I'm excited for this!

Me too, although disappointed it’s not an arcade.

I don't see this lasting long term but I would love to be surprised.

Trying to do 8 things in one building sounds like a recipe for mediocrity. Add that to the not ideal location and the uphill battle gets steeper. If they can hold on until the Diamond District gets developed then they have a chance!

“Brainchild of Michael and Son president Basim Mansour” is all the incentive I need to never go. Basim is an incredible asshole who doesn’t deserve my money.

Go on…?

Just one person’s opinion: I’m not a fan at all of the self-pour taps, and even less of a fan when I’m in the middle of an activity such as duck pin bowling.

However, I could be swayed if the beer is priced right…

And definitely not planning on going before 7:00 pm.

Aside from running a company that makes its money doing overpriced hack work (a known fact in the Richmond area), he is personally a dick. My neighbors got charged $5k to dig a 3’x2’ hole, patch a pipe, and recover. They made a huge mess that they never cleaned up and left that open hole halfway on my property for weeks so I wrote an email to their service manager. He must’ve bcc’d Basim, who couldn’t resist chiming in on the thread to ridicule me for asking them to clean their shit up. Better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you’re an asshole than to open your mouth and let it be known, I’ve heard.

Went to their soft opening employee event this past Sunday - a couple thoughts:

The interior decoration is lacking. Wooden tables, chairs, black metalwork ceiling and columns, and VIBRANT murals on many of the walls, but nothing tying it all together and a lot of the walls were still blank white spaces. Maybe over the next few days more murals will go up and tie the space together better, but it doesn't seem like a cohesive experience as of now.

The mini-golf was not designed well. Course has "jumps" and ramps for balls that send them careening onto other holes or into pathways. 18 holes - but it's two 9 hole courses (both labeled 1-9). Some of the "tricks" involve putting the ball into an enclosed container - and it's supposed to come out a ramp on the other side but instead they seem to be getting stuck inside where you can't get to the ball. It looks really fun, and has some great photo opportunity spots, but is extremely frustrating to actually play.

Signature mixed drinks are pre-mixed out of a tap - which cuts down on time for a drink and the ones I tried were pretty good! They have a beer tap wall like Circuit, with some local breweries, but not a huge selection.

The restaurants are differently themed enough to offer something for everyone, but between the $10-14 mixed drinks, paying $12-14 for a burger or sandwich - without a side (sides were $4 extra) it all seems a little expensive. Food we had was delicious though.

One massive bar, two smaller side bars, but the venue doesn't seem to support having a bar that big. From the smaller crowd there - duckpin bowling was full, mini golf and virtual golf were full, 15-30 min wait for food at restaurants inside, but all the bars were practically empty. There was a DJ booth as well (empty) - so maybe the bars would be busier for their "night club", but I don't see a reason or need for the size of bar they put in there other than to brag about having the "longest bar in VA".

Overall it's a fantastic community space for groups looking to go out for an afternoon or evening, but between the location and lack of nearby activities and restaurants I'm not sure if it'll last.

May be tempted into checking this out on Friday. Shame there's no outdoor space at all, that would strike it off my list of places to get a beer when the weather is nice.

Also, Ross Catrow's daily email pointed out something very valid... there will probably be a lot of people walking from Hardywood to this place and back given their proximity, but there isn't much in the way of pedestrian accessibility/safety between those locations which is a little concerning.

When you charge people $15000 to replace a water heater you can do nice things like this.

Oof, this whole thing where sandwiches without a side are pushing $15 has killed going out to eat for me. Please tell me this place pays really well and that'll be different.

Wow that went up fast

There was a place like this when I lived in Pittsburgh called Latitude 360. Went there for a work event a couple months after it opened. It was completely and overwhelmingly meh. It’s like the worst parts of a bowling alley mashed up with a bad Chuck E. Cheese with the worst corporate restaurant chain you can think of. It was sold after 18 months and the new owners couldn’t make it work either and that closed after another 18 months way before the pandemic. It tried to be a lot of things and did none of them well, so there was no reason to go there. It was too child-like for adults and at the same time too grownup for kids. I don’t think management was in the restaurant business, so they couldn’t get the staff to buy in to the “soul” of the place, and they therefore didn’t make the experience feel special to customers. (I think TopGolf actually does a decent job at this). I hope the RVA place is different, of course, but we’ll see.

God, this place actually sounds kinda awful. Thanks for the info.

They had me at duck pin bowling. Nothing will have the charm of Southside Plaze Bowl though.

My understanding was that they were retrofitting the second floor that already existed, not building a new structure.

Hiring line cooks at 18$ an hour, so pretty average if you're looking for someone who's more than just a pair of hands. I'm unsure about other positions, though.

Edit: I forgot! One of their perks is inclusive health insurance. I haven't put eyes on the whole plan, but it's supposed to just be part of your employment and no cut from your check. I haven't seen it in action, so we have to wait and see.

ole Miguel and sons lol

Not bad at all

What is that, a duckpin lane for ants? It seems maybe 15' long.

everyone here is so quick to judge this place. Where, last time I checked, a majority of people who visit this subreddit come here to find things to do, to meet people, to have some entertainment. Richmond doesn't have much going on (what it does have going on is good) and can use every BIT of entertainment opportunities and employment opportunities.

The comments are discouraging and negative with out even trying the place out. And no I'm not affiliated with the business.

Fair response. You are correct. I hope the place does well.

I can't stand what this city is becoming.

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This place has zero charm.

