Williamsburg/Richmond, VA -- All the Usual Q's
onetet
1,754 Posts
So my friend's parents gave him a week at their vacation spot in, of all places, Williamsburg, VA. I haven't been there since I was a kid, is there much of anything there besides ye olde towne?anyway, a few of us are going to head down there just to get out of town, and the plan is to check out Richmond and other surrounding areas as well. Which brings up all the usual questions from Strutter X headed to Areas Y and Z. I searched for prior threads but didn't turn up much, if there's a good one please link me up.In addition to essential record spots, I'm interested in can't-miss vegetarian and int'l cuisine, used books stores, thrifts, old movie palaces and other cultural musts located within an hour of Williamsburg. Thanks for any and all ideas.
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Olde white people for dayz. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. GOML!
records:
Plan 9
Deep Groove (just opened by the longtime manager from Plan 9)
Record Finders
Used books:
Chop Suey
Thrifts:
Suck
...really. not being secret squirrel. thrifts really suck right now. good luck though.
Old Movie Places:
The Byrd!!!
Vegetarian:
Ipanema!!!
Other eateries:
Soul--Croaker's Spot
Diner Breakfast--Perly's
food:
Edo's Squid
Cuba Cuba
Mekong
Capola's
there used to be a badass jamaican spot in jackson ward, but i can't rememeber the name.
Fatback and Delay covered most of what you were looking for in Richmond...you might also wanna check out the Westhampton Theatre, Firehouse Theatre, and Harrison Street Coffee Shop.
I would agree with Fatback on all he said(and Delay on the restaurants). The thrifts have been sucking here of late, I think so many people are out of work and hitting them daily buying up even the lowliest of turds.
Our record stores are pretty killer and the prices are usually more than fair. The economy has had the opposite effect, people are selling collections and great records are sitting on the shelf for longer than usual even at lower prices.
The Byrd is a great theater and if they are showing something decent it is well worth your time.
Don't miss Mekong they have great food and the best beer menu in the city.
Williamsburg kind of blows, but there is a great state park nearby and the fat canary has a great little deli open during the day with good cheeses and what not.
Hit me up if you want to grab a beer.
The wedding Mike and I djed last weekend.
I wonder about that too. But the food is so damn good they could call it The Shit House.
The place we're crashing is in or around Williamsburg, so if anyone knows anything decent for food around there, that would be a help -- two of us are vegetarians and not trying to eat pizza all week.
My hope is to spend either Tuesday or Wednesday in Richmond -- record, books, and food by day, maybe a movie, music, drinks at night. Anything special happening either of those nights?
Cosign on much of what's been mentioned already.
Sticky Rice (ironic-hipster-sushi-related)
Pretty damn good, but don't expect an authentic sushi restaurant vibe. If you're vegetarian or vegan they have some decent food options, plus you can drink cheap PBR and eat tater tots with chopsticks and cock sauce.
Ipanema (the veggie joint on Grace st, not the Brazilian steak house by the same name)
Good sandwiches, a couple decent music nights. Used to have a funky 45 night but I think they moved that to Cous Cous, which brings me to:
Cous Cous
Same owner as Sticky Rice, but with a little more mature crowd and a Moroccan flair. Great food, a little pricier than Sticky Rice if you're on a budget.
I'd recommend hitting up Carytown and just walking around. You can hit up Plan 9, The Byrd, Chop Suey books, and grab some sushi (Carytown Sushi) or decent Thai (Mom's Siam or Thai Diner Too) all within a few blocks. After you're done there, if it's a nice day, check out Bell Isle down at the river with a case of beer and you'll have pretty much had the Richmond experience.
There's some info here that isn't too far off:
http://www.viceland.com/int/guide_dc_richmond/htdocs/
Enjoy Richmond.. it's not the greatest place on earth but it has a certain unique charm to it that you might appreciate.
Don't do it. Two worst meals of my life were had at this place. The only reason I went the second time is my wifes friend insisted we give it a try after I had gotten sick from eating there years earlier.
Richmond has more bad Thai restaurants than most cities total number of Thai restaurants.
I eat here regularly and have never been disappointed, but if you're scurred you can walk two blocks down to Mom's Siam, which also has a nice outdoor patio.
Not to start some restaurant ebeef but if a place can't be bothered to clean the bathroom properly, a place they know the customers will see, I can only imagine what the kitchen looks like.
mango & sweet rice there
the rest of the menu can be ignored
Hit up all of the above in Richmond. The amount of vegetarian food crammed in a few small areas is impressive. Harrison St. had far tastier food than expected, the red-lentil burger was delicious and perfect for lunch. I probably picked wrong at Ipanema -- the Carribbean green plantains w/ sweet potatoes and tempeh sounded like a can't miss but was a little dry and bland, whereas the food my buddy ordered was getting him high.
enjoyed both Plan 9 and Deep Groove -- the owner of the latter is incredibly friendly.
We also poked around The Byrd, which looks beautiful, but didn't want to see any of its current films. Next time.
Williamsburg has a Plan 9 as well but the vinyl situation there these days is sadly little better than the average Goodwill for quantity, selection, and condition.
Yeah, my sister has been vegetarian for almost 20 years. I was so excited to take her there when she visited. She also made a bad choice. I've been there about 30 times and never had bad meal.
I went to Plan 9 and Deep Groove Tuesday. I can almost always find at least one or two records--even if it's just a mint up to put on hold. But nothing. Both were unusually dry. Did you have any luck?
It's always been hit or miss for me.
I was in deep groove on Sunday and got a clean copy of this.
and I finally picked up a copy of Safe as Milk.
I would definitely go back to Ipanema, my meal was solid. A little more sauce and it would've been spot on. But it seemed like the people who ordered simpler dishes (and especially the desserts) were freaking out about how good they were, so I'd go that route next time. I enjoyed the Williamsburg Coffee Stout on tap and the atmosphere -- both Ipanema and Harrison St Coffee felt right for hanging out.
Wish I could say the record spots were dry because I cleaned em up, but I didn't have too much luck. I saw a fair number of records I would've grabbed out of the $3 bins at Plan 9 if I were here in Bmore, but since I was riding the train back (and carrying anything I bought all week) I had to be selective.
Deep Groove's stock seemed particularly reissue-heavy, but talking to the owner I get the impression that he opened with an amazing collection that's been moving quickly over the last few weeks. I look forward to another stop there once it's replenished, I liked him and the space a lot.
My friend, who's driving back this weekend, did drop a little $$$ at both spots. We also found a few things at the record store in Newport News. I expected the thrifts down there to be off the hook, but... not so much.
That better be an OJC copy.
Jay had MAJOR heat when he first opened. I found several long time wants. All in the 10-20 range, but that's all gone. He's going to have to be more aggressive about keeping his stock. If he tries to just sit there and wait for shit to come in like Plan 9, he's in trouble. I'm assuming he knows that. He should hire someone to just go get stuff. Plus, I'd love some decent competition.
Nope
Grumble
He had some good jazz in there last week. Did you you see those Jackie McLean records? I bought another copy of Evolution. I can't not buy that record when I see it. It's a blue label, but RVG stamp.