Sam & Sean Kanipe of The Richmond Experience and Alex & Lauren Glaser of The Glaser Group discuss newer additions to Richmond and more.

WARNING: This video is uncut and may contain sensitive or offensive materials. A filtered version of the audio is below.

Published on 11/25/2019

Sam:Welcome to the Why Richmond is Awesome podcast, where we talk about what’s going on around town, our favorite things to do, and the local spots you need to try. My name is Sam.

Sean:And my name is Sean.

Sam:And we run the Richmond Experience, a digital company that inspires locals to explore Richmond.

Lauren:My name is Lauren.

Alex:And my name is Alex and we’re local realtors that like to live, work, and play in the RVA.

Sam:Good morning. No, well, good evening.

Alex:Good evening.

Sean:Good evening.

Sam:We’re not sure what time it is actually, but welcome to the first episode of Why Richmond is Awesome, and we’re here hanging out at our house.

Lauren:Beautiful house, by the way.

Sam:Thank you guys so much.

Alex:It looks so good.

Sam:Welcome.

Alex:I’m jealous. Lauren wants to build a new house now.

Lauren:Immediately.

Sean:Immediately.

Sam:I’m really excited to follow that along, that’s going to be so fun. You guys are over in Southside, right?

Lauren:Yes.

Sam:Very cool.

Lauren:Right by Pony Pasture. It’s awesome.

Sean:We have a lot to discuss.

Alex:Well first off, our intro is awesome.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sam:Oh, that song gets stuck in my head. It’ll be in my head the rest of the night.

Alex:I don’t think we could’ve gotten a better song.

Sam:That’s right. No BS Brass Band sings RVA All Day, and they perform all over Richmond, and all over the country too, and they’re pretty bad [bleep] . Our intro song is really cool. So huge shout out to them-

Lauren:Absolutely.

Alex:Yes, yes.

Sam:… for letting us use their song.

Sean:Definitely.

Sam:And we are repping their shirts, so that’s really fun.

Sean:Yes, RVA All Day.

Sam:Yep. So we wanted to go ahead and kick off the very first episode and talk about some current events that are happening around Richmond. Did you guys happen to catch that Richmond was voted one of the worst states to drive in in the entire-

Sean:States or cities?

Sam:Well Virginia had two cities in the top 10 list.

Lauren:What?

Sam:And we’ll talk about that in a minute. Yeah. Richmond ranked 10.

Sean:Okay.

Alex:Out of the whole country?

Sam:What do you guys think about … Out of the whole country.

Sean:That’s kind of bad.

Lauren:I’d be curious to know what the other cities are, because I find that kind of hard to believe.

Alex:How do they quantify?

Sam:So they looked at-

Sean:Wrecks.

Sam:… insurance. Yeah, they looked at insurance quotes. Yep. So it was like number of speeding tickets and incidents. So Richmond ranked 10th and then Virginia Beach ranked third.

Sean:Wow.

Alex:Oh, I figured they just polled Lauren, because she’s always mad when she is driving

Sean:Nailed it.

Lauren:I have not had any, any accidents

Alex:No, not accidents, but you’re constantly yelling and honking.

Sean:Are you a angry driver?

Alex:She’s not, but-

Lauren:I’m not angry. I would more say I’m … I’m not aggressive either. I utilize my horn more than the average person. I like people to know when they’ve done something wrong, and I’m not afraid to let them know.

Alex:She used to, she hasn’t done in a while, but I’ll be driving and she’ll reach over and hit the horn while I’m driving.

Lauren:Because they’ll cut him off, and he’s just as so nice and I’m like-

Alex:I’m too nice.

Lauren:… you got to let them know, that’s not okay.

Sam:So where do you think is the worst place to drive around Richmond. I mean, I’m just trying to jog my memory of what’s bad. Where is it bad to drive?

Alex:The Fan. People blow stop signs down there.

Sean:The Fan needs more four-way stop signs, and then downtown in the morning, at five-

Alex:People don’t stop at them.

Sean:Yeah. Well that’s true.

Lauren:Well also I think the issue is when they have the stop lights on the side of the road, people just-

Alex:Oh yeah.

Sean:Just ignore them.

Lauren:Yeah, because they’re so used to having them a little more straight ahead, that just miss them completely.

Alex:Yeah, I’ve definitely done that before.

Sean:And we’re admitting this.

Lauren:Also the Huguenot Bridge, any time morning or night rush hour is atrocious.

Alex:Well it’s not bad drivers, it’s just there’s one lane.

Lauren:Well it zippers down, but people just are so entitled that … And they all drive giant Range Rovers. They’re just like, “You’re not going to hit me.” So they just take it-

Sam:So if you’re driving across Huguenot Bridge. This is your fault, is what you’re saying?

Lauren:Exactly.

Alex:Well it’s way better than the old Huguenot Bridge.

