First of all if I score a no star I would... The one star is for the food. Which out of my party, was decent, not the best or the worst thing I've ever had, but the service was pretty subpar and below mediocre. Not only were we seated at the bar but as for a first time here the service at the bar and table wasn't much different. The waitress, Nancy was far better than the rest. But after not only the bar service for food was not helpful, nor asked if we needed assistance after I asked for help with some menu items she seemed less than helpful for asking which should have been an obvious we had never been her. During almost the entirety of the experience she seemed less than helpful and almost bothered by our request for information on a less than helpful menu. And worse with the other portion of our party who received less than pleasant experience from none other than the male manger whoms attitude changed once we sat with them. Overall not a place I will ever attend again. I see why several Togo orders came in and didn't stay... read more

We went here tonight and it was fabulous! I had The Meadow cocktail (muddled blueberry, vodka, plum syrup, and soda water) and it was the best drink I've had ever, I think. Then we had the fried goat cheese salad with beets/nuts and it was excellent as well. I ordered the carbonara pasta and my husband ordered the mushroom and ricotta cheese pasta. We both liked mine the best but both were good. The bread they bake is delicious with the olive oil too. We didn't have room for dessert and we came home with 2 huge takeout containers of leftover pasta, portions are huge! We will be back! The prices are good too and the quality of the food is really good. The only possible downside is size (place is tiny, make a reservation). The kitchen is right there in the same room and is open so you can see them cook. I did need to use my inhaler once due to the strong scent/steam when they were making one dish for a few minutes, but otherwise this wasn't a problem and it was cool to see the chefs working. The waitress was good too - always there to refill/take away plates, but not hovering. There is also a small bar area in the front with a tv. read more

Ugh. I have been wanting to eat here for awhile and finally got to the other night - to major disappointment. The wine was the best thing about the meal. My bf and I shared the fried goat cheese and beet salad. It was just ok. I ordered the grouper with pureed celery root and my bf got the veal scallopini. The grouper was cooked well but was very bland. Nothing special. The biggest source of anger was the celery root. I love pureed celery root but this was so runny it just ran through the tines on my fork. The veal was ok but over seasoned. Nothing great. We got the roasted acorn squash (one of my favorite root veggies in winter - I am from the north) and it was underdone. The next best thing about the meal was the creme brulee, but again, nothing special. My biggest source of frustration though was actually the chefs. Since the kitchen is open you could see them and one of them was clearly not excited to be there. He scowled while he made our food and dropped several pans on the floor, which was very loud and unpleasant. I even saw him throw a couple of things. I don't know what is going on here but there are so many better places to eat in Richmond. I doubt I'll go back. read more

I had an outstanding meal here this week! Tara provided excellent service, the grilled calamari was perfect (tender and tasty, not at all rubbery!), and all the entrees and sides ordered by our party were terrific! Especially the chicken marsala and the scallops. Be warned that the portion sizes are enormous! My husband and I could easily have shared an entree (assuming we could agree on one!) and still come away full. As it was, the two college students in the group came away with two large bags of leftovers from our party five. Excellent wine option, as well. I highly recommend this restaurant! read more

Fried oysters were tasty for August....soft shell crabs were very good....ribeye steak was okay....cooked well, just not a lot of flavor....maybe I was expecting a little more as I never order steak out.....my suggestion is they invest in a decent steak knife! Very difficult to cut the steak with the cheap knife I was given. Small investment I would say! A good steak knife makes a statement!! Good/informative staff/owner....pleasant, not pushy, accommodating.....enjoyable. read more

Very Disappointed! A friend and I decided to make reservations here for on a Saturday night. When I arrived, I stood at the front door for five minutes and no one greeted me. I tracked down the host to tell him we arrived. We went to the bar to have a drink and wait for a table to open. It took the bartender awhile to notice/attend to us. We decided to give up our table and eat at the bar, thinking the service and food would be expedited. We were wrong! When we placed our order, the bartender said, "y'all are going to have to wait awhile for the food... I do not know what to tell you." This due to the fact that, when we gave our table away to sit at the bar.. we gave up our spot in the kitchen..? I understand this is a small place and I hear the food is great. I am going to give it another try (on a weekday), but after waiting for 40 min+ for one drink and to place our order, only to be told we would have to wait another hour for food, is unacceptable. Especially in Richmond, where there are many options to choose. read more

Consistently great food and service every time! Management of this establishment has it down. Your kitchen staff, wait staff and pricing are on point. Please keep it up! read more

