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RVA Foodie Spotlight: Pozole, Vegan Chili & Seared Sea Bass

John Reinhold | December 11, 2020

Topics: Abuelita's, Amazing food, Blue Atlas, Boka Tako truck, Diva Concierge, food deserts, food truck, Foodie, Fresca, GOOD EATS RVA, Havana 59, I-Thaiz, La Milpa, Oak and Apple, richmond foodies, rva food delivery, RVA foodie, rva restaurants, Sweet Fix, Taste Unlimited, The Nile

The weather is steadily getting colder, and we even had a bit of snow this past week. When it turns colder we often look to our favorite comfort foods. Locally Richmond Foodie spots sure do provide those comfort foods to keep our bellies warm and happy.

Every week we spotlighting our favorite local restaurants with the best #RVAFoodie finds around town. We’ll be searching weekly for the best of delicious local food porn in our community, from amazing restaurants to chefs, food trucks, pop-ups and more. Here’s a few close-to-home favorites this week to follow on Instagram. Stay warm and happy Richmond!

If you’ve got an awesome restaurant to spotlight, reach out to [email protected]! Support local, RVA! 

#RVAFoodie This Week

@lamilparva

#Pozole La Milpa brings the classic real Mexican cooking with fresh ingredients and many types of meats to choose from. Here is a traditional soup for your soul.

@oakandapplerva

#HuevosRancheros My love is great for you, it grows steadily daily. Oak and Apple providing me with my favorite morning starter.

https://www.oakandapplerichmond.com/

@nile_rva

#VeganChili Our friends at Nile have been providing delicious Ethiopian food here in RVA for many years. You just can go wrong with Nile. Here is a new one from Nile with a classic vegan chili — of course now with the spice, so we can have omnipresence and transcend time and space.

https://www.bonfire.com/15-year-anniversary-jersey/ – Pick up Nile 15 year gear to support the crew. @Rvamag Big Time Supporter of our amazing NILE friends!

@tasteunlimited

#ChikenParm This Sandwich looks like it should be on my plate right now. It looks pretty perfect, honestly. Great winter warmer here to get you right for the day.

www.taste.online/locations

@blueatlasrva

#TeaTime Blue Atlas here with a Tea Time to dream about. This looks like a fantastic plan. I’m so for everything I see here from some of our local spots.

blueatlasrva.com

@frescaonaddison

#VeganTaco Looking pretty legit here, you’ve got to admit. Fresca has your vegetarian and vegan needs ready to go. Check the plant-based creations they make daily on their page.

www.frescaonaddison.com

@bokatakorva

#BokaTako Oh how I miss a Boka Taco. They were one of the original food truck mobile taco trucks I was able to get. I loved their flair and fusion mix with the tacos. Do believe its time for another visit now. TAKO ME

www.bokatruck.com/bokagrill

@abuelitasrva

#Tamales Abuelita’s is another hot spot for real Mexican food. These fellas look ready to go for you. Lots of choices on how you want these made, with classic meats and some mixes with cactus, plus other fun yummy choices.

www.abuelitasrva.com

@havana59rva

#SeaBass It’s one of my favorite fish, to both catch and eat. Buttery goodness and if done right, it’s a perfect light and enjoyable meal. This one looks super fancy — the plating here looks like art. Good stuff. I give it a 9.4.

www.havana59.com

@ithaiz_rva

#CrispyDuck This is my new favorite spot for Thai food. Their drunken noodle is some seriously good comfort food for me. Get it Thai hot if you want the real thing. This place is small but packs a punch, great for an order out as well.

www.clover.com/online-ordering/ithaiz-restaurant-richmond

@sweetfix

#FootballCake Sweet Fix makes the most beautiful and intricate cakes. Amanda from Sweet Fix is family — you know, she made my wedding cake. So the love runs deep. Seriously amazing creations, just check the page and you will be like “That’s a cake?” — then answer “That’s a cake!!”

sweetfixrva.com

@divaconcierge with the picture from http://delucagelato.com/

#AmazingGelato This is a staple for me in Richmond. It’s one of the best and most classic types of Ice Cream. It’s straight-up amazing. Nothing compares really, it’s worth a 30-some minute trip to it, and then 30 back, for me and family. If you have allergies, this spot has you covered, more than likely — it was an absolute saving grace for us. If you have not visited, I highly recommend doing so. Yummy supreme!

