Next on our neighborhood series is Northside. This portion of Richmond was largely born from the advent of streetcars in the 1920s-1930s + development from 20th century Richmonder Lewis Ginter himself.
A century later, the streetcars are gone, but Northside has set itself up as a center of natural beauty, architecture, shopping + classic food stops.
We’ll be your navigators…
Public parking lots
🅿️ North Avenue | At the Brook Rd. intersection
🅿️ Wilmington Avenue | Just off W. Laburnum Ave.
Get some shopping done
Little House Green Grocery | 1227 Bellevue Ave. | Open daily | Locally sourced produce, prepared meals, grocery essentials + cooking classes.
SCRAP Creative Reuse | 119 W. Brookland Park Blvd. | Closed Mondays | Start your next DIY project or donate old art supplies to their creative cause.
The Bottom Half | 2909 Montrose Ave. | Closed Sundays | Custom-made tulle and circle skirts.
Grab lunch
Dot’s Back Inn | 4030 MacArthur Ave. | Closed Mondays | Traditional diner favorites with a twist, like its Mexicali burger with salsa + jalapeños.
The Smoky Mug | 15 E. Brookland Park Blvd. | Open daily | A coffee shop and BBQ joint where you can grab avocado toast or a beef brisket.
Fuzzy Cactus | 221 W. Brookland Park Blvd. | Closed Mondays | A rock-n-roll bar and restaurant featuring fried chicken specials, burritos, elote + nachos.
Take a walk
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden | 1800 Lakeside Ave. | Open daily, admission is $15 | Explore the manicured gardens and greenhouses any season of the year.
Bryan Park | 4308 Hermitage Rd. | Open daily | Walk, bike or even stop by the RVA Big Market across this dog-friendly park.
In case you missed it, we’ve been to Church Hill, Shockoe, Jackson Ward + Manchester in our previous neighborhood conversations, but we’re still not done exploring River City.
Let us know which neighborhood we should map out next.