Gross.

He takes advantage of elderly .. he charges $$ for simple work.

>what this city is becoming.

What's it becoming?

This sounds chaotic.

Shit like this? Do you like shit like this?

He's got an oversized ego: http://votemichaelandson.org/

No, not particularly. So I just don't go to this place and move the fuck on.

You are acting like Richmond is littered with these. Richmond is still sleepy, gritty, and nonexistent to most of the country. Don't take that for granted.

Is it possible the neighbors said "save the extra $, we will fill in the hole" and just didn't get around to it?

I certainly would try to do that, sounds like it would be $1k to fill the hole from above prices.

But they also eliminated bartenders so that saves them a big chunk of change.

Not quick at all. Plenty have already had a bad experience with the owner before. Then this just feels like a rehash of of every slingshot, rva roll, etc that we have already gotten- and many have disliked. There is a ton to do in richmond. I love richmond bc there is usually something going on and its so easy to make your own fun here. Anybody down for some beer baton?

You are far too charitable. No, it is not.

Seems cool, hope it works out. RVA desperately could use a place like this to actually work out. I kinda wish they would focus in on 1-2 things instead of a bunch, usually ends up with places doing a bunch of mediocre things and nothing well. I despire "beer tap" walls myself, but gonna give this place a fair shot.

I've only used self pour once and that was at Circuit. It was way more of a pain in the ass.

Fuck that, I don’t owe anybody I don’t like my money. There are plenty of fair and decent business owners out there to be fattening the pockets of the owner of Michael and Son.

did i ever say anywhere in my post that you have to go? or anyone has to go?! no i did not. and you owe no one any money that you dont like - that is correct and valid. what im saying is not to be so harsh to bash a place before it is even opened or call for hopes it doesnt do well (im not saying that you specifically are calling for that, just to be clear)

I am, though. It’s not the place, it’s the owner.

more fun things to do is good. maybe not a place for you - specifically. and thats okay. maybe it is a rehash, but so what? more competition more things to do is always welcomed - if it fails it fails personally i’ll probably go once just to check it out - because new thing - but other than that - it isn’t - personally my kinda thing - altho duck pin is fun - and i do miss my times at south side plaza duck pin

Yep. That’s CodeRVA on the 1st floor.

Michael and sons is the worst, If you don’t know that you either aren’t paying attention or you are new to RVA…

The last time I visited, CodeRVA took up a portion of the first floor. I heard they expanded, but that’s more than I expected. Awesome!

Never used them

Keep it that way if you value your money

Definitely my experience living in DC. I had hoped that when I abandoned that city the prices wouldn't follow, but here we are.

Me too, I don't work here

Self-pour at a microbrewery is cool. Get your beer faster and customize the amount you want by paying by the ounce. Bunnyman Brewing is the only place I've seen it.

Microbrewery, maybe.

On second thought, nah. If they make the beer, surely they can pour the beer. Part of the microbrewery experience is asking questions of the 18 year old pouring the beer, knowing full well that they know far more about practically every sort of weed than the beers they serve.

And if not, I’d rather they just put cans in refrigerator if they want me to serve myself. Or even better, let me pour my own on the honor system.

Went on Friday for friends/family event. I think it has some potential but it was chaotic while I was there. I assume they’ve been pushing these events to try and get their footing before Wednesday’s grand opening.

The beer wall is small (though I do appreciate the chilled glasses), and you’re looking at about $8/beer. Selection isn’t great since it’s so limited.

Bartenders were nice, though we only had to get the beer-wall wristbands so not a lot of interaction. So a few issues I discovered with the wristband concept: you hold it up to the tap you want to pour from so it can “unlock” and associate the pour with your card on file… if you’re even remotely on the short side, you will likely need to take your wristband OFF to reach. (I’m 5’2” and this was annoying).

Then when you close your tab you’re able to add a tip, etc. but that’s up to you if you want to tip someone else when you poured your own beer.

Didn’t get to enjoy any of the food- the head chef had reportedly walked out and everything got shut down before 8pm. I did snag a cone from the gelati celesti stand but you could tell they were absolutely OVER having to scoop ice cream since that was the only non-kitchen food option. You can order via tablet kiosks near the food stands, or via the toasttab QR codes on the tables.

There’s a photo booth-ish spot as well but we didn’t get to try it since one of the investors’ families spent roughly 30 minutes having a photo shoot since they had a large family.

There’s also a karaoke room but I’m not sure how that works since it almost looks like it’s for private parties.

We played one of the 9-hole mini golf courses and it’s definitely oddly designed as already mentioned. Lots of runaway golf balls. But from what I’ve heard, it’s designed to be “instagrammable.” We had fun, regardless. It wasn’t competitive, and we didn’t care much if the ball went off course since it gave us a good laugh.

They also had succulents on the tables near the beer wall and those are NOT going to last long. If you’re into propagating, look no further.

The virtual golf area was broken, on our visit. So I didn’t actually see where it was or how it works.

We did have short interactions with several employees while there and from those, it was a good experience. I really hope the scheduling/management issues get worked out because it seems like they have some really great people on staff.

Welcome back to DC!

I’m never sad to see cities develop, as I’ve experienced the extreme violence and poverty that comes when they fail to do so.

With that said, I will admit that nothing prepared me for the overwhelmingly corporate transformation of Richmond’s culture, and I can’t help but find it alienating and profoundly offputting.

Great response! I think this sub can get so caught up in negativity and quick remarks without truly giving things a chance.

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