This place is cool and the prosecco and pinot noir were both great. I was just a little confused by the service. We were ignored and had to ask multiple times for everything. It seemed to be an issue with just our bartender and the other patrons were warning us we need to practically yell her name in order to get service. I guess that's a red flag but I would still go here again and try the food as well. read more

I came here with two other friends . We had always seen it driving down main and decided to give it a try. We tried the lemon butter escargot and the sausage lentil soup to begin. The soup was a bowl portion not a cup as I had expected. Both were good but the soup was a little saltier than I preferred. We all tried different things the seared sea scallops, the chicken picatta, & the arugula salad. Everyone was very pleased with their meal just a lot of food to eat! We decided to end the meal with a slice of peanut butter pie to share. It was delicious with the mixture of dark chocolate crust. The food was reasonably priced for everything we got. Service was excellent as our waters stayed filled the entire time & were frequently checked on. read more

One of our favorite RVA restaurants. The food is always excellent, they have a good wine list, warm atmosphere, reasonable prices and a friendly and efficient staff. We love the pastas but there are usually great specials too. Portions are very generous, so come hungry! read more

I'll keep this short and sweet - the food is always great. The wine selection is solid, not creative, but solid and doesn't disappoint. We almost always take guests from out of town to this restaurant if they've never been to Richmond. We've had meals here where each person says "this is the best (fill in the blank) I've ever had" - I hope I continue to be impressed! read more

Very impressed! At first glance you would think it is just a bar but it's much more. Perfect place for date night with the significant other. Lighting at night is very intimate, quaint, but lively! Definitely recommend making a reservation as that's the first thing they may ask (and we all know if that's the first thing that comes out of the host's mouth then this place will be filled up) food is mostly Mediterranean (Italian, French, greek). Expect to be served leisurely because they won't be dishing out your food immediately, but only because they make it super fresh!! They've perfecting their timing, that's for sure. You won't be full from your appetizer by the time your entrée comes, which I find is a good thing. Food was great! Definitely a must try for anyone looking for something new or different from the American traditional style foods but if you're wanting to stay within your comfort zones they have many items not so exotic as well. Pretty extensive wine list, great friendly service, but can be a little loud and rowdy depending on the house that night. I definitely recommend. read more

We love this cozy restaurant. The chefs are amazing and the food is always served at perfect timing and temperature. Everything we have ordered has always been amazing. read more

Went for dinner on a Friday not too crowded. Overall it was okay but did not make me want to return. We had lemon chicken huge portions but no sides. A little strange. I was hoping for better but average at best read more

Had an overnight in Richmond and after lookiing for somewhere to eat for over an hour and a half we were overjoyed to find Baachus. We had seen it and it looked very inviting but I assumed it was a bar only. After driving by the 2nd time we decided to give it a try. It was close to 9 p.m. by now and we were so happy to see they served food. First of all, the staff was very nice. First of all the rolls were delicious and made on site. I had a wonderful spinach salad and the best chicken picatta I've ever had. My husband was very happy with the mozzarella and tomato salad and pasta. The servings were very generous, so much that we sadly didn't have room for dessert. I would definitely go again if I'm ever back in Richmond. read more

We walked in to Bacchus last weekend at 10 minutes to 5:00, looking to drink a bit before a nice dinner. Several people, perhaps employees, were sitting at the bar. They sent us away saying they don't open for another 10 minutes. So we went over to Pearl Raw Bar and spent our $400 there instead. It was incredible! read more

Innovative and delicious menu selections. Attentive service and nice atmosphere. For more privacy, ask for one of the four tables in a private upper level. Nice to have a choice of several seafood, lamb, and beef choices. The brownie dessert with vanilla sauce is outstanding. Relatively small, so reservations are a good idea. read more

Great food. Small seating area but we always get a reservation. Wait staff helpful. Great for date. More then casual but less then formal. Menu is pretty good. Always enough to find something but not so much as to make it hard to find. Nice small bar area. We definitely try to go a few times a year. Never disappointed. read more

I made a reservation at Bacchus during Restaurant week. We arrived at Bacchus and found that there was a private function in the restaurant and our reservation was not honored. I realized that mistakes happen and at that point, it would have been hard to honor the reservation. However, the employee that we talked to did not apologize for the mix up or oversight or even acknowledge that any kind of mistake could have been made. He just looked at the book and said something like "nope, no reservation" (I found out the following week that they had indeed recorded the reservation on the wrong day). My boyfriend commented that he would not be returning there. The employee made no attempt to apologize or do anything that would make any of us ever want to return. I called Bacchus the next week and asked for the name of the owner of the restaurant. When asked why I wanted the name, I advised it was to write a letter. Their response was that I could call any time after 5:00 the following night and the owner would be there and immediately hung up on me. That rude behavior was worse that the behavior of the employee on the night of out reservation. I found the owner's name and sent a letter advising of the rude and uncaring behavior of his employees. He did not bother to respond. If the owner of the restaurant has no concern for how his customers are treated, it is not a restaurant that I would have any reason to return to. read more