That’s all for this week’s #RVAFoodie. See you next week, Richmond!

If you have ideas or favorite spots please do reach out to [email protected]!

RVA Foodie Spotlight: Lots of Pizza & The Perfect Pear

John Reinhold | December 3, 2020

Topics: Bar Solita, Bocata Arepa Bar, Carmelas, food truck, GOOD EATS RVA, jamaica house, Lillie Pearl, Local, local restaurants, nice pear!, Pizza Beer RVA, Pupatella, Red Salt Chophouse and Sushi, rva food, RVA foodie, rva pizza, RVA Wood Fired Pizza, SBs Lakeside Love Shack, sweets

Back to it here on our weekly RVA Foodie Spotlight. You know it — we love the foods. And of all the dishes in the world, nothing tastes quite as good as the ones made right here in the River City. 

So in the spirit of eating ourselves into food comas in Richmond, we’re spotlighting our favorite local restaurants each week with the best #RVAFoodie finds around town. We’ll be searching weekly for the best of delicious local food porn in our community, from amazing restaurants to chefs, food trucks, pop-ups and more. Here’s a few close-to-home favorites this week to follow on Instagram. This week is quite stacked after the holiday rush.

If you’ve got an awesome restaurant to spotlight, reach out to [email protected]! Support local, RVA! 

#RVAFoodie This Week

@barsolitarva

#HuevosRancheros My love runs deep for Huevos Rancheros. There are few things I enjoy as much as a good Huevos Rancheros in the morning. Bar Solita serves this one up looking so fresh and so clean. YUMM

@bocataarepabar

#Parrilla As Richmond’s first and only Arepa Bar. you can get amazing loaded up corn cakes. So many options for new flavors for your tastebuds.

@lillie.pearl.rva

#FriedOkra Lillie Southern Cuisine with a touch of global influence, feels homemade in the best ways. Kinda food that warms you up.

lilliepearlrva.com

#ChickenCurry Jamaica House Restaurant here in RVA does not have its own Instagram that we could find. BUT plenty of people tag them in their quest for real Jamaican food made from scratch.

Jamaica House Restaurant

@sbslakesideloveshack

#Shackuterie The love shack is a little old place where we can get together. In lakeside this spot gives you all the warm fuzzies, freshly picked food platters daily. Check their Instagram for their fun and delicious daily fare!

sbsloveshack.net

@pupatellarva

#Burrata Cheese me please. Fresh Italian everything here, and certified by Assosialzione Verace Pizza Napoletana. That means it’s serious Italian eats.

pupatellarva.com/menu-and-hours

@pizzabeerrva

#VeganPizza PBR is an amazing hang, and has many delicious pizza creations. Here is an amazing looking pizza for vegetarians and vegans, wood-fired and ready to demolish.

linktr.ee/PBRVA

@rvawoodfiredpizza

#mobilePizza Traveling Pizza Magicians, yes — that sounds good. Keep up with them online for the latest plans. Get to them for some personal wood fire pizzas that will make your tongue slap your brain.

linktr.ee/rivercitywoodfire

@carmelas_rva

#WhitePizza This looks so good. Very nice Authentic Sicilian Pizza and food. Their entire Instagram is full of pizza porn. WANT PIZZA NOW!

carmelasrichmond.com

@redsaltrva

#BaoBuns This Sushi Chophouse is a new one I’m just finding out about. It has two of my favorite things in one spot. It requires a visit for further exploration into the flavors that need to get in my belly.