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:Do you remember that?

Sam:Well I also say Scott’s Addition is really bad too, with their stop signs because there’s a lot of streets that have stop signs, and then a street that runs parallel that’s doesn’t, has no stop signs. And I think people get really confused. So like almost daily there’s like-

Alex:They just assume it is a four-way?

Sam:Yeah, wrecks in the intersections there.

Sean:We’ve talked about this before. They should really just close down the center street in Scott’s Addition. Just walk, bike.

Sam:That would be your dream, huh?

Sean:Bird scooter

Lauren:Kind of like the-

Alex:I think it’d be cool if they did that in Carytown.

Sean:Yes.

Sam:Or Cary Street?

Lauren:Kind of like the mall in Charlottesville.

Sean:Just that one strip?

Lauren:Do you know? Yeah.

Sean:Yeah. I think it’s awesome. Yeah, it’s very similar in Charlottesville.

Lauren:I would agree with that.

Sam:Especially in Scott’s Addition with all the breweries, and all the drunk people stumbling or walking.

Lauren:Well I do think the 17th street farmer’s market gives me a lot of those vibes, especially now that it’s updated. You have businesses on both sides.

Sean:That’s true, yeah.

Lauren:And it’s completely closed to through traffic.

Alex:Yeah, it’s like a little mini-

Lauren:So it’s really cool if you guys haven’t been down there in a while then check it out. They’re doing some awesome programming.

Alex:I was down there for Hot Chick for my birthday. That was the last time I was down there and it was delicious

Lauren:Last time I was there, we had a client party at Havana.

Alex:Havana, yeah.

Sean:Oh, that’s a fun spot.

Lauren:On the rooftop. Yeah, it was awesome.

Alex:It was awesome.

Lauren:It was so cool.

Sam:Yeah. There’s been a couple of really cool things that have gone in there. Carmella’s, a pizza place and then-

Sean:Richmond Night Market.

Sam:… Literally is just … Yeah, Richmond Night Market’s hosted every, I think, second Saturday of the month.

Lauren:What’s that?

Sam:It’s a monthly market that’s family oriented. They bring out live music. They have live art. It’s very rooted in supporting local, exploring different cultures in Richmond, and just an opportunity to kind of come out and get involved in the city. And it’s really cool. The pulse that’s there is really fun.

Lauren:That’s awesome. Are there like vendors and stuff?

Sam:Yeah.

Lauren:Selling crafts, and then food trucks?

Sean:Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Lauren:That’s really cool. I had no idea that existed.

Sam:Yeah.

Sean:Yeah.

Sam:Add it to your event calendar. Right? Check, check, check.

Sean:Check, check.

Sam:Yeah.

Lauren:When is it? Tell me again.

Sam:I think it’s every second Saturday of the month, but don’t quote me on that. You’ll have to … We’ll have to double check and find out later on.

Alex:What if there was a place so we could check and see where things are happening.

Lauren:Yeah, you’re right. What’s that place called again?

Sean:Instagram.

Alex:Its called the Richmond Experience.

Sam:Richmond Experience.

Lauren:The Richmond Experience.

Sam:Want to help me out here?

Sean:That’s on Instagram.

Sam:So we kind of got off track, and we were talking about transportation and Richmond being horrible at driving. But to add another fun thing to the mix. Did you see that Bird Scooters is coming back? I know that Bolt’s been here for a while. Have you guys ridden any of those yet?

Alex:I just rode a Bolt two weeks ago and it was fun. It was my brother’s birthday. We went to Scott’s Addition, and it was kind of a planned thing. But it did take us 30 minutes to find two that were not being used. I was literally driving around in my car. He found one. And he was following me on the scooter until I could find another. It would say one was there, and then we’d show up and it wasn’t there. Finally we got two. Rode it for like an hour and a half, and then I saw the bill and I was like, “Ooh.”

Sean:Hour and a half, yeah that’s a waste.

Sam:I was going to say, that’s a long time.

Alex:But it was really fun. It was his birthday.

Lauren:What was the bill, out of curiosity?

Alex:And then we … I don’t remember. It was probably like-

Sean:Like $50?

Alex:Yeah.

Sean:Yeah. They encourage you to do-

Sam:It is fun. I guess for an hour and a half of entertainment, that’s reasonable.

Alex:But if you’re going five or 10 minutes somewhere, it’s probably not bad.

Sean:Yeah.

Sam:Were are you a good driver on it?

Alex:I didn’t wreck anything or cause any wrecks, so, yes.

Sam:Okay.

Sean:I think that’s the qualification.

Alex:But what I had more fun on is me and Lauren, we did the Segway at Hollywood cemetery, what Sunday?

Lauren:Two days ago.

Alex:Couple of years ago?

Sean:Are those faster than the scooters?

