At the Shoppes at Belvedere, close to where Huguenot and Robious roads meet, electric guitars hang on the walls of a 1,800-square-foot sushi restaurant, and music videos play on the TVs above the bar. Rock N Roll Sushi is a Florida chain. When it opened there in July, Richmond BizSense called it a new-to-market chain, meaning it had no other location in the region.
That makes it one of several. Between July and the end of this year, at least four restaurant brands with no earlier Richmond presence will have opened, or are opening, on the corridors that ring Salisbury. Cheba Hut chose Midlothian for its first Virginia shop. Waters Edge Winery opened its first Richmond-area franchise off Charter Colony Parkway. Barrel House, an Iowa pub chain, is building its first local location in Stonehenge Village. Behind three of them are franchise owners who tried the brand at another location first. For Rock N Roll Sushi, that meant a trip to Georgia. The Waters Edge owners visited the winery's Norfolk location, and the Barrel House group visited one in the Midwest.
So for anyone in Salisbury, the new places this fall are worth a try, and they are also the first look Richmond gets at each of these brands. They are at different stages, too. Some are fully open, one is still in soft launch, and a few exist only as permits and plywood for now.
Where Each One Stands As Of Early October
| Place | Address | Corridor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rock N Roll Sushi | 11458 Belvedere Vista Lane | Huguenot and Robious | Open since July |
| Tifa Chocolate and Gelato | 15729 WC Main Street | Westchester Commons | Open, grand opening July 3 |
| Waters Edge Winery Midlothian | 2201 Chartermark Drive | Charter Colony | Soft launch since Aug. 17 |
| Cheba Hut | 1124 Steam Ave. | Near Chesterfield Towne Center | Open since Sept. 25 |
| Retro Room | 10060 Robious Road | Robious Hall | October opening planned |
| Barrel House | 12646 Stone Village Way | Stonehenge Village | Targeting December |
| Nash & Smashed | 2061 Huguenot Road | Huguenot | Lease signed, no date |
The Franchisees Who Went Looking
Rock N Roll Sushi, Shoppes at Belvedere
Justin Jones and Chad Ellis own the Midlothian franchise. They're friends and both graduated from VCU. A mutual friend recommended the brand, so Jones drove to Georgia to try one. BizSense reported that the two looked at sites across the Richmond region before choosing the Shoppes at Belvedere.
"As soon as I walked in I was like, 'This place gives me dive bar vibes,'" Jones told BizSense. "But it's clean and it's got the music."
The menu sticks to the theme, with rolls like the "British Invasion" and the "Rocked Lobster." According to the restaurant's own location page, it opens at 11 a.m. every day and closes at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Waters Edge Winery, Charter Colony
Paul and Rebecca Williams found Waters Edge on a visit to the brand's Norfolk location, which until this summer was its only winery in Virginia. They leased the 7,400-square-foot building on Chartermark Drive last year and spent more than a year fitting it out with a bar, kitchen, patio, event space and winemaking equipment.
Of everything on the list, this one is the clearest example of a place still finishing its opening. Waters Edge describes itself as an "urban winery," meaning it imports grapes and juice and makes the wine on-site where guests can watch. In September, that production equipment hadn't started yet. The winery opened with tastings of about 5,000 bottles it had shipped in, plus a short food menu, and Williams told BizSense that wine production and more food would come in gradually.
What's available now:
- More than 50 wines, among them rosés, sangrias and a Monterey County pinot noir called Brook Creek
- Glasses priced from about $8 to $21, with most bottles starting between $30 and $40
- Charcuterie, a mezze platter, a three-cheese melt with raspberry preserves, and a prosciutto, fig and goat cheese flatbread
- A wine club at $45 to $75 a month, which had about 80 members by early September
A public tasting was held on Aug. 15, and the official opening came two days later, on Aug. 17. The posted hours don't agree. BizSense reported 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day except Monday, and the winery's website shows later evening hours Thursday through Saturday. Check before you go.