I also could not help but add this very interesting dessert feature from them below. This is a pear dessert over chocolate that’s Gluten Free and looks amazing. Maybe a wee bit sexual, with the long stare here and all. But I will totally dive in and so lovingly enjoy it.

www.redsaltrva.com

That’s all for this week’s #RVAFoodie. See you next week, Richmond!

If you have ideas or favorite spots please do reach out to [email protected]!

A Taste of New Orleans Rolls Into Northside

Amy David | August 6, 2018

Topics: banh mi, Big Easy, Cajun food, chicken wings, food truck, fried chicken, fried rice, Good Eats, gumbo, Manchu, New Orleans, Northside, RVA dine, rva food, shrimp po boys, Vietnamese, yakamein

If you frequent any of the breweries in town, it’s likely you’ve seen a royal purple truck with a feisty chicken emblazoned on the side serving wings and other Cajun-inspired dishes. And this summer, that truck will settle in with a place of its own in Northside.  

Manchu has only been slinging wings, fried rice, fries, shrimp po’ boys, banh mi, and gumbo in Richmond for a year, but its history goes back more than three decades with a family business that originated in New Orleans.

This article originally appeared in RVA #33 Summer 2018, you can check out the issue here, or pick it up around Richmond now. 

Although a staple in the Big Easy and highly popular with the locals, there are no frills about Manchu, just a simple corner store near the French Quarter that has served up wings, po’ boys, fried fish, and yakamein for 35 years.

“We’re one of the few corner stores that’s still around,” said Manchu food truck owner Marvin Nguyen, of his family’s business.  

Nguyen’s cousin Tommy and his wife Yen Pham, along with his father Kevin, founded the original Manchu, and while Nguyen moved out of New Orleans when he was 10, he returns every year to visit the store and family. His passion for cooking, however, wouldn’t come until years later.  

His parents, originally from Vietnam, moved them to North Carolina, then Martinsville, Va. where he grew up. The food truck operator finally planted roots in Richmond in 2005 after transferring from UVA to J. Sarge in 2005 to study biology of all things.

When not in school, Nguyen spent his time working odd office jobs before realizing that wasn’t his true calling.

“I was like, ‘this is not me,’” he said. “All these office jobs I’m getting, I’m helping a lot of people, but I’m not helping myself, it’s not that fun,” he said. After that, he left school and tried out a career as a DJ in Richmond and Washington, DC for 10 years before finally deciding to take up the family business.

“I’ve always liked to cook at home or for my friends, so I thought why not open a food truck. I’ve always talked about it, but never pulled through.”

Nguyen often urged his family during his yearly trips to visit to expand the restaurant up north, and while they were content where they were, Nguyen took the leap to take on the venture himself.

From January to April 2017, he studied under the tutelage of his cousin and dad learning the inner-workings of Manchu. And his time may have been brief, but it was no easy task.

“I went down there and studied for like four months and did everything from the kitchen work, the recipes, the cooking of the fried rice, the chicken, and marinating,” he said.

In 2016, he bought his food truck and the following year, Manchu was up and running in Richmond, starting out in Ashland serving employees at Owens & Minor and Amazon, followed by weekly trips to SunTrust, and growing to regular gigs at local breweries like Ardent Craft Ales, The Veil Brewing Co., Hardywood, and Isley.

Richmond’s Manchu food truck is similar to the NOLA corner store, but with Nguyen ‘s spin on it. The truck sells traditional BBQ, sticky garlic, and ghost pepper wings, which he uses ghost pepper powder to make. “It’s not one of those that things really spicy, but you can taste the ghost pepper.”

As for the recipe for the wings, Nguyen is keeping most of that under his hat, only divulging that it is dry-rubbed and brined for 24 hours. And while the success this year-old food truck has received from the locals has been great for Nguyen, he said expanding with a store of his own was always in the cards.