Alex:No. So there’s a governor on the Segways at 13, and I think the scooters can get up to like 15.

Sean:Okay.

Alex:Big difference.

Sean:Yeah, big difference.

Alex:But the Segways, like the way you ride them, kind of makes it more fun whereas scooter you’re just kind of chilling on it. The Segway is more interactive.

Sean:Because you’re leaning?

Alex:There’s a lot more hills at Hollywood Cemetery.

Sean:That’s true.

Lauren:I’ve never ridden the Bird Scooter, but with the Segway to go faster, you have to lean forward and for somebody like me who’s terrified of busting your face open, it’s kind of scary to … It’s counterintuitive to-

Sam:lean forward.

Lauren:Right, as you’re going fast.

Alex:When you slow down, you got to lean back and you’re like … You get the hang of it. It’s fun. I highly recommend it. We want to do the … They do a couple of different tours, ones of downtown near the city hall.

Sean:That one’s good.

Alex:There’s another one that tours like all the murals around town. There’s another one at Church Hill.

Sean:That’s a cool one. Yeah.

Alex:So I want to do it again for sure.

Lauren:Yeah, I would definitely do it again. It was a good time.

Sam:I think there’s a lot of really cool tours to take in Richmond. We’ve done the Valentine walking tour, which is like more of a historic Richmond tour, and that one was really insightful. We learned a whole bunch of stuff that we didn’t know about Richmond, and that was really fun. And then we’ve done River City Food Tours too. Have you guys done any sort of food tours in Richmond?

Lauren:Mm-mm (negative).

Alex:Just ones on our own.

Sean:Just our own food tours.

Sam:Yeah, see so, exactly. And so for us we’re like, “Oh, we’re huge foodies. So what are we going to gain from doing a food tour in our own city?” We were so wrong. It was awesome.

Lauren:I would love to do that.

Sam:It was really, really fun.

Lauren:We’ve done restaurant week.

Alex:Remember the sushi tour we did when we first started dating?

Sean:A sushi tour, huh?

Lauren:We did our own sushi crawl.

Alex:So when we first started dating I was living with my brother in Mechanicsville. She lived off River Road in Chesterfield. The other River Road people may not know about. And so kind of in the middle is this place, what was it called? It’s not open anymore. Kind of like Hull Street, 288-ish.

Lauren:I don’t remember.

Alex:And they had this roll called the Crunch n’ Munch and it was our favorite thing ever. And one day we got this idea, “Let’s just go and like hit up a bunch of different sushi places, get one roll.” And after the fifth place, we were so full. I don’t think we had sushi for like three months.

Lauren:Correct.

Alex:We were eating it once a week, and then we had like a three month break.

Sean:So you got full off of sushi.

Lauren:Yeah, we were done. Yeah.

Alex:Yeah, I didn’t think it was possible, but we proved everyone wrong.

Sean:It takes [crosstalk 00:09:36].

Sam:You proved yourselves wrong.

Lauren:I have a question about the scooters. How is the Bird different from the Bolt scooters?

Sean:Big thing.

Lauren:Okay.

Sean:Shocks.

Lauren:So smoother ride?

Sean:So if you started on the Bolt and you’re cool with it. That’s fine. But I started on the Bird and then they stopped, and they’re starting again. And Bolt just doesn’t have the shocks that the Bird does.

Alex:It’s the sports suspension.

Sean:It’s just smooth, super smooth. And I think the Bird scooters go a little faster. I think they’re like 15 and a half, or 16.

Alex:A whole mile per hour more.

Sean:Oh, you feel it, going up hills.

Lauren:I was going to say.

Sam:Yeah.

Sean:It helps.

Sam:I think too, the … What were those scooters that all the kids had?

Alex:Razor scooters.

Sam:Razor scooters.

Alex:Yeah, those weren’t motorized.

Sam:So the Bird is very similar to a Razor scooter.

Alex:Low profile, near the ground?

Sam:Yeah. And where you put your feet, you can kind of turn them to the side, or put one foot in front of the other. Where is with the Bolt, they have that hump and then you can put your feet on both sides. Which is kind of like-

Lauren:Like Segway-ish.

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:Isn’t Bolt coming out with new ones, because people kept breaking them in Richmond?

Sam:Yeah, they are.

Sean:I think we’re on some sort of lists with bad [crosstalk 00:10:42].

Sam:I mean they basically just came in this city and was like, “Screw all the rules. We’re just going to drop a bunch of scooters in here.”

Alex:Well Bird originally.

Sean:Well, that’s Bird.

Sam:Bird did, yeah. Bird did. Yeah, drop a bunch of scooters, and then the city impounded all of them. And they actually just got sold for 150 bucks a pop, which is really cheap.

Alex:Is that a good deal?

Sam:Yeah. I think they usually retail like four or 500.

Sean:For those type of scooters, yeah.

