The Word on Kitchen 64
You’ve probably noticed Kitchen 64, the new restaurant in the former Zippy’s across from the Holiday Inn on North Boulevard. While there haven’t been any printed reviews in the local media, there has been a lot of weblog praise and critique of the neighborhood’s new joint. Here’s a sampling:
- Buttermilk & Molasses: A review of Kitchen 64
- Buttermilk & Molasses: A preview of Kitchen 64 just before it opened
- outside.in – Kitchen 64: Read stories and comments about Kitchen 64
- River City Food and Wine: A review of Kitchen 64
- Style Weekly: A brief preview of Kitchen 64 from earlier this spring
- Eating out in Richmond: A brief post announcing the opening with a note from one of the owners
- In Vino Veritas: Had a less than stellar experience at Kitchen 64
We have eaten at K-64 three times – it was packed each time and we were unable to find a parking space on three other occasions. The service has been quite good and the food priced right, with variable quality from mediocre to excellent. Love the sweet potato fries! The menu is extensive, perhaps one of K-64′s attractions. A major negative is that, for us, it is way, way too noisy. But, it is an exciting place and is convenient; it has become the place to be, to see, and to be seen on the North Side. We plan to try it again and sit outside, where it promises to be less noisy.
One glitch – the menu lists milk shakes. I had been yearning for one during a recent hot spell, finally got in to the place and ordered it. Sorry, not yet available. But, the ice cream stand next door seems to be almost ready to open.
Absolutely amazing…If you are looking for a place to break up with someone-some place that incorporates screaming children-then choose Kitchen 64. After the meal, the breakup won’t be the worst part of your evening. We tried Kitchen 64 for the first time last Friday night. We arrived and were promptly seated outdoors because all of the tables inside were packed. The menu has everything from pizza to trout. We ordered plain spaghetti and spaghetti with meatballs. Neither of these orders actually came out right. The noodles were overcooked to the point that they had the same consistency of monofilament. There was some sort of luke warm water residing in the bottom of the pasta bowls and the meat sauce had all the flavor of Spam.
The complimentary side salad that accompanied our meal was bland but still the least distressing part of the meal. Even the Coca Colas tasted a bit off. We would have requested our correct orders but the service was in fact worse than any of the food. I would be shocked if Kitchen 64 lasted 64 days.
i tried kitchen 64 two nights ago. i was promptly seated inside around 7 o’ clock, and began to browse the menu for some eats. i decided to go with the mussels (the night’s sauce was a extremely tasty white wine & garlic), and the 14oz ny strip special topped with portabella mushroom demi glaze. wow. the mussels were absolutely fantastic, bursting with flavor, and an extremely generous portion, they were served with 3 crostini’s, great for dipping in the leftover sauce at the bottom. the steak was equally as wonderful, absolutely tender and the portabella demi glaze had just the right tang to it. let me also mention my steak was served with macaroni and cheese and sauteed veggies. it was completely down home, blasting with flavor, and wonderful. sure the wait was a good 45 minutes, but I understand with a new restaurant that has some kinks to work out. i wish i had enough room for dessert, there is a revolving dessert case with all homemade desserts that looked divine. the interior is absolutely smashing, i definetely felt very refreshed and clean. i will definetely be back with my family. kitchen 64- a job well done!
My wife, son and I tried brunch last saturday. seemed like over half of patrons had kids. a good thing in my book! we sat outside – and had great service. My steak and eggs were fantastic! real steak, nice home fries, good bread – and big portions — i actually couldn’t finish, which is rare for me! very accomodating to kids as well. i could see parking being a problem, but wasn’t bad when we were there. pancake was decent, but sorta dry and crumbly — hard for a toddler to eat. my wife’s meal was also very good. and tasty biscuits. based on a few reviews i was expecting the worst — long waits (like at the old dot’s and that organic hair salon place up lakeside) and not so good food (like zippy’s), but was really pleasantly surprised! Friends have gone there 2x time at lunch and enjoyed it as well. welcome to the neighborhood!! And BTW, we ended up here when we tried to go to northside grill and saw a sign that said no brunch on saturday’s. i tell you, is richmond particularly hard to operate a restuaruant in? I am not from here, but scratch my head at some of the weird restuarant goings ons that seem to plague the city.
After reading several hits and/or misses regarding Kitchen 64, we thought we’d give it a try. We’ll, try we did. The two of us arrived on a Wed. around 6:30pm to find the place packed–no shocker there, and we were ready for that based on prior reviews. However, the entire front patio was conspicuously empty of diners, while the inside was standing room only. There were plenty of tables outside, and it was nice evening, so we asked the hostess if we could sit at one of the many empty tables, to which she simply replied “Nope” and turned away. We were totally thrown off. Again, we approached as asked if any of the numerous empty tables were available, to which we were informed that the patio was closed because it was going to rain. Since the sun was shining and there was NO sign or rain anywhere, we were totally confused. She never really explained beyond that. We asked, then, if we could get a table inside, and she replied that it would be over an hour wait, and again walked away. No offer was made to take our names for a waiting list or, “feel free to get a drink at the bar” Nothing. We honestly felt like we were being run off, so run off, we did. As we were sitting in the car and about to drive away, we saw her turn away 4 other couples at the door in a matter of minutes. Guess Kitchen 64 isn’t really looking for any new business since its policy seems to be to turn away customers when the restaurant is busy.
