RECENT COMMENTS
The Roosevelt opens on 25th Street
Almost 10 months after getting word that a new restaurant might be in the works for the old Que Pasa space, The Roosevelt has opened on the circle at 25th and M Streets.
Heading up the kitchen is chef/owner Lee Gregory, most recently of the Blue Light in Charlottesville, but more known locally for stints at Six Burner and Acacia. The Roosevelt’s menu is less fine dining and more self-described as “Southern pub fare”, and is a blend of Gregory and co-owner Kendra Feather’s (Garnett’s, Ipanema) sensibilities:
“This restaurant will be a continuation of my interest in Southern food,” Feather writes. “I’m very enamored with the Southern Foodways Alliance and with cooks like Edna Lewis. Lee is already a natural at this type of cuisine. Being a Carolina boy, he already knows Southern and low-country food by heart.”
The menu is wide ranging and accessible. Snacks and appetizers range from $4-9, sandwiches start at $7, and entrees run from $14-17. Check out photos of the smoked bluefish salad with buttermilk dressing, Frogmore stew, pork belly with jalapeno cheese grits, & watermelon tomato and feta salad below.
While offering their full dinner and dessert menu, The Roosevelt does not yet have their ABC license (although they hope to offer beer and wine in the next week or 10 days, and a full bar soon after). As a complement to both their focus on Southern influences and attempts to source the food locally, the Roosevelt plans to offer regional beers and an all-Virginia wine list:
“There’s a connection between the land and the history, and wine. For years I bought into that Virginia didn’t have good wine (and not all of them are), but we do have some great wineries in the state”, says Feather, “I was at Pollack Vineyards recently and had the thought ‘this is what I went to Italy for’ – and we were only an hour away from Richmond.”
The Roosevelt is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday.
The Roosevelt
623 North 25th Street, RVA 23223
Tue-Thur 5PM-12PM / Fri-Sat 5PM-2AM
rooseveltrva.com / Facebook / @rooseveltrva
(804)658-1935
Click the photos below to get a sneak peek at The Roosevelt:
In the interest of disclosure: I’ve been a part of getting The Roosevelt up and running. I’ve really enjoyed helping Lee and Kendra make their vision become a reality, and I’m looking forward to Church Hill and Richmond getting to experience what they’ve put together.
Yay! Can’t wait to be a regular!
Is there a full menu up anywhere??
So excited to give this a try.
God must love Union/Church Hill…to have blessed us with The Roosevelt. Keep up the good work…everything tasted terrific! (Seriously, Y-U-M-M-Y!)
Ditto G.!
I woke up thankful this AM for enterprising business people who are ready to prove our neighborhood is not just worth the risk, but a place where good businesses with sound models can thrive and provide the goods and services we need (a la Alamo, etc.).
We are so blessed to have the Roosevelt in our midst! The food is delicious and the decor fresh and inviting. Get over there while you can still get a seat!
The Johnny Cake with Garden Vegetables and Virginia Peanut Romesco was fantastic!
I visited last night and thoroughly enjoyed the food and atmosphere. Best wishes!!
I’m with Daniel – very excited about trying it out.
Jalapeno cheese grits, you say? I am there.
Congratulations, Kendra and Lee (and John)! Had a great meal last night (pork belly and grits!) and look forward to going back again soon.
This old southern Kentucky boy can’t wait! But will – at least until you get your ABC license to serve wine with dinner.
HURRAY! I can’t wait to go!
sounds great! can’t wait to go!!! (one suggestion: PLEASE reconsider Virginia Wines Only!!! Please…..
Don’t forget to patronize OMG Cafe too. They are putting out a great product at very fair prices.
We checked it out tonight and everything we had was wonderful. The blueberry mint spritzer is close enough to a cocktail for now, and refreshing and wonderful. Johnny Cake amazing, ditto the tomato soup, the potatoes, the beets (I was in a veggie mood and had a bunch of sides)…it was all good.
every thing is great – love the place.
again i say – re think the va. only wines!!!! BIG MISTAKE.
What will be the corkage fee for byob.
Amazing! Just had dinner there last night and I am so glad we chose The Roosevelt! The decor is beautiful, service was fantastic and the selections on the menu were very unique and inviting. I had a difficult time making a selection. The Gnocchi is out of this world. I’m looking forward to my next meal there. We live a few blocks away, so we will be regulars I’m sure!
UPDATED: I’ve posted the menu above with the photos.
The menu looks awesome! How long for the ABC license to come through? Count me in if you need a neighbors support at the hearing.
Seems like there’s a lot of good eating to be found on North 25th Street these days, with OMG Cafe and now the Roosevelt. Good time to live on the Hill!
I can’t wait to try this! You had me at Potted Pork! Now I hate that I live at the opposite end of the city!!! Oh well, I will “travel” for good southern cooking. Best of luck to you guys, though I suspect you won’t need it.
I ate at the Roosevelt last night (Friday) for the first time. I’ve been looking forward to their opening for awhile and last night was the first opportunity for me to go. I got there around 6:30 and there were tables available, but by 7:30 when I left they had a full house with a good mixture of diners from the casually dressed to people who were a little more dressed up.
The iced blueberry mint splash drink was perfect for the hot weather we’ve been having. Chilled yellow tomato soup with crusty bread for an appetizer, also a great summer dish; light and refreshing. The special was a mahi-mahi steak with a grilled vegetable sauce/topping. Also really good. I’m very happy that there is another high quality restaurant close to home. The staff are very nice and the decor is simple yet sophisticated. I love that light blue-on-blue floral wallpaper.
I’d like to see a few more vegetarian options. The two-top table by the window might could use a little sheer curtain up high or an awning as the sun was coming in pretty strong there. The front door also needs a little tuning, as I saw a few people struggle a bit with it to get it open and closed completely. But those observations are minor.
The Roosevelt is a delicious and welcome addition to Church Hill. Hopefully an addition that is here to stay for a very long time. I can’t wait to try the rest of the menu!
Congrats on your opening, welcome to the neighborhood!
“Tay-tay, I don’t think we’re in Church Hill anymore.”
Saturday night we had the best restaurant meal we’ve had in Richmond in months. Really. And the price was reasonable, too (I won’t name names, but think half the price without any of the attitude of the “lost dog” on Main street.)
We had the Mahi special and Johnny cakes entrees both served with perfectly cooked seasonal vegetables. Side order to die for: gnocchi mac-n-cheese style (my new favorite comfort food.) Blueberry-buttermilk-panna cotta for dessert. Every bite was fantastic.
All the plates coming out of the kitchen looked great…we found ourselves asking the servers/diners, “what are your having?” If we’d known em better, we’d a asked for a taste. Go with a group if that’s your thing.
The chef has really created something unique here in Richmond. And imagine, it’s in our own neighborhood?!
Kendra and John should get an award for the visual transformation of the interior: the new floors, the repainted bar and the gorgeous stenciling on the walls. The room is cool, classy and elegant, without being stuffy. Also nicely compliments the historic character of our neighborhood.
The opening of the Roosevelt is one of the best things that’s ever happened in Church Hill. It sets the bar high, not only for our neighborhood, but for the rest of the Richmond restaurant scene. Wow, and it’s only a few blocks away…
I am so glad that you have Coke floats on the menu. It is a rare item @ most places.
any word on the ABC license?
The Roosevelt got their ABC license yesterday and will have wine and beer available when they open tonight for dinner.
That was the last hurdle holding us back from going.
Went last night and loved the Johnny Cakes and watermelon drink. What a great addition to the Hill!! All I could ask for is a couple additional vegetarian items or at least a regularly changing vegetarian entree.
Michael Lee’s Food Reviews – The Roosevelt (7/31)
http://michaelleesfoodreviews.blogspot.com/2011/07/roosevelt.html
We went on Tuesday night and it was delicious! But please add 1 or 2 more vegetarian entrees. I’d love to see an entree-sized gnocchi that came with some veggies, for example. Thank you so much for bringing great food and professional service to a spot that has been a great location since John first renovated!
The full food and drink menu are now posted on the website.
Ate there this weekend and it was wonderful so glad to see a restaurant like this in the neighborhood!!
Ate there for the first time last night. Was pleasantly surprised to see a full restaurant with no seating available at the bar and a healthy wait on a Tuesday night – it speaks to the severe need for good dining in Church Hill and likely to the quality of this establishment. There were many things on the menu that I wanted to try, and for that I will have to return, but the oysters, hanger steak, and peaches and cream were all excellent. The portion sizes were such a treat – reasonable, not over-sized portions at reasonable prices. The American norm is to provide huge portions at slightly higher prices, which so many consider a good “value” but is nothing more than an unnecessary contributor to our obesity epidemic. Well done.
I have one suggestion: When our meals came out, the person serving them (who I believe was the owner; different from our server) asked my fellow diner and me the classic question these days: “Who has the hanger steak…” I don’t know why so many restaurants pay no attention to this little detail, but it’s one of those little details that can really set you apart from other establishments (since so few do it right). You have information about the table to which the two entrees are destined – it would take little change to indicate which seating position receives which.
The best restaurants in this country still do this, and I need only point to a Richmond restaurant that has former employees, including the chef and somelier, in common: Six Burner. They do this right, and so should the Roosevelt.
One month to the day after opening up, The Roosevelt rolled out a fresh new dinner and cocktails menu.
Ate there last night with my niece from Philly. Hard to express how amazing it was to walk a couple of blocks to have such a wonderful experience. The food was great and the service and atmosphere were top class. If you havent made the trip over, don’t wait any longer.
I keep having dreams about the mac and cheese gnocchi. Seriously some of the most deliciousness that I’ve ever had.
5 years