“The plan was to get people to know who Manchu is, and why we’re here. I wanted to open a store in the first place, but we wanted something that was mobile,” he said.

Image may contain: food

His new North Avenue restaurant, which he leased in January, will be takeout only, and while he eyed bustling neighborhoods like Scott’s Addition, he said after serving the Northside community, he knew it was the perfect place to set up shop.

“I felt like to be at home, just like our store down in New Orleans, we wanted to find a spot that caters mostly to the kind of people that fit our demographic, and Northside has been such a blast for us,” he said. “We park our food truck out there every now and then, its right next to a library, we made a huge impact in that area.”

All the residents that live there and the heavy foot traffic were another reason he wanted to open his takeout restaurant there.

“I like how people just walk around, that reminds me of home in New Orleans,” he said. “Just outside hanging out. We want to make that impact in that community.”

Since opening the food truck, Nguyen has used a commercial kitchen on West Broad Street, but will move operations to the new shop when it opens. And with only four employees, the roving truck will come home to roost for a bit while the takeout spot gets off the ground, but keep an eye out, as it could pop up at an event here and there.

Image may contain: food

With the new takeout spot, Manchu will still serve up its signature wings and po’ boys, but Nguyen also plans to experiment with some new recipes and expand the menu.

“We’re going to have some specials too. We have a recipe for crawfish boils and daily specials such as Pho Boys, so basically all the ingredients of Pho, but you eat it like a French dip,” he said. “We do want to create a Mambo sauce, we’ve made it before, but we still want to play with it, it goes on the wings and the rice.”

Image may contain: food
Manchu Pho Boy

His mother, who also worked on the food truck, has come aboard to be the chef for the restaurant. Nguyen handles all the seasonings and prep for the wings, and his mother makes the gumbo and roasted chicken for the business.

The New Orleans Manchu, which was once a Chinese restaurant, doesn’t have a logo, and is just labeled as Manchu Food Store. Nguyen plans to model his Richmond takeout restaurant after the flagship store with a mural of the NOLA sign, along with his unmistakable chicken logo, of course.

“I just want to make sure we are the staple wing place to go to in Richmond, that’s my goal, I’m just going to work my butt off to make that happen.” Manchu will be open sometime in August six days a week from 10 am to 8 pm.

Happy Empanada Rolls Into Westover Hills

Amy David | April 5, 2018

Topics: empanadas, food truck, Happy Empanada, Panama, Westover Hills

This month, the aroma of baked empanadas will finally be wafting out of Happy Empanada’s new restaurant space in Westover Hills. You’ve most likely seen their brightly-colored truck, painted with a smiling empanada, at Richmond breweries, festivals, and events, where they dish out hand-made empanadas, fried plantains, and other Latin side dishes several days a week.

No automatic alt text available.

Originally printed in RVA #32 Spring 2018, you can check out the issue HERE or pick it up around Richmond now. 

Happy Empanada has been serving up empanadas to hungry Richmonders since 2012. Owner Luciana, known as “Lucy,” emigrated from Panama to the United States in 1975, bringing her cooking skills to restaurants in Oregon, California, Texas, and Virginia. The food truck business she started six years ago is expanding with a brick and mortar spot for takeout, delivery, and catering, as well as a commercial kitchen for the food truck.

“At the beginning, my mom wanted to do the truck just a couple times here and there,” said Linda, Luciana’s daughter. “It got so popular and kept getting booked and booked. This is just the evolution of it and the next step, so we can continue to do more events.”

Linda, a longtime web developer, recently quit her day job to take over Happy Empanada so her mother can retire and return to Panama.

The idea for Happy Empanada spawned on a holiday when Lucy realized she could take her recipes and love of cooking, and start her own food truck business.