Sam:Do you think that Richmond-

Sean:When you ride one of those, it’s totally different than the other one.

Lauren:Do you think Richmond’s in the top 10 for worst Bolt scooters drivers?

Lauren:Yeah, like me.

Sean:Yes.

Sam:Bolt reported that they’ve had the most damage and losses in the city of Richmond in terms of vandalism. Which is sucky, that’s definitely not a thing to laugh about. Yeah, it’s a shame.

Alex:That’s a bummer.

Sam:Yeah. So that’s been kind of a bummer. We don’t want that kind of rep. So if you’re listening to this and you are damaging the Bolt scooters, stop it.

Alex:Shame on you.

Sean:Be nice to your scooter.

Sam:Be nice to your scooter.

Alex:But if you break them, they’ll just gonna stop. They won’t be around anymore.

Lauren:Yeah, can’t enjoy it.

Sam:I know.

Lauren:Don’t ruin it for everyone.

Sam:Yeah.

Sean:They’re awesome though. You’ll notice a difference if you ride the Bird.

Alex:I might, yeah.

Sean:And you need to download the apps.

Alex:Well hopefully there’s more and I can actually find one without driving around for 30 minutes.

Sean:True. I don’t think that’s the way it’s intended to happen. Yeah. Hopefully they’re like within a half a mile. Like sometimes I’ll look in the app and I’m like, “This is definitely inside that condo complex.” Just based on the map it’s inside someone’s condo tower apartment.

Lauren:It’s probably because they’re so hard to find, people just take it inside-

Sean:Or lock it up.

Lauren:And then when they have to leave the next day, go out and do it again.

Sean:We’ve seen them locked up like bikes. Yeah, we’ve seem locked like a combination lock.

Lauren:Like, they just use it as their own personal one?

Sean:Yeah.

Lauren:And then when it needs a charge they’ll drop it off and pick up a new one?

Sean:Yeah.

Alex:Well if you ride it that much, for as expensive it was, it might be worth it just to buy your own and then lock it up like a bike and just keep it.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sean:Well, one thing with bird that they were going to reintroduce before they left the city and came back was the … I forget what they called the program, but basically they drop off a fully charged Bird every morning at 08:00AM at your house.

Sam:It’s like a commuter option.

Sean:And you can commute to your office, leave it and then commute home.

Alex:And then a charging person comes by and grabs it?

Sam:Yeah.

Sean:And then the next day you have a fully charged one at your door. So it’s kind of like a subscription.

Alex:A valet.

Sam:You can schedule it.

Sean:Like a valet scooter service, yeah.

Lauren:Would you still have to lock it up when you’re at work, so nobody comes and grabs it?

Sean:That I didn’t figure out. I don’t know if you would-

Alex:Just bring it inside.

Sam:Or maybe it’s one of those things where they drop off a new one, yeah.

Sean:So I think it’s yours for the day. I think.

Lauren:So nobody can access it with the-

Alex:So no one can come up with their app and like-

Sean:Yeah, so it disappears and it’s from eight to five or whatever.

Lauren:But clearly we know that Richmonders are [bleep]holes when it comes to Bolts. So somebody would probably-

Alex:Even if they couldn’t turn it on, they’ll just scoop it up.

Lauren:Yeah, just throw it in the bushes just because.

Sean:Yeah.

Sam:Yeah.

Lauren:Our Segway guide said that they’ve had multiple Segways end up in the canal.

Alex:That’s like on the tour.

Sam:Like on accident?

Alex:Oh yeah.

Sam:People ran into the canal?

Lauren:Because if you get off of it, you have to hold onto it or it’ll keep going.

Alex:It keeps going.

Lauren:And people like get off or fall off, and it’ll just go.

Sam:Oh, no.

Alex:Yeah.

Sam:Man, Segway down.

Sean:That’s sad but hilarious.

Sam:Geez, do you know anybody [crosstalk 00:13:37].

Lauren:One person wiped out. It was not me or Alex or Joseph

Alex:She’s okay. No broken bones.

Lauren:Yeah, she was fine.

Alex:I didn’t see it but I heard it.

Lauren:Yeah, I heard a crack, and then some curse words but it was fine.

Alex:They make you wear a helmets.

Sam:Okay.

Alex:It’s totally fine.

Sam:Do you think if a Segway goes into the canal that they go get it, or just like-

Alex:It’s trashed.

Sean:They’re like-

Alex:You might get it for parts? I don’t know.

Sean:I don’t know what parts you could reuse off of that.

Alex:The wheels.

Sean:Yeah. The tires please.

Lauren:That’s about it.

Alex:They’re fast and they lasted a whole two hours without slowing down. So they must have some big batteries in the Segways.

Sean:Yeah, I mean they’re a lot bigger than the scooters.

