Upscale Restaurants in Richmond are Closing Their Doors



I love good food, but I love having money in my pocket even more.  Like me, many Richmonders are pinching their pennies and forgoing the 4 star restaurants for cheaper dining alternatives.  Many even going so far as to actually cook for themselves.  I shudder at the thought of having to eat my own cooking.

Richmond Restaurants that have closed in the last week:

• Bottega Bistro
• Manakin Grill
• 1 North Belmont

I must say that I am going to miss Bottega.  Being a Southside girl myself, there was nothing nummier than their Sunday brunch.

My husband and I went to 1 North Belmont a couple of years ago for our anniversary and the food was delictable, but the check was so high that it hurt.  The food was so wonderful that we’ve always wanted to go back, and it saddens me that we won’t get that opportunity now.

I’ve never been to Manakin Grill, but I can only imagine it must have been delicious.

It seems that the finer things in life are slipping away in Richmond.  I wonder what will get hit next.

Quick Money Saving Tips:

1. Buy discounted gift cards for restaurants and other local merchants.
2. Have a gift card that you will never use?  Sell your gift card for cold hard cash!

 

Strawberry Festival Time Here



Get ready Richmonder’s – it’s strawberry pick’n time!  Chesterfield Berry Farm is planning to open the farm for their first Strawberry Festival Weekend of the year on May 2nd.

The “Pick Your Own Strawberry”  is only $1.99 per pound.  Farm hours are scheduled to run from 9:30am – 5:00pm.

General admission pass is $5 and children ages 2 and under are free.  All festivities begin at 10:00am

Bring your family out for a wonderful day of food and fun.  Pony rides and gem panning  for the kids and wine tasting  for adults are available at the farm.

It’s a great day for family fun.  Enjoy delicious homemade food, strawberry treats and so much more.

General admission pass includes:

• Hayrides to and from the Strawberry Fields
• Pig Races
• Picnic, Playgrounds and Shelled Corn Play Area
• Farm Animal Corral and Goat Walk
• Peddle Tractors
• Strawberry Picking Take-Home Containers
• Entertainment (on weekends only)
• Moon Bounce

Alternatively, you can purchase the Weekend Super Pass for $9.95 which includes all of the activities above plus these really fun extras:

• Wagon Train Rides
• Strawberry Cannons
• Barrel Train
• Duck Races
• Paintball Target Shooting

Map to Chesterfield Berry Farm

Richmond Business Owners Stretch Their Marketing Dollars



Richmond business owners are finding it difficult to afford the price tag of reaching new customers.  This is a huge problem, since reaching and obtaining new customers is vital for any business.

Everyone is pinching their wallet these days, including business owners. Many local Richmond businesses are looking to stretch their marketing dollars and finding it through SEO (search engine optimization).

Companies are opting for SEO, instead of shelling out the dough for PPC (pay per click) ads to search engine companies like Google, MSN and Yahoo.

SEO as described by BloomSEO a local Richmond firm:

The process of pushing the ranking of a web site for valuable keywords towards the top, ideally to the #1 spot. This is organic traffic (free clicks – unlike PPC).  A search engine optimization specialist, or ‘SEO’ is an expert on the strategies available to rank a web site for organic search keywords.