Local blogger John Lewis Morgan has let loose on a number of local bars in a post titled "The Cheesiest Establishments in Richmond, VA."
Morgan's got the post under his "Humor" section, but many people in the local scene, including the owners of several of the businesses he's called out, have not been laughing. Here's some of the post:
304 Pizza Bar – 304 N. Robinson St. – The Fan
* Already had to change the name of the place, of course they put the number of the address in the name – original, I tell ya – and the reviews are in, this place will be closed within a year.
Bliss Dine & Wine– 1005 E. Main St. – Downtown
* Excuse me sir, you can’t bring that AR-15 in here.
Fish Bowl Bistro– 101 S 15th St #105 – Shockoe Bottom
* Donnie, I sure do love the confederate flag insignia on your wallet…Hey, where’d Jimmy go? I need some more of that chew.
There are many more restaurants listed in the post, and some of the commentary on the establishments, their employees, and their cliental is pretty incredibly offensive. Once the post went live yesterday, it spread like wildfire. As of press time, the write up has 640 facebook likes. It wasn't long before some of the business owners came across it and began firing back:
Jake Crocker, owner of FW Sullivans chimed in and made his concerns pretty clear -
Hey Roland Offthehookah West, Matthew Busch, John-Michael Madison, Tony Deyerle, Justin Seal, Joe Carter and D. Hayden Fisher CONGRATS! Apparently we're some of the cheesiest in RVA! Bring your own cheese party at my place this weekend to celebrate, I'll bring cheese balls due to my lactose intolerance, we won't invite the One Way Richmond folks due to their lactose intolerance or intolerance to most of Richmond which is apparently made of cheese, with the exception being the 7 or so people that hang out at Bamboo who are not happy Bamboo is getting more business because of Social 52 (They REALLY love this place's cheese, I'll have to try it). It's safe to assume that One Way Richmond is not run by the owner of Bamboo, or has ever had anything remotely to do with running or promoting a bar or restaurant that requires paying customers to keep up with the demands of our cheese production lines. Damn us establishments that lots of people go to and have fun with their friends, sooooo freak'n cheesy you might as well call us all Chester! It's also an honor to be on a list published today with Bliss, which I believe has been gone for some time now making them cheesy from beyond the grave, scary! Cheers to Cheese Gentlemen!
Everyone should keep in mind this is of course all crazy local internet drama started by a post that was intended to be a joke. Morgan does contribute a weekly column to RVA Magazine's website (in fact, we're running the latest edition today). However, he writes mostly about local music for us, and the opinions he expresses on his personal site are his own, and not necessarily condoned by RVA Magazine. We as a publication NEVER support insulting a local business in a non-constructive way, nor do we condone some of the particularly anti-women sentiments expressed in Morgan's article. However, we have no problem pulling up a chair, popping some popcorn, and watching the internet burn down.
