has a taste for good food! They also have a large beer selection with
names you won’t find at the gas station, like St. Peters IPA and Duvel. And you could get lost in the 450+ bottle
wine section for hours…or at least that’s how I felt when I was there.
I was such a fan, I signed up for their newsletter right off
the bat (a first for me in regards to restaurant newsletters…I mean, usually,
who cares?) and this is how I found out about Olio Wine Dinners. Held once a month and usually on a Friday
evening, they serve up a 4-course meal with wine pairings for $40. And what kind of dissuaded me from going at
first because I was shy, but now sounds like an awesome idea to me, is that if
you go by yourself or with a friend or two, you’ll be seated at a table with
other people that signed up for the dinner.
What better way to meet new people than over a great dinner and great
wine. The next dinner is a Valentine’s
Day theme (duh) and will be held on Saturday, February 9th at 6:00
pm (breaking the Friday evening pattern…rebels). Call them at (804) 355-5182 to reserve your
seat(s)!!
I also went to Olio back in November for a beer tasting they
hosted. It was 3 beers with 3 snacks to
go with each. I loved one of the beers
and the other 2 were pretty good, but the food – oh my god. Beer cheese fondue with soft pretzel bits, sauerkraut
and some…German meat stuffed dumplings, and Oreo cheesecake. My friend and I hung out so long that the
beer tasting ended and they gave us the leftover food. We were in heaven. I’ll definitely be going back to the next one
(pretty sure they have wine tastings as well).
They had 2 locations when I lived around the corner (2001 1/2 West Main St. and 600 E Main St. in the Chamber of Commerce Building) but have since opened several new locations! Olio Mobile VCU at Hibbs Hall at Virginia Commonwealth University (corner of Linden and Grove Ave.), Olio Mobile Stony point (9020 and 8720 Stony Pt. Pkwy), and Olio Mobile Hardywood Brewery (every Friday night at 2408 Ownby Ln. off of Hermitage Rd.). Menus differ for each location, so hey, check ‘em all out! :-D
Hey Meagan,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to thank you for such a thoughtful and well-written review. I will share with my co-workers, as this sort of thing reminds us why we got into the business in the first place! Thanks again! Jason of Olio.