HOBNOB Reopens With In-Person Dining

by Charles McGuigan 04.2021

On a warm, sunlit evening at the crack of April, we were fortunate enough to experience in-person dining for the first time in more than a year at one of Richmond’s truly spectacular restaurants—HOBNOB. This favorite eatery in Lakeside closed its doors on March 15 when COVID-19 struck, but two days later they were open for business with a sort of contactless drive-through format, and they’ve been serving their eager diners ever since.

But there was something about being here again. We sat at a four-top in the restaurant’s newest addition, an expansive covered patio with socially distanced tables and chairs. Dining is also available inside the restaurant as well as on the open patio on the front of the building. 

We started off with crab spring rolls, which are stuffed to the gills with sweet lump crabmeat and a shaving of carrots, and served with a sweet chili-garlic dipping sauce. The crabmeat is so fresh you can taste the Chesapeake. That was for starters. 

Everything—and I mean every single aspect of every single dish—was perfection on a platter. We sampled the fresh, cornmeal-crusted fried oyster; the beer-battered cod and chips; salads; and the asparagus-mushroom farro. Complementing these savory meals, were extraordinary servers who made certain you felt as if you just stepped onto their backyard patio for a dinner under the darkening sky.

HOBNOB

Tuesday-Saturday, 11:30am-3:30pm

6010 Hermitage Road

Richmond, VA 23228

(804) 264-7400

EAT@HOBNOBRVA.COM  


Former Hermitage Grill owners John Meyers and Waller McCracken at a table on the front patio the evening of the in-person reopening. A masked and aproned Tracey Thoroman, who, with his wife Kristin, owns HOBNOB checks on his guests.

Former Hermitage Grill owners John Meyers and Waller McCracken at a table on the front patio the evening of the in-person reopening. A masked and aproned Tracey Thoroman, who, with his wife Kristin, owns HOBNOB checks on his guests.