Casa Grande - Restaurante Mexicano - Richmond, Virginia

Another favorite dining spot for the locals in Richmond, Virginia, is the small group of restaurants known as "Casa Grande".

Somewhat typical of many Mexican restaurants, the menu offers a variety of lunch specials, combination dinners, , vegetarian dishes, special orders, typical Mexican dinners, individual selections A La Carte and serious special order dinners.

The restaurants are always filled with local patrons and usually have a line at the door. Those in line are seated in less than ten minutes so there's no delay getting to the tables. The atmosphere is generally festive with lots of talking around the tables and this reflects how well the customers like the small chain.

Favorites: Taco salad, Number 5 and 21 combination dinners, Nachos Supreme and the ever popular Quesadilla (with or without chicken).

Locations: 7818 West Broad Street, Richmond; 3532 Pump Road, Richmond; 10921 Midlothian Turnpike, Richmond; and 10120 Glen Allen across from Virginia Center Commons Mall.

Buz and Ned's Real Barbeque - Richmond, Virginia

Just up the road a bit, in Richmond, Virginia, there's a great tiny barbecue place to go when you are up that way and crave some outstanding food. It's a small barbecue joint located near the intersection of Boulevard and Broad streets back behind a local car wash.

Some 21 years ago "Buz" traveled around the country to Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, Kansas City, Lexington and Memphis learning cooking secrets from famous barbecue regions, and in 1992 opened Buz and Ned's Real Barbecue in Richmond. Some of the famous places he learned from offer a variety of barbecue in styles of each area - places like Do-City BBQ in the Fog City, Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City, Sonny Bryan's in Dallas, Goldie's in Vicksburg, Scott’s BBQ in Lexington, Tennessee and Lexington’s BBQ #1 in Lexington, N.C. These are a few of the sources that shared secrets of the old timers that tended the pits preparing secret family recipes, (many of which have been handed down for generations).

According to the story on the Buz and Ned website, Buz met Ned on one of his journeys in Jefferson County, at the crossroads connecting the mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. Ned made barbecue using recipes handed down for over 150 years. Before he passed away, Ned passed his secrets on to Buz to keep his family BBQ tradition alive.

The menu includes: Beef brisket - texas style, boneless pulled BBQ chicken, hand pulled pork, pork back ribs, pork spare ribs, beef ribs, chicken tenders and chicken wing pieces.

Address: 1119 North boulevard, Richmond, Virginia

Hours: Mon-Thu 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM, Fri - Sat 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM, Sun 12:00 AM - 8:00 PM

Telephone: 804 355-6055