Riverbend Roastery — Restaurant in Richmond

Edit (11/23/2021): New owners and new coffee! Much better beans from my first visit back and I'm hoping it's a trend that continues. Would love to see some more description on washing station/tasting notes rather than a country of origin. Excited to have good coffee in The Hill!

This is one of those places that is very 'fine'. It definitely feels like a place opened by an uninspired roaster and clueless owner(s). The food is fine and the environment is fine. The location is good since Church Hill doesn't have another coffee roaster (though there is good coffee to be found elsewhere nearby). The prices are...fine. The customer service is actually really good. What isn't fine is the coffee. It's...bad. These beans are subprime. You're basically getting Starbucks middle-of-the-road coffee beans for a price that can't justify it. I've not known any other Richmond Roastery to have so little knowledge behind where/when/how their beans are sourced. A roastery charging these prices should be proud of the product they're sourcing and have these details on full display (as seen at every other roastery in the city). The roasting is definitely not detail-oriented as consistency is way off and the roastery heavily leans on flavorings to sell their product to other Church Hill residents. I'm hoping the company can further elevate their product or at least match the pricing of what's currently available with what...

I think this is one of the most underrated spots in Richmond for sandwiches.

Don’t believe me? Try a Cali Dream.

Still don’t believe me? I know you’re probably full from that Cali Dream but try a Chimbo Club.

Oh, you’re vegan? Thats cool and thanks for telling us 10 times. Order a Veg Head.

I also need to shout out the staff there because they both rule AND know the two most important things that all coffee shop employees should know which are: How to handle a rush like a well oiled machine. How to talk to people like human beings.

So yeah Rivvybendy (my name for them. Say it in Pauly Shore voice) has a similar vibe as LPH (who also rules and I think owns them) in that it points to whomever is doing the hiring knowing how to find great people. As an old I appreciate that the staff spans a range of ages outside of 20-23 and isn’t comprised solely of cloned VCU students who majored in eye rolling.

I will say the name of the place that used to occupy the space, Captain Buzzy’s, was a way tighter name and was more fun to say, but in a town that celebrates every new subversive snake-themed food establishment or cafe that refuses to use vowels Riverbend is a breath of fresh coffee flavored air. No gimmicks. No egos. Just really good food, drink and...

Coffee Shop No. 218 Riverbend Roastery Richmond, VA August 18, 2023

I am so thankful we headed down East Broad Street in the Church Hill neighborhood and found Riverend Roastery. I hadn’t even walked through the cafe doors of Riverbend Roastery and I knew there was something special! I remember standing at the curb across the street and smiling because watching locals walk in and out of the shop, chatting with one another, petting dogs and smiling to one another showed me it was a place to gather.

The store front gives off a bit of a modern flare, but when I walked through Riverbend’s doors my gaze was drawn upward to their old fashion looking red tin ceiling. Then I looked down and saw their beautiful wood floors and I knew there was history in this shop so I did some internet sleuthing. The building dates back to the early 1900’s and was home to a bakery, then a convenience store and then an another coffee shop.

Riverbend’s coffee is roasted in house so the shop smells lovely. The baristas were friendly and they made a...