I guess I am fairly surprised by the overall negative tone/experiences that have been reported about Kitchen 64 on this site. I have eaten there any number of times since they opened…weekends, week nights, bruch, carryout…there have been several consistent factors in my visits. 1) The staff has been friendly, helpful, courteous, and prompt. 2)There are always great choices on the menu for everyone in my family including the 22 month old & the vegetarian. 3)There are a lot of people there and if you arrive after 6:00PM you are probably going to wait a while. If you eat inside it is most always going to be noisy. 4)They are drawing an ecclectic mix of folks & that makes the meal all the more fun. 5) It is great that the inside is somoke free. Would love to see the patio smokeless as well, especially with the number of children who are there. 6) If you live within walking distance, do everyone a favor and stroll on over as the parking lot does fill up in the evening & anyway, the walk will do you good after eating a really good meal!
R: “K-64″ and the Northside Grill
We have been back to Kitchen 64 twice recently, our fifth and sixth visits, and found the service still excellent, the noise level still high, and the food excellent, perhaps better than before. Seems any kinks are being worked out, despite being “slammed” with crowds every night. It is an exiting place, not designed to be an intimate, quiet, romantic spot. It is more than just a restaurant, it is a phenomenon.
On the other hand, the Northside grill was a huge disappointment – mediocre at best diner type meals at too high a price. That is the one that may not last 64 days! It is too bad, since there was a good crowd; that is another location that is ripe for the right kind of restaurant.
I give every new restaurant I patronize up to 3 strikes before I write them off. Kitchen 64 already has 2 in my book. Like many Northsiders I eagerly awaited the opening and couldn’t wait to get in there. Sadly both my visits have been sullied by an unprofessionally run restaurant. Both times my appetizer appeared after my dinner. On my first visit it took 1 hour and 9 minutes to produce a cobb salad. Both visits had me having to visit the bar to get tea refills. I ask coworkers and friends their experiences and they all have the same experience with the apps and refills. This place needs to get it together or change it’s name to Kitchen Closed!
Here is a snippet from a recent blog entry on my site, Food for Thought
Kitchen 64: The latest from Johnny Giavos is a great addition to the northside. He has taken a very mediocre restaurant that Zippy ran, and after a major face-lift and attitude adjustment, has breathed fresh life into that space. And the food is good too. The menu is larger than it is inventive, but there are some new variations on old favorites. On several visits I have tried the Manolito ( a nod to Manny down at Kuba Kuba and a nice sandwich but not as good as the orginal- the bread at Kuba is better). Hunks of pungent high test feta cheese dressed up a burger one day for lunch- divine. And the fries are some of the best in Richmond. One dinner visit found us on the patio yucking it up with some newly-made friends- I had a nice “northside steak” with a peppercorn sauce. Hats off Johnny and Katrina. Welcome to the hood.
For the full story, visit me at
http://inmystomach.blogspot.com/2007/07/northside-musings.html
Northside Grill
One word will sum up my experience … DISAPPOINTED! Disappointed in the
service, food and ambience. I was with a party of 7, so between us, we
had ordered a good sampling of the menu. The meatloaf special was more
like brick & mortar. The crab augratin was canned crab, at best, with
melted, processed cheese. The wings tasted like they the were microwaved
and forgotten … the breading was not crisp, nor were they cooked
throughout. Our drinks (ice tea and soft drinks) were not replenished
and 2 of our guests ordered something from the bar and were told that
they bartender was behind (there was only a handful of people in the
entire restaurant) and she came to our table 3 times with no drinks …
unacceptable. The highlight of the evening, other than a bunch of
friends enjoying each other’s company, was the crab bisque. It lacked in
spice (which I tend to like on the heavier side anyway), but consistency
and flavor were good. Nutshell: not a restaurant I would go back to nor
recommend.
They make a great mojito! (Which is saying a lot since last week the bartender at Norther Grill tried to serve me for a mojito made with Sweet and Low because they “ran out” of simple sugar.)Service was excellent even though it was quite busy Fri night crowd. I suspect I should have ordered the items the staff suggested but either way the food was good and the portions large. Yes it is busy and noisy and full of life and the great noisy smells of a busy home of good cooking. I will be going back to this NON-SMOKING establishment.
I went one thursday night to have some drinks with some friends. Things were going well till about 10:30 when the whole staff started to clean (and break 4 glasses). I mean the whole staff. They cranked the music up, turned their backs to us…. We could not get a drink, we could not get our check. I finally tapped one of the works who was ignoring us and asked if we could get a drink and our check. With 10 people standing around and our bartender 5 feet away, he said “I will have to see if I can find someone to help you.” I really hope they train their staff better or hire new ones!