Image may contain: food
Banana Guanabana and Nutella empanada

“We were cooking up empanadas one day, I think it was like Thanksgiving, and she was like, ‘these are great we could sell these!’, and [she] decided to do the food truck,” Linda said. “It took us about a year to put it together. It was 100 percent a family thing, My two brothers, my aunt and my uncle, and me and my mom all worked to get the truck, paint it and [get] equipment.”

But it wouldn’t be her mother’s first culinary venture. Lucy had the benefit of years of experience in the restaurant industry from waiting tables to running other restaurants she’s owned such as Pilot’s Wharf and Bambery’s Restaurant, both in Virginia’s Northern Neck.  

“She’s always cooked, and always enjoyed that,” Linda said of her mom’s passion.

Image may contain: food

Lucy went full-time with Happy Empanada in 2013, quitting her other restaurant job to keep up with the demand of running the truck several days a week. The business has been using the commercial kitchen space Kitchen Thyme to churn out the empanadas they sell.

Empanadas, which are a standard dish of Latin America, vary depending on the country, according to Linda. “Each Latin country has empanadas, but they’re all different. Whether they have a different type of dough, or they fold them different or [have] different fillings, everyone has their own way of making them,” Linda said.

Growing up, they were a staple in Linda’s home, although she said her mother has had to tweak some of her recipes for the local customer base. “These have kind of morphed,” she said. “Growing up, we would get empanadas, but they would be made with raisins and olives. But our customers didn’t like that, so some of the recipes we’ve modified. Some we’ve developed over time for this business.”

No automatic alt text available.

Currently, Happy Empanada offers five empanada flavors, including beef, pork chorizo, chicken with sundried tomatoes, spinach mushroom and feta, and apple guava, along with sides like rice and black beans, mango coleslaw, fried plantains, and chips and salsa.

Over time, the demand grew to the point where Happy Empanada was having to turn down gigs, so Linda said for the last year, the crew scoured Richmond for a location to expand. They finally landed on the Westover Hills area in December, when they signed the lease on their new shop.

“We’ll add more flavors of empanadas and more types of rice,” Linda said of the expanded menu that will come along with the new space. They will add arroz con gandules (rice, pigeon peas and pork), arroz con pollo, and arroz con coco (coconut rice). She also said they will add soups — specifically Sancocho, a chicken soup dish common in Panama — along with grilled meats on a stick and desserts.

Image may contain: basketball court and outdoor  With the Southside spot, Linda also said they will be able to extend the days they’re out in the truck, offer delivery, and ramp up their catering operations. “We’re going to sign up for Ubereats and GrubHub, and since we’ll have the location, we’ll be able to do more private events with our truck,” she said.

Happy Empanada’s carryout and delivery spot is now open at 1203 Westover Hills Blvd. 

Top Photo By: James H. Loving Photography

The Circuit Arcade Bar’s Mural Whitewashed Days After Going Up

Sarah Honosky | February 23, 2018

Topics: Aloi, arcade games, food truck, Fresh Prince, Mickael Broth, murals, RVA muralists, RVA murals, Sabai, Scott's Addition, The Circuit Arcade Bar

Wednesday in Scott’s Addition, a new mural commissioned by The Circuit Arcade Bar on the side of a neighboring building was whitewashed overnight. The mural was a massive explosion of 80s and 90s art and iconography, from C3PO playing a vintage game to the female robot from Terminator 3, and most notably, a grinning image of a young Will Smith reprising his infamous role as the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Photo Credit: @thenightowl

The mural, painted by local artist Mickael Broth, was completed Sunday and painted over by Wednesday, sparking outrage on various social media platforms, including one colorful Reddit thread. The Circuit marketing manager Justin Cole said he was not expecting such an explosive reaction from the community. Though theories and conspiracies ran rampant, the full story remained largely unclear.

Photo Credit: @thenightowl

Cole said he woke up to a call from his mom telling him that the mural was on the news. He was barraged by Facebook messages from friends he hadn’t heard from in years asking what had happened, “Everyone’s coming out of the woodwork to ask me what’s going on,” he said.  

