The long-anticipated sale of Café Gutenberg has taken place and new owners chefs Jen Mindell and Garrett Berry offer Richmonders an updated version of this community favorite. With the singular focus of delicious food and drink, the dining room has been reworked for more comfortable seating and some elbow room to enjoy the new eats - a fun, seasonal tavern-style menu with brunch all day for carnivores and vegans. Supported by a great service staff led by frontman Nik Ashburn and a talented group of young chefs, Gutenberg emerges victorious after a year of uncertainty regarding the restaurant’s fate. And yes we have the best burger in town.

The original Café Gutenberg opened in 2003 as a literary café modeled after the German and Parisien bistros of the 1940's. It evolved over the years and brought chefs Jen and Garrett on board in 2006 to transform the experience into a decidedly culinary venture. The duo’s classical french background and emphasis on cooking with the seasons brought Café Gutenberg to a new level, earning them attention from local foodies, bloggers and critics, as well as their first spot in Style Weekly’s State of the Plate and a visit from Food and Wine Magazine. Citing seasonality and simplicity as key components in their cuisine, they have pleased both the vegans and the carnivores in Richmond’s competetive food scene, bringing home a vegetarian award at the Shockoe Chef Showdown and a People’s Choice award for their house-made Duck Sausage at the first annual Best of the Wurst.

In 2008 when the restaurant went up for sale, battling the worst to-date industry-wide restuarant recession, the chefs saw a flood of local support that inevitably led them to take a chance on revitalizing the amazing potential of the space. With the change in ownership, the chefs plan to breathe new life into the restaurant with a mission that is simple:

Serving fun, fresh and lively New American Cuisine to a community that wants and deserves to be inspired by their food again.

“New American Cuisine is food that takes inspiration from the classics while celebrating the ingredients and styles of the here and now. It’s about honoring timeless techniques with a sense of relevance to our own community”

Gutenberg’s beverage menu continues to offer an awesome selection of beers, including hand crafted domestic micro brews, unique internationals and affordable favorites for the PBR diehards. We will continue to highlight global wines with a focus on products that are organic and sustainable.

The new menu and the interior, with its humble yet long- overdue makeover, offers Richmonders what can sometimes seem so hard to find: warm familiarity and attention to detail, locally-inspired food and drink at an affordable price, and the chance to feel pampered in your jeans and t-shirt.

With brunch all day for carnivores and vegans, unique beer and wine and the smile of familiar faces, you’ll want to be a part of the evolution. The new Gutenberg hopes to remind you that you don’t have to go to a chain to feel comfortable, and you don’t have to pay a high price for food that is crafted with care. The success of local industry depends on your support.