Sam:Okay. So overall consensus is that we don’t feel like we’re bad drivers and we do appreciate-

Alex:I don’t think Richmond’s that bad, but maybe I’m just used to it?

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:Like what clearly stands out to me, is I used to visit my grandma in Fort Lauderdale, and if it’s a red light and no one’s going, they just go. And to me that’s worse than what I’ve seen around here. But I don’t know.

Sean:That’s a whole other level though.

Lauren:I’m seeing it a little differently in that maybe we don’t have the worst drivers, but if it’s based off of tickets, and accidents, and speeding and that kind of stuff, maybe we just have different … The cops are more-

Alex:Arrest-ofield

Sean:Arrest-ofield.

Alex:You must not have grown up in Chesterfield.

Lauren:The cops are more vigilant. Correct.

Sam:Or maybe we just speed a lot?

Sean:Our cities just small enough to where the cops need to concentrate on traffic and not other bigger issues.

Lauren:Exactly. Exactly.

Sean:Maybe.

Sam:Okay. So there’s a lot of reasons why we think that maybe it could be true or false.

Lauren:I don’t think it’s true. I wouldn’t consider us the worst.

Sam:I would agree. I don’t think it’s that bad. And it sounds like we’re all in for scooters, right?

Sean:Yes.

Lauren:Absolutely.

Sean:I like them.

Alex:So is Bird out right now?

Sam:They’re coming.

Sean:[crosstalk 00:15:25] notification.

Sam:They’re coming in a couple of … Yeah, within a week.

Sean:I got the notification on my phone, but I haven’t seen any scooters yet.

Lauren:Do you think they’re going to push Bolt out of the market?

Sam:I don’t know. I don’t know. So in bigger cities, yeah.

Alex:I think there’s room for both, because obviously there wasn’t enough Bolts on that Saturday a few weeks ago.

Sam:In bigger cities there’s like … You can walk the streets of Austin and see Bolts, Birds, Limes.

Lauren:Oh yeah.

Sean:There’s a bunch of them.

Sam:So I don’t know. I mean with a city of our size, what 220,000 residents in the-

Alex:Downtown, yeah.

Sam:… city of Richmond. Yeah. And so when we might be able to support two, but could we support four companies? Probably not.

Lauren:Right.

Alex:Well, I don’t know if it’s the number of companies, but number of scooters that they put out.

Sam:True.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sean:That’s true.

Sam:I also don’t want to download four different apps though.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sean:I think two apps is good.

Sam:I think you just become loyal to one.

Lauren:Like Uber and Lyft.

Sam:I think once Bolt drops all their things, we’re going to probably-

Alex:Well normally, I’ll check both, like Uber and Lyft and see like who’s cheaper to get to the same place.

Sean:Bolt and Bird there it is.

Alex:But I don’t know if I would check four different ones.

Sam:Right.

Alex:Two, all right, I can manage that.

Sean:That’s reasonable.

Alex:Four?

Lauren:I had an Uber driver earlier this week.

Sam:Oh God, where’s this going?

Sean:I know this story is going to be good. I had an Uber driver.

Lauren:Okay. I was riding by myself and the Uber driver pulls up, and I have him roll his window down and I said, “What’s your name?” And he’s like, “What’s your name?” And I’m like, “Well sir, I just want to make sure you’re the right person. What’s your name?” And he’s like, “What’s your name?” And I’m like, “Sir, I’m just trying to make sure you’re not going to murder me.”

Alex:Did you say that?

Lauren:And then he was like, “I don’t have time for this.” And he drove off, and then charged me $5 cancellation fee.

Sam:Whoa. I would have written a letter.

Sean:Zero stars.

Sam:Yeah.

Lauren:That’s sketchy though, right?

Sam:Totally.

Alex:A female by themselves.

Sam:Strongly written letter would’ve happened. Like five seconds after we pull out would’ve been like, “Absolutely not.”

Alex:I never thought of that. But our friend Becky’s very diligent and she-

Lauren:Oh, she double checks the license plates before she gets in. She’ll sit in the front seat.

Sean:We do that now, yeah.

Alex:It’s smart.

Sam:Yeah. Yeah. You have to be really careful.

Sean:We don’t sit in front seat, but we do the license plate thing definitely.

Alex:One time I was in DC, and the wait for Uber was so long. Some random dude pulled up and my … I think it was my brother was like, “Hey Uber?” And he’s like, “No.” But he’s like, “I’ll give you a ride. Where are you going?” We just gave him 20 bucks and he drove us somewhere so … Free market.

Lauren:You’re still alive, so.

Alex:Well it was like he had a huge SUV, and there was like seven of us. It was right after Thanksgiving, our whole cousins were together. So I don’t think we were worried about safety. Unless he just drove us out to the wrong direction. But we made it home.

Sam:Okay.

Lauren:That’s probably … It’s pretty hard to overtake a group of seven people when you’re just one guy.

