7 Best Pubs in Richmond

“My wife and I had a great time and good food on our first visit despite being Man Utd fans! Terrance was super cool. With our oldest heading to VCU in fall, we will make a point of returning every chance we get.“

“Kindness on Tap at Rosie Connolly’s Pub

We planned our day trip to Richmond, Virginia, around ROSIE CONNOLLY’S PUB & RESTAURANT thanks to its closeness to Richmond’s Main Street Station.

After a damp day of exploring Virginia’s Capitol Building and the Canal Walk (Wed, May 28, 2025), we knew we’d be dry, warm and well fed and watered in Rosie’s at the end of our visit.

The owner’s daughter, Helen, gave us a very warm welcome and she talked to us about the history of the pub and how she’d come here from Liverpool as a child. It actually felt like we’d just walked into our local pub!

Food was on our minds, so we ordered:

🥪 Reuben sandwich & fries = $13.95
🍛 Rosie’s Chicken Balti Curry = $16.95
🍺 Guinness = $6.16
🍺 Non-alcoholic lager = $5.31
❤️ We received another round of drinks at the compliments of the owners
😢 Tax = $5.72
💰 Total = $48.09

We enjoyed our food, which was served piping hot and swiftly. The Reuben was the kind of sandwich you wished you could make as good at home! The Balti curry was interesting: a battered chicken breast was served atop the curry sauce with jasmine (coconut) rice, topped with mushrooms and onions. It had a good flavor.

A couple of pints of Guinness complemented the food nicely.

Rosie’s was busy but the owwner of the pub, Mr Thomas Goulding, waved to us and took the time to come over and introduce himself. We had a good chat and it was interesting to hear his story - the real American dream - about how he arrived here in 1985 and went on to run his own pub, having originally worked for many years at Ford back in the U.K.

When the check arrived, Helen kindly informed us that the second round of drinks was on the family. What a generous gesture and one that was indicative of the family-run business. We thinks it’s incredible that we can walk into places as strangers and find such kindness in many of the places we visit