Photo Credit: Sarah Honosky

According to Cole and The Circuit owner Robert (who asked that we leave out his last name), The Circuit was given permission to commission a mural on a wall adjacent to their vintage arcade and bar at 3105 W.Leigh St. by the building’s landlord in October.

“It wasn’t until he {Broth} was basically 75 percent done, that someone–we didn’t know who at this point in the story because we weren’t there, but walked up to the artist and said, ‘what are you doing?’ and he said ‘I’m painting this wall,’ and they said ‘you don’t have permission to do this’,” said Cole.

Photo Credit: @thenightowl

That’s when The Circuit owner began to get texts and complaints from the tenant of the building. “After it gets painted he sends a text saying ‘[the mural] is hideous, I’m going to cover this up, this is ridiculous’,” said the owner. “Supposedly, he wants to put cohesive artwork around the whole building. I wish he would have told me this before I got approval, and before I spent thousands of dollars.”

The tenant in 3103 who had complaints about The Circuit’s mural is Richmond restaurateur Brandon Pearson, co-owner of Sabai and Aloi, a Thai food truck. Aloi was often parked in the same lot as the building, which houses Pearson’s furniture company, Pearson Furnishings according to a Richmond BizSense article. 

Photo Credit: Sarah Honosky

“I disagree with the decision,” said Cole. “But I don’t dislike the individual because of the decision they made.”

In what seemed to be a miscommunication, Pearson later said he had also obtained permission from the landlord to paint a mural on the wall. “I don’t know what that conversation was, but somewhere in that conversation the landlord did, I guess, end up promising the same thing he promised us,” said Cole.

The Circuit owner said he tried to contact the landlord of the building housing both 3103 and 3105 W Leigh St., which WTVR reports has been occupied by Pearson for 4 years, to clear up the confusion. He said he offered to pay rent per month for the wall and the mural. “He never got back to me, and all of sudden, overnight, somebody paints the wall over,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m going to get my attorney involved yet.”

Cole said that the mural had the potential to become a staple of the neighborhood. The community is noticeably frustrated by the unauthorized removal of the artwork, many of the service staff at The Circuit among them.

Photo Credit: @thenightowl

“Richmond is very proud of their art and their artists,” said Cole. “Everyone around here, especially, really likes to cherish the artists and keep Richmond on the map as a centralized art enthusiast type of city. I think that’s why people are a little upset about it…Also for a mural to go up and then come right back down, there’s some suspicion when you see that happen when you’re an outside person.”

Broth said he was not notified when the mural would be painted over, but declined to get involved.  “All I know for sure is that I was commissioned by The Circuit to paint the mural. I did my job and was paid on schedule. A few days after the mural was finished, someone painted the wall white,” said Broth.

Though according to one Instagram post, Broth caught word of the intention to remove the mural before it happened, and after the fact he took the development in stride. “Well, that didn’t last long.”

In a brief Facebook post memorializing the mural, The Circuit said “Welp, it was fun while it lasted…” followed by a video documenting the transformation from a building-length mural to a whitewashed wall.  

Efforts to reach Aloi for comment were unsuccessful.

This story has been updated to reflect additional reporting which determined that Pearson is the tenant of the building which was painted on; we missed that he had a lease to the space in our original report.

Photos By: @thenightowl and Sarah Honosky

Municipal Waste drummer and girlfriend roll out vegan food truck, Go Go Vegan Go

Amy David | June 22, 2017

Topics: food truck, metal, Municipal Waste, Richmond Vegetarian Festival, rva food, rva food truck, RVA metal, rva vegan, vegan food truck, Vegan Macdown

When you think of the dudes that make up RVA thrash metal band Municipal Waste, dabbling in the culinary arts may not necessarily be the first thought that pops into your mind. But that’s exactly what drummer Dave Witte is pursuing while simultaneously being on tour.