Alex:We were not sober.

Sam:Yeah.

Sean:Well true.

Alex:It was like the day after Thanksgiving. We went into DC

Lauren:If you’re taking Uber, you’re typically not.

Alex:It was like 2:00 AM. It was fine.

Sam:All right, so it sounds like we are in for scooters as well, which is really cool.

Sean:Yep.

Alex:Pro Uber safety.

Sean:And Uber safety.

Sam:Yeah, and pro safety. Yeah, I love it. Another thing that came out, I guess in last week’s, I don’t know when we’re going to air this exactly. But within the past 30 days let’s say, and I know this is going to be big news for Richmond, we’re going to be talking about it for several months while it’s being built and … But did you guys hear that Richmond is getting a food hall?

Alex:Yes.

Lauren:Yeah.

Sam:How excited are we? Like tell me what you guys know about it. What have you heard?

Alex:Very little, except for The Veil is moving their tap room, but not their brewery. Just their tasting room.

Sam:Right.

Sean:Yeah, just the tasting room.

Lauren:Okay.

Alex:And then it’s going to be a bunch of … When I hear food hall, I think like food court at the mall. But I know it’s not going to be a bunch of fast food. It’s going to be good local food. It’s like the indecisive person’s nightmare, but it’s my dream.

Lauren:Is it going to be like at the mall where it’s all inside? Or are they all like it’s all an outside thing and they each have the-

Alex:Isn’t it open-air, like outdoor?

Lauren:Right, does that make sense?

Alex:Like Short Pump Mall?

Sam:That’s a good question. So I don’t know what the design is specifically. I’m imagining that it’s not quite open air. I do think that they have a first floor patio, and they have a rooftop.

Lauren:That’s right.

Sean:That’s true.

Sam:But it’s going to be, if you’ve been to like … I’m trying to see what we could really compare it to.

Alex:I’ve heard they’re in a lot of big cities.

Sam:Yeah. So like there’s some all over.

Alex:In Atlanta there’s a three or four level one.

Lauren:What I’m imagining Alex, and I could be totally off. We went to New York City last year.

Alex:Oh, the subway thing?

Lauren:Yeah. They turned an old subway-

Alex:Station? Underground, little mini food hall.

Lauren:… place into kind of what they’re talking about. So there was little stores-

Alex:Like 20 restaurants.

Lauren:… selling different crafty things, different restaurant, kiosks in the middle. So I don’t know. It was really cool.

Alex:If it’s anything like that.

Lauren:But that’s what I’m imagining.

Sam:Yeah. And you know it’s funny you say that because that’s exactly the name of the place that I was trying to call upon, which I can’t right now. Is that place-

Alex:In New York City? The subway one?

Sam:… in New York City. Yeah, it’s like some sort of terminal that they-

Lauren:Yeah.

Alex:You go down the stairs and go into the subway, and you’re like, “Wait, there’s a bunch of food. So we were looking specifically for … It’s like a chicken and waffle cone.

Lauren:Oh yeah. It’s like a waffle cone, and they stuff fried chicken in it.

Sean:That sounds great.

Alex:And Lauren had seen them on Instagram, and when we went to New York, I’m like, “We’re getting it.” And we’re following the map and we’re like, “It says it’s underground.” We’re looking in the middle of the street. We’re like, “This can’t be right.”

Sam:Something’s not working, yeah.

Lauren:No, it said we were here. It was like, “You’re here.” And I’m like, “We’re not here.” I don’t see it anywhere.

Sean:You’re floating above it.

Lauren:And then finally, yeah.

Sam:Yeah. So we’re really excited. So I think it’s going to be about 16 or 17 places, or maybe it’s 18 with The Veil included. And it’s coming from developers that are coming from Nova. They run a bunch of restaurants up there. So I think word on the street is that the food that we’ll see in this food hall is going to be a blend of some of the restaurants that they own up there. And then some of our local-

Alex:So new restaurants?

Sam:Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Sean:Nice.

Sam:And some of our local things as well.

Lauren:Do we have any idea any of the restaurants that are coming yet?

Sam:No, we don’t. They haven’t made any sort of official announcements yet. People have been kind of like … There’s been whispers of maybe it’s going to be this or that.

Alex:It’s all rumors now.

Sam:But there’s nothing been officially announced other than The Veil brewing. Yeah.

Sean:But it’s opening next year, which is, I mean, pretty quick.

Lauren:That’s impressive. Yeah.

Alex:Like January?

Sean:I don’t know. I hope it’s January.

Sam:Spring, I think. Spring, or-

Sean:Yeah.

Sam:Going to be a while. When does The Veil Southside open? Anybody know?

Alex:Well I drove past it today, and they actually got some framing up.

Sam:Oh, it’s looking like a building?

Sean:2020 as well.

