The Sidewalk Cafe — Restaurant in Richmond

Wow! Great food! I was very pleased with the food. I drove up from Virginia Beach with two of my coworkers to visit the trade show at the Richmond Raceway. This time, it was my turn to pick the place to eat lunch. I had 3 places on my list but this was the one that I felt would be good for all of us. The place was small and quaint. I forgot his name, but the big muscle guy told us to sit wherever we'd like. Not only was he the bartender, he was the waiter and the busboy too. He was very fast and friendly. I ordered the gyro. My coworkers ordered the gyro and the chicken Parmigiano. I ordered the cheese pizza sticks for all of us. First, the gyro was huge. It was almost twice the size of gyros I've ordered in the past. The pita was hot and soft. They loaded the gyro up with feta cheese. I love feta, but it was so much, I had to scrape some off. The lamb neat was very tender and seasoned well. I was quite surprised. I could have left a glowing review just for the gyro, but damn, the marinara sauce that came with the pizza sticks was delicious! It was like I was in an Italian restaurant. As good as the gyro was, the marinara sauce was so, so good. I won't get to pick the lunch spot at the next trade show, but if I get a chance to go back my myself, I will definitely order the same thing. I see why they have such high ratings on Google and trip advisor. Thank you guys! Great job! Update - August 2025 - My daughter got accepted to VCU. On move in weekend, I decided to come back to The Sidewalk Cafe and bring the family. My wife thought it looked very sketchy from the outside. I won't lie, it looks a little shady and it has an old style look on the inside, but don't all hole-in-the-wall places look like that? And I'm not exactly calling it that. Anyway, my wife and the kids loved it. I had the gyro again and ordered the pizza sticks as an appetizer, my wife had the red snapper, my daughter had the meatball sub, and my son had the cheese pizza. They all thought their food was excellent. The marinara was great and my daughter asked for two more sides of it. They even bragged about it to my brother in law and recommended the place to them when they came to help with the move in at VCU. That's high praise because it takes a lot to impress her. We'll be back again in...

Before I write this, let me say I rarely write bad reviews. I have worked in the restaurant industry in large city. I know brunch is busy. That’s fine. However, the lack of service was astounding and unacceptable. Honestly they don’t deserve one star for service, but the food was okay so I’ll give y’all two.

Me and my boyfriend came here for brunch while visiting family. We saw the reviews and thought it would be nice. Initial service was decent although slow; you could tell the server was busy but she gave us our drinks. All good. Here’s where it gets bad.

We came in around 12:45 and didn’t get our food until 2:15 with no updates. I really thought they forgot about us. People were talking to us on the street, which is fine, but sitting and playing music next to our table while no one was checking on us. One guy was a customer but the other guy wasn’t. Not a great atmosphere.

All we needed really was an update on our food so we could adjust our plans and maybe a coffee refill. People came in and got served much faster than us but we were outside so maybe they forgot. My boyfriend ended up going up to the bar and asking to close out. Food came out almost instantly. We were visibly disappointed. Just a quick apology. No comps on our meal or anything. Now we can’t do what we wanted to do today because it took so long. The food was good (except the potatoes - they were barely cooked). Do not recommend for anyone who isn’t a regular because you won’t get served. I would have asked for a manager but sure they would have...

It was a joy for my tastebuds to take a walk down memory lane. I hadn't been to this place in years and was concerned that memories would be far from the truth...to my stomach's joy things were just as tasty as I remembered. Being in the mood for the Cajun Hash; a compilation of blackened potatoes, grilled shrimp, sausage, peppers, onions and two over easy eggs that I order scrambled all covered with this gooey goodness of cheese I can't remember😋. Catch is, this is a brunch special which is only served Sat & Sun 9:30a-2p...I was so glad the craving hit on a Saturday. I remembered the place being on the intimate side..however on this day things were in full swing yet I found a seat right away and my meal order wasn't too far behind. You'd think with the size of the crowd it could have taken the order forever, but this crew all worked together to service the restaurant. Our initial server Jess said it best "grab either one of us and we can help" love their concept of Customer Service👍. My bottom lineNot really your family friendly scene; unless you're 21+ or the kids are away for the weekend. Awesome atmosphere and even...