With his girlfriend April Viar at the helm, the two will roll out vegan food truck, Go Go Vegan Go this weekend at The Vegetarian Festival.

All of the recipes are Viar’s, who has been a vegetarian for the last 30 years, and Witte will be helping out in the kitchen.

“That’s where the magic is with her and her food,” Witte said. “She’s a great home cook, she’s always cooked for me and we figured you know, let’s do this. I’ve always wanted to do a food truck, the timing was right, we wanted to be mobile, we didn’t want to have a brick and mortar so we thought a food truck was the way to go.”

Although the food truck is a new venture for them, the two are no strangers to the Richmond restaurant scene. Viar ran the front of the house at Edo’s Squid for 12 years and for the last two years, both have worked front of the house at Commercial Taphouse.

The couple started seriously looking into the venture last year and about a month and a half ago they bought the big yellow truck in Maryland.

“It’s always been in place thought-wise, but last year we started looking for trucks, life gets in the way sometimes, you have to wait for the right opportunity so we were weighing are options, looking around and this one just really spoke to us and we just hustled and got everything together and went up there and got it,” Witte said. “It proved to be the best choice we’ve made so far.”

Go Go Vegan Go’s entire menu is vegan and includes cashew cheese, cheese paninis, vegetable paninis, chimichangas smothered in cheese sauce, tacos, grilled cheese, a burger, chocolate mousse, coffee chocolate balls, and chocolate covered cookie dough all crafted by Viar. Witte said a big highlight on the menu is the “Not So Pad Thai Fries.”

”They’re super delicious. Right before we ended our term at the {Commercial} taphouse, April brought those on the menu and they did extremely well,” he said. “People still ask about them so it’s pretty exciting. It’s pretty much Pad Thai with French fries instead of noodles.”

As for Witte, well he isn’t vegan or vegetarian just yet, but he said he’s starting to lean more and more in that direction.

“I eat less and less meat as I age, and to get down to it, vegan cuisine is far from what it used to be it’s not a microwaved Morning Star, there’s so many options,” he said. “I eat vegan a lot of the time especially when I’m out on the road.”

To get the ball rolling on their business, Viar and Witte decided to test the waters in the local food truck game by entering Richmond’s first Vegan Macdown competition in February, a challenge to see who could make the best vegan mac and cheese. And as if a sign from the metal gods or foodie gods (whichever you choose to believe), they took home first place in both categories, “People’s Choice” and “Judge’s Choice.”

“It was a nice confidence booster,” Witte said of the competition.

Go Go Vegan Go had their first event at the Cask Café a few weeks ago which Witte said was a great success.

“We had a very limited menu, we took over their kitchen and we ended up selling everything out and had a tremendous response,” he said.

The two plan to take the truck to breweries and other spots all over town.

“The list is growing, a lot of people are getting in touch so we’re working on that right now,” he said. “We’ll be at Ardent a lot, I’m sure well be at Hardywood, The Veil has invited us. There are some other places that aren’t brewery-related that we’re working on as well.”

Viar will be wheeling around town without Witte just for the summer while he is on tour with Municipal Waste, who have booked a stint on Warper Tour which just kicked off last week and runs through August.

You can catch Go Go Vegan Go at the Richmond Vegetarian Festival this Sat. June 24 (Rain date 7/8) and at the following locations below and follow the truck’s adventures on their Facebook here.

June

Fri 30th The Veil 4-9pm

July

Sat 1st Vinyl Conflict

Wed 5th Vegan Pop Up at Hardywood

Sun 9th Ardent Craft Ales

Thurs 20th Ardent Craft Ales

Sun 23rd Ardent Craft Ales

August

Wed 2nd Vegan Pop Up at Hardywood

Sun 13th Ardent Craft Ales

Thurs 17th The Veil

Sun 20th Ardent Craft Ales

For bookings: [email protected].

Photos by Go Go Vegan Go

 

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