Alex:It’s further along than it was last week. That’s all I can say. Official report.

Lauren:Which is going to be first though? We’ll never know.

Alex:I hope Southside is because we live like five minutes from it.

Lauren:I know. Me too. Yeah.

Sam:And you guys are huge Pepes fans, right?

Alex:Yes.

Lauren:The best.

Sam:Pepes is going inside The Veil.

Alex:I was talking with Nelson the other day and I was like “Just have queso. Please just have queso.”

Lauren:Yeah, like whatever you do, make sure-

Sean:Queso is calling me.

Lauren:Queso and beer, what else do we need?

Sam:On draft?

Lauren:Yeah. Could you imagine? That would be just-

Sam:That would be really cute.

Lauren:That would be awesome.

Alex:Have you been to Pepes?

Sean:I haven’t been to Pepes, no.

Sam:We’ve not been to Pepes, no.

Sean:Been to Veil a million times.

Alex:Have you been to Hibachi Box downtown, because that’s also their restaurant.

Sean:Yes, we have been there. Which is incredible.

Alex:That’s their only two, but everything they’ve made is amazing.

Sam:Big fans of that for sure. So the food hall called the Belleville.

Lauren:It’s on the Belleville.

Sam:Belleville street in Scott’s Addition.

Lauren:That would make sense.

Sean:The Belle, can be abbreviated The Belle.

Sam:Towards the back.

Alex:I’m going to head to The Belle.

Sean:I’m headed to The Belle.

Sam:I think it’s going to be pretty sweet.

Sean:I’m going to eat at 18 places tonight.

Sam:It seems like the ideal spot to go when it’s like, “Where do we want to eat?” And then somebody is like, “Well I kind of want Mexican.” And “I kind of want …”

Lauren:Yeah, like a group of people, yeah.

Sean:I like that. Yeah.

Sam:I think it will be a big hit too with lunch people-

Alex:Like at school.

Sam:… companies, or people that are like, “Let’s go grab lunch and we can get in and out.” But they’ll have wifi, so you can go and pop up your laptop and sit and hang out.

Alex:Where doesn’t have wifi?

Lauren:That’s going to be Joseph’s new spot, though.

Sean:Nice.

Sam:Yeah, but you know what though? There’s a lot of places around Richmond and not slighting them at all, but there’s a lot of places around Richmond that has wifi that don’t really want people popping up with a laptop-

Sean:Hanging out there.

Sam:… and hanging out and taking up space.

Alex:Writing their next screenplay.

Sam:Yeah.

Alex:I have a question, before I forget.

Sam:So I think you have to be mindful of that.

Alex:So is it like a food court where you wait in line, you get it, and you go sit? Or is there like little fenced off areas?

Sean:That’s a good question.

Sam:Yeah, it’s communal. So you would … It’s more similar to a food court in a way.

Alex:So it’s like casual to go?

Sam:Yeah, for sure.

Alex:Okay, but like really high quality.

Lauren:But I think there is going to be a restaurant with the rooftop bar, or the rooftop spot?

Sam:Yeah.

Lauren:So I think there’ll be a full mix of-

Sam:There’ll be a full dining option.

Sean:There’ll probably be a totally different ambiance though. Not everyone’s just sitting beside each other in the middle of a room. Kind of like the food court is-

Sam:Right.

Alex:I’m sure it will be cool.

Sam:Some teenagers collecting your trays. Yeah.

Sean:I do hope there’s a lot of local Richmond restaurants there.

Sam:This appeal to all audiences.

Sean:One stop shop.

Sam:Right.

Lauren:As a matter of fact let’s just let’s [crosstalk 00:24:00] for a minute.

Sam:Just like the Food Hall.

Alex:Wine Loft in Glen Allen.

Sam:I think The Veil in Southside will serve wine.

Lauren:Cool.

Sam:Yeah, I think I read that somewhere.

Alex:Are they making it?

Sam:No.

Alex:Oh.

Sean:So they’re just serving local wine?

Sam:If I’m not mistaken, they’re partnering with Barbersville. You’re going to need to fact check that.

Sean:Charlottesville.

Sam:I’m almost certain that they partnered with Barbersville winery.

Sean:That’s pretty smart.

Sam:Veil Brewing did too, to offer wine. So I think there are people are starting to get it, you know? To offer a little variety, which is nice. Yeah.

Sean:You got it.

Lauren:Well I don’t think they could make any bad choices for the food.

Alex:For the Belleville?

Lauren:Yeah, yeah.

Sean:No, too many options.

Alex:I’m sure you could, but they’re not going to. There’s too many good restaurants around town.

Sam:We were at friends-

Lauren:That’s the thing is there’s so many good restaurants that, I mean, they have the option to cherry pick what they want and that’s what they’re going to do to be the most successful, and they have so many options to do so, that it’ll be a slam dunk.

