Avalon on 2619 West Main Street

Look up gay-friendly restaurants in Richmond and you’ll come across some familiar names. Barcode, Nations, Babe’s. While these places are fine (I frequent all of them regularly), There’s more out there for the gay community and we’re going out to find it.

First spot: Avalon.

Located at 2619 West Main Street in the Fan, Avalon offers a unique atmosphere and good food.

Avalon features tapas (or trial size portions), which are perfect for sharing with your date. Food ranges from seafood to vegetarian to meat. The beef with crabales blue cheese was amazing by the way.

The mix of people there is very diverse. A group of young gays were sitting next to an older, conservative-looking straight couple who were next to a bunch of VCU hipsters. Could you bring a boy here on a date? Absolutely. Would you feel comfortable with gay friends here? Of course. The relaxed setting makes those issues not even relevant.

The atmosphere is relaxing and comfortable enough to share intimate conversation (and some food). The bar area tends to get smoky (i.e. there’s a wall of smoke) as the evening progress. But the adjacent dining area is breathable.

One down. How many more to go?

Taste The Rainbow is a Richmonder who loves checking out what’s going on in the scene.  Catch his take on GayRVA.