The Dog and Pig Show is so effing good

Excellent review, nice shout out John. I know what you mean by having to restrict yourself to keep the waist line in check 😉

$7 for a grilled cheese sandwich, they must be kidding. This is not the Westend. Do people that open restaurants in the area not realize the percentage of people out of work, that don’t have a car, or have kids on free or reduced lunch? It’s no wonder these places keep closing.

@3, very uplifting commentary.

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/26/26e44595a1cb9bf869629dccabd3cbae947c977afcbca4d53d03e4e4208009ed.jpg

And I am excited to try their ENTIRE menu, looks delicious. Congrats to the owners!

I think $7 for a sandwich is actually quite reasonable. This isn’t 1950, folks.

All I am trying to say is that if 78 percent of children enrolled in the school system are eligible for free or reduced meals (both breakfast and lunch is provided at Richmond public schools) then maybe a realization that these restaurants are not serving the majority of the community.

http://wtvr.com/2014/08/19/richmond-students-get-free-breakfasts-lunches/

Treated myself to a Po’ Boy last week and it was full of juicy pork goodness. If there’s unmet demand at a lower price point out there – just means there’s room for another Church Hill establishment.

@Neighbor – that statistic might also indicate that lots of people don’t actually have children, or choose private over public schools.

Also, I’m not sure that low end mom and pop places can compete with fast food and sit down chains. Neighborhood/local loyalty means less to people who really need to stretch a dollar. (And that’s assuming that they eat out at all…)

What I am highlighting is that there are many postings about how some businesses don’t seem to last in Church Hill and that one of those reasons may be that the businesses are not being realistic about the community in which they are located. If a business is located in area dominated by poverty such that 78% of kids are coming from households that cannot afford to feed them breakfast or lunch, than the price point of food at a restaurant should take that into consideration. Otherwise, right from the beginning, the majority of the residents cannot afford to patronize the establishment; kind of hard to be successful as a business when the price point automatically excludes 78% of potential customers.
Understanding the customer and the disposable income they have is important for a business success. Though gentrification is alive and well in church hill and the price of housing is rising, many of us have seen the census data of the area. It is that census data that causes me to question the price point at restaurants that excludes a majority of the community as a successful business plan.

Maybe they will become a destination. If the food is that good, I’d spend my bucks.

I’m not on the hill, but I am in Shockoe…

Seems like all the restaurants are thriving.

Sub Rosa, Dutch, Roosevelt, Proper Pie, WPA, Hill Cafe, Union Market.

Not only are they thriving, they are attracting other businesses to the neighborhood. A neighborhood which is also committed to expanding food opportunities for lower-income people–see the recent Tricycle Gardens move to 31st Street Baptist Church, which will offer double value to folks who purchase food with SNAP dollars.

I don’t get your point, Neighbor.

Can you get the Shrimp and Grits without the kimchi? I love shrimp and grits (which will need to be on the menu of the diner that is certain to go into Sarahfran’s if the next tenant does the right thing), but not with kimchi.

Um … eating out should be an occasion and not an everyday thing. And sorry, places like the Dog and Pig Show and the Roosevelt don’t aim at the Mosby Court contingent. These places know that there are people with considerable disposable income in the area, as well as those who might travel into OMG THE GHETTO for good food. By the way, you know who considers Church Hill the ghetto, the place from which a person should escape rather than embrace? Overwhelmingly African-Americans. If I had a dollar for every black person who’s said to me “oh, my God, you live in Church Hill? My parents FOUGHT to get us out of there” or words along those lines, I’d be rich. You can stop the white guilt now.

@ 25,BAF – I think we’re talking about two different types of places here. I get what you are trying to find or invent, a cheap diner with cheap diner food. But I also like the Dog and Pig Show, a lot. No, I can’t afford to eat there all the time – but to treat myself to the shrimp and grits every so often is a treat.

Now, why don’t you find a location (there’s already one on 25th – or look around at other locations near), write a marketing plan, apply for seed money from Bon Secours,do a Kickstarter campaign, get a loan if need be, and open it? I’d eat there, too!

Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that our neighborhood has become a Foodie Haven; it’s exciting to have more attention brought to our great part of town! However, I hate the fact that I can’t afford to visit said establishments with my kids. $7 for a grilled cheese sandwich they will take 1 bite out of is $7 wasted. I know that ahead of time, so I don’t go to those places. But good golly, give me @BAF’s $5 BLT Combo from his/ hers (?) upcoming “HellaHill Diner” (I’m trademarking that, you can’t use it!), and I will come and bring my family. Regularly. Not just when I have an extra $150 in my purse to spend on dinner and a sitter

Congrats to the Dog and Pig Show havent tried it but i’ll be there soon as anyone serving shrimp and grits in the South (Yes RVA is the South) gets my vote and of course my dollar. We are all arguing, fighting, debating about a good thing here. No one can deny the resurgence of Church Hill and places like this and people like us are the reason it’s happening… I too deal with the tongue in cheek comments of those coming to visit deriding my choice of living on Hill as the Ghetto … psshhht They just dont know the Hill and we are all ambassadors!

I did go to Sarafran’s, and always had great food, reasonable prices, and good service. However, the more bar-like atmosphere make it not kool for the kiddos

@trish

Where is it written that eating out has to be an occasion? Some people don’t enjoy cooking or don’t have the time, or simply prefer the convenience.

@35 BAF, I can’t wait to see this happen. Some years ago I cheered on those who wanted a Church Hill dog park – and it happened! YOU make this happen! (And when you do, I’ll stop by, get a cheap grilled cheese, and introduce myself!)

I’m in my mid-40s Trish. My wife and I eat out frequently–although not everyday. We both work a ton of hours and often one or both of us are not home before 8. We are not especially wealthy so some restaurants are visited less frequently or only on special occasions to manage our budget. But to maximize our time we do seek out and patronize inexpensive places for a quick bite. Sometimes that’s a drive-thru like Chick-Fil-A. Other times it’s The Village, or Mama J’s or the Monday night blue plate deal at The Hill.

I actually like to cook. I paid my way through college cooking in some surprisingly nice places and would have made it a career (I was planning to go to CIA but that was pre-Food Channel when it was easier to get in) if I hadn’t had certain food intolerances get in the way. If you drive up 25th on some weekend days you may smell smoke. It’s not the Alamo drifting over and I’ll put my pulled pork up against theirs anytime. Their brisket does win–for now.

So everyone’s needs, desires and lifestyles are different, Trish. I know what I want and need. And while a lot of my diner posts are tongue-in-cheek to tweak some of the over-the-top foodyism that seems to have gripped some here, if I had the cash to quit my job, cut some real windows in the wall and open such a place at Sarahfran’s, I think a place like that would work. A place for a quick, good, inexpensive bite of a familiar flavor, where you don’t have to ask a server (and maybe feel a little embarrassed for doing so) about what some ingredient is because you have never heard of it, is not some molecular gastronomy breakthrough, or is not the melding of some unusual favors (kimchi–ick). A place where when you order a grilled cheese you don’t necessarily feel you need to ask what cheese is used because the place wouldn’t sneak in anything other than ‘murcan or cheddar without asking.

I hope every restaurant that opens here makes a fortune whether they make food I want to eat or not because it is good for the neighborhood and good for my property value. I just wish I could get my shrimp and grits without kimchi or my ham and cheese with a side of fries rather than a mandatory salad without leaving the ‘hood. But maybe that’s just me.

In a partnership.

@BAF…I would love to help out with this! However, since I have 2 kids, I have a whopping $47 in savings…but I would put ALL of that into your diner, as long as there is no kimchi (because I don’t even know what that is!) In the meantime, let me know when you’re headed out to Waffle House and I will join you for some smother’d, cover’d and chopp’d!

Guilty Mom:

You’re on if you can skip the smothered. It was the visceral physical reaction I have to the smell of onion that I have never been able to shake that caused me to not pursue a career in the kitchen.

Ledbury – The Dog and Pig Show
http://blog.ledbury.com/?p=14099

James and Isabel Eckrosh are Louisiana transplants and the husband and wife team behind The Dog and Pig Show, one of Richmond’s newest food stops. The pair’s Chinese zodiac signs inspired the restaurant’s name and, for now, The Dog and Pig Show operates as a lunchtime take-out eatery serving up sandwiches, salads, soups and sweets.

The menu is small, but tightly constructed. “I don’t like menus where there are too many choices,” James, who serves as the restaurant’s chef, says. “I just wanted to make a menu where it’s small, everything is good, and you should never feel burned by what you spend.” At the restaurant, guests find a rotating menu of five or six dishes with layers of Louisiana Creole, Southern, and south-central Asian influences.