Sam:Yeah. A friend of ours from DC had mentioned that she had been to a couple of the restaurants that these developers owned and was really impressed, and so she’s excited that they’re coming down. So I think it’ll be a nice addition, to say the least.

Alex:A nice addition to Scott’s Addition.

Lauren:A nice addition to Scott’s Addition.

Sam:Nice addition to Scott’s Addition. I see what you did there.

Sean:Nailed it.

Sam:All right guys. Well, I think I’ve got all these written down and we’ll be really happy to circle back as some of these places are announced in the Belleville food hall. Richmond’s first food hall.

Lauren:The Belle.

Sean:The Belle, got it.

Sam:Is there anything else you guys want to add before we wrap up our very first episode of Why Richmond is Awesome podcast?

Sean:I think we crushed it.

Alex:Just a big thank you to the No BS Brass Band.

Sam:Totally.

Alex:Love that song. Can’t get enough of it.

Sam:I completely agree.

Alex:I’ve been singing it for weeks since I knew we were going to do that for the intro.

Sam:I mean it’s like one of those things where you can’t listen to it and not be like, yeah.

Lauren:Yeah. You can’t like not-

Sam:Bouncing up and down.

Lauren:[crosstalk 00:25:53] RVA is awesome.

Alex:How many songs, especially good songs about Richmond, are there? One.

Sam:One.

Sean:One good song.

Lauren:There is one.

Sam:One maybe, that we can find. Yeah. Literally this one. Also wanted to give a shout out to a Little Nomad. They make these RVA All Day shirts that we got. Little nomad is a children’s shop in Jackson Ward, doing a lot of-

Alex:You bought this at a children’s shop? Is that why it’s so small?

Lauren:It is. This is a 5X in toddlers Alex.

Sam:It’s a 5X toddler.

Sean:You have a 5X toddler.

Sam:They do sell it adult shirts. They do sell adult shirts too.

Lauren:Wait, most important question. Do they sell this specific shirt in toddler size, so I can get one for my dog?

Sean:Yes, they 100% do.

Sam:And we’ve purchased a onesie for friends that have moved outside of Richmond that had a baby. So you have dog coverage, baby coverage.

Alex:What about tank tops, because she normally prefers tanks tops.

Sam:They also have rainbow ones if you’re LGBTQ+ looking, just saying.

Sean:They have a ton.

Lauren:I support. I’m down.

Sam:Tons of options available so if you need an RVA All Day shirt, hit up Little Nomad.

Lauren:Where are they located?

Sam:Near 123 West Broad Street. That’s not their exact location, but they’re near East Broad-

Sean:Over by Quirk hotel.

Sam:Yeah, they’re going to-

Lauren:Okay, yeah.

Sam:[crosstalk 00:27:02] across from Quirk hotel, yeah, right there in Jackson Ward and so you can stop in and shop. They haven’t … They have it online too, but you know what? This shirt actually sells out pretty frequently and so sometimes they don’t list it online. They only have it in store. So make sure you go by and check it out.

Sean:Cool.

Lauren:Yes.

Alex:I have one more thing.

Sam:Sure.

Alex:Thank you for hosting the podcast.

Sean:Incredible host.

Lauren:Absolutely at your house. Beautiful house.

Alex:Beautiful home.

Sam:Thank you. We really appreciate it.

Alex:We don’t even have the option because our dining room table’s in one of our listings right now.

Sam:That is so nice of you guys.

Lauren:This is the story of my life.

Alex:I know.

Sam:Best realtors ever.

Alex:Lauren is like, “When are we getting our dining room table back?” I’m like, “In a week.”

Lauren:I made dinner last night and I was like, “I really want to eat these pancakes at a table.”

Sean:One table.

Lauren:I just ate them standing up. I just ate them standing up. Yeah, the one day out of the year that I want-

Sam:Alex and Lauren literally gave away their dining room table to stage a house.

Alex:Borrowed, yeah.

Sam:So that’s really special. Yeah, I’m sure your clients really appreciate it.

Alex:Well, it sold in three days.

Sam:Well, there you go. So you’ll get it back soon.

Alex:It’s a nice table. Almost as nice as this one.

Sam:Stop that.

Lauren:All right, cheers everybody.

Sam:All right.

Alex:Bye.

Sam:Cheers.

Alex:Talk to you next week. Bye.

Sam:Bye.

Alex:Thank you so much for listening. Why Richmond is Awesome podcast is hosted by Sean and Sam Kanipe of the Richmond experience, and Lauren and Alex Glaser of the Glaser Group realtors. It’s produced and edited by Miles Agee productions. Our theme song is RVA All Day by No BS Brass Band. Please rate us and leave us a review on iTunes, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Listen to more episodes at whyrichmondisawesome.com and follow us on Instagram at the Richmond Experience, and at Glaser Group RVA.