Cheba Hut, Steam Avenue
Cheba Hut is a Colorado chain with a marijuana theme, and it opened its first Virginia shop at 10 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, near Chesterfield Towne Center. It has a bar, a patio and a mural with a Virginia theme. It serves more than 30 toasted subs in three sizes. Axios put the smallest, the "nug," at about $6.99 and the largest at about $15. The 12-tap bar pours local beer. A second Virginia location, in Colonial Heights, is planned for early 2027, which means the Midlothian shop will be the only one in the state for a few months.
More is coming to the same block. A BizSense permit roundup on Sept. 30 listed an electrical permit for Paris Baguette at 1100 Steam Ave. and a tenant upfit for Pure Green at 1120 Steam Ave.
What Arrives Before The Holidays
Barrel House, Stonehenge Village
Barrel House was founded in Iowa in 2011, and the Midlothian shop will be its eighth location. It's taking the roughly 2,900-square-foot space in the Wegmans-anchored center that 101 Crafthouse left last year. The franchise group of Rajbans Joshi, Satish Mishra, Pooja Malu and Vakul Goel visited a Midwest location before signing. Joshi says the group plans more than 100 beers on tap, along with Midwestern dishes like cheese curds next to the burgers and pizza.
"We know that Virginia is famous for microbrewing, and so this will give us an opportunity to showcase more local stuff here," Joshi told BizSense.
The county issued a $600,000 tenant upfit permit for the space on Sept. 15. As of early September, the franchisees told WhatNow they hoped to open in December but hadn't set a date.
Nash & Smashed, Huguenot Road
A hot chicken and smashed burger concept called Nash & Smashed has leased about 2,600 square feet at 2061 Huguenot Road, in the space Maple Street Biscuit Company used to occupy. The lease was announced Aug. 31, and no opening date has been given.
Tous Les Jours, Midlothian Turnpike
NBC12's October roundup still lists the French-Asian bakery as coming to a standalone site on Midlothian Turnpike. The site was first reported in August 2025 and still has no opening date, so this is the one on the list with the least certain timing.
The Local Owners Opening Alongside Them
Some of the new places aren't out-of-state brands, and those owners give a different reason for choosing this part of the county. Luke and Nicole Baab have spent eight years selling pre-owned video games, first through a subscription box and then at pop-ups and swap meets. They plan to open Retro Room in the Robious Hall shopping center, near the intersection of Robious Road and Midlothian Turnpike, this month. The store will buy, sell and trade games from NES and Nintendo 64 titles through PlayStation 5, along with consoles and Pokémon cards.
"We both felt that the Midlothian and North Chesterfield area was a little bit underserved as it pertained to video games," Nicole Baab told BizSense. As of this writing, no public announcement has confirmed the opening.
Westchester Commons and Winterfield already have two newer spots. Tifa Chocolate and Gelato held its grand opening at 15729 WC Main Street on July 3. It sells house-made gelato, including dairy-free, vegan and no-sugar-added flavors, plus chocolates, pastries and coffee. It's open until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Stella's Grocery opened its first Chesterfield shop at 14310 Winterview Parkway in Winterfield Crossing in May, with prepared meals, hot food, groceries and a coffee bar.
A Short Itinerary For October
If you want to try the new places in the order they're actually ready:
- Start with the places that are fully open. Rock N Roll Sushi on Belvedere Vista Lane and Cheba Hut on Steam Avenue are both serving lunch and dinner every day.
- Waters Edge is still in soft launch, so expect the wine list and a short food menu, with on-site winemaking still to come. Confirm the hours before you drive to Chartermark Drive.
- Check Retro Room's status before you go, since the October opening was a plan rather than a confirmed date as of late September.
- Hold off on Barrel House until it announces a date. The December target was still unconfirmed in September.
Whenever a brand opens its first location in a new market, it's partly a bet that the surrounding area will support it. This fall, several of those bets are within a short drive of Salisbury.
If seeing all this construction on Robious, Huguenot and Stone Village Way has you wondering what it means for your own home's value, Mike Lonski can put together a valuation built on Salisbury's recent sales, not a regional average. Get your free home valuation and see where your house stands this fall.