The antipasto appetizer is phenomenal. The rest of the menu - eh. Not that great. Boyfriend loves this place for some reason, though, so I'm sure I'll be back. read more

Amazing! Best food in Richmond. Im a pescotarian and find endless options at Bacchus. Their menu changes which is good for regulars like me. The seafood is fresh and prepared to perfection. The staff is friendly and helpful on descriptions of entrees. The tuna and the sauté of calamari are highly recommended. read more

Absolutely my favorite restaurant! The seared sea scallops are unbelievable, and I always get dessert...and I normally hate dessert

The atmosphere was nice. But, the service was so uninviting. We were new to the area and we ask the waitress some questions. She was rude and acted like she didn't have time to answer. When we seemed upset she got a little better. I was so disappointed with the salad. How do you mess up a salad. Ugh! Sad to say, we won't be back. read more

If zero stars were possible that is what I'd put. The service was horrible, they never came to check on us when we got our appetizers or main course. I had the scallop and shrimp scampi, and now I've missed work, and threw up every 20 minutes from food poisoning. So I wouldn't suggest that anyone eat the seafood or expect great service after walking into this establishment. read more

Scallops were so yummy, as well as everything else we ordered! Thanks Chris.......We had a great time. Stacey

Love this place. I ordered the lamb chops and I would recommend!

My boyfriend and I went for our joint birthdays and were disappointed. The appetizers were pretty good and very large (especially the mussels -- they really need to announce them as family style ala Edo's Squid or something), the lamb was well-executed but nothing special, but the duck was a huge disappointment. We'd read that they have great duck and duck is our favorite meat, and while the duck had potential -- it was well flavored -- it was dry and tough so as to be almost unappetizing. We thought that the duck might have just been left out too long under the light or something because it looked like it had been cooked to the perfect tenderness (pink throughout and a bit deeper in color in the middle), but it tasted more just like a really old duck or something bizarre. We almost sent it back, except that by the time both of us had eaten enough duck to agree on the assessment, it seemed to late. Also, they have few, and disappointing, dessert options. We may go back and give Bacchus another shot because the tastes and flavors were there, but not sure it's worth it with all the other dining options out there. Also, and this was not the restaurant's fault, but didn't help the experience -- for more than half our meal, the mid-to-late 30s couple next to us were engaged in gross and overt PDA and did not stop until they left. No one wants to see that and you are old enough to know better! read more

Went in expecting a hamburger to be on the menu, per a friends story. Instead found a quirky menu of pasta fall backs and an exotic daily(?) menu. We ended up going out on a limb and getting shrimp and scallop scampi appetizer, a good sized app, but wish I had saved the piping hot dinner roll for the soupy sauce. I liked the scallops (almost rare) and my boyfriend liked the shrimp. We then split a salad with beet slices, toasted nuts, and baked/fried goat cheese - pretty standard, not enough dressing, but quite delicious. Then we split the duck with portabellas and port wine reduction - oh my, this was beyond delicious. It was a small portion, but I think just enough. Desserts were huge, apple crisp with vanilla ice cream and also a homemade chocolate ice cream. I think dessert was 3 times the mass of dinner. Crisp was good, chocolate ice cream kind of boring. All in all a success for two very picky eaters. read more

Ugh. I have been wanting to eat here for awhile and finally got to the other night - to major disappointment. The wine was the best thing about the meal. My bf and I shared the fried goat cheese and beet salad. It was just ok. I ordered the grouper with pureed celery root and my bf got the veal scallopini. The grouper was cooked well but was very bland. Nothing special. The biggest source of anger was the celery root. I love pureed celery root but this was so runny it just ran through the tines on my fork. The veal was ok but over seasoned. Nothing great. We got the roasted acorn squash (one of my favorite root veggies in winter - I am from the north) and it was underdone. The next best thing about the meal was the creme brulee, but again, nothing special. My biggest source of frustration though was actually the chefs. Since the kitchen is open you could see them and one of them was clearly not excited to be there. He scowled while he made our food and dropped several pans on the floor, which was very loud and unpleasant. I even saw him throw a couple of things. I don't know what is going on here but there are so many better places to eat in Richmond. I doubt I'll go back. read more