As the Richmond grocery store market expands, it’s important for the local guys to stand out and leave it to Ellwood Thompson’s to do it the Richmond way.

As the Richmond grocery store market expands, it’s important for the local guys to stand out and leave it to Ellwood Thompson’s to do it the Richmond way.

Just last week, the now 26-year-old health food market and grocery store opened up two new features at their Carytown location – the Beet Cafe and the Create Bar.

The two projects started about 3.5 years ago with a space called the Community Room.

“It was a space for gathering, sharing, learning, education,” said Ellwood Thompson’s Marketing Director Colin Beirne. The space held cooking classes, yoga, seminars, farmer speakers, and Beirne said there was lots of success with the project.

But before long, he realized they needed to do more.

“How can we elevate this space to really make it a regular event space for the community?” he said. “What can we offer Richmond and keep that community vibe?”

From those questions The Beet Cafe was born. Beirne loved the play on words between the veggies and the beat of the local food scene, but most importantly, he “wanted to offer people a space to enjoy local food and beer, but also local activism. From a congressmen to a farmer talking about the non-GMO battle.”

It took some time, with some minor construction alone the west side of the building. They brought in Tom Brickman, who worked to build out Ardent Craft Ales and Balliceaux, to do booth design.

Beirne said they wanted to “bring in the community vibe” using reclaimed materials and rich wood accents.

While the Beet Cafe serves as a sitting and meeting area, The Create Bar is the food component of the new space.

Set up similar to a Chipotle with employees spooning out the eats, the bar is full of local and unique health foods with everything from gluten-free waffles to flax and quinoa bowls. Beirne said he liked the harlequin bowl the most: millet, english peas, purple carrots, sweet potatoes, etc. – “It’s a lot of specialty foods with a stress on health foods,” he said.

Ellwoods was already known for their ‘grab and go’ bar sections – with a raw bar, the vegan food and the hot bar – but Beirne said they wanted to introduce a new option for customers.

Taking influence from health-food bars on the west coast, Ellwoods wanted to bring these healthy options to Richmond’s. There will also be sandwiches and more traditional foods, but he hopes folks will take to the new offerings.

“I want it to be a community space – a place where people can come and talk with their neighbors, hear local bands, or grab a beer while they are on their way to someplace else,” Beirne said. “Get in and out pretty quickly without a wait staff.”

He also sees the space as a kind of ‘third place’ for RVA’s healthier demographic to go to when not at home or work. “For some people it’s a bar, for others it’s a coffee house… but for folks really into local healthy food, I hope this can be a spot for them.”

Ellwoods is also offering bottle service at no charge, giving patrons the chance to crack a beer while they shop, or taking their favorite brew or wine into the Beet Cafe or on the patio.

This services is only available 4PM-9 Thus/Fri and 12PM-9 Sat/Sun, but “once we get operations nailed down we’ll be able to expand the hours.”

Your chance to check out the new Beet Cafe and Create Bar is already available, so head to Ellwood Thompson’s and let us know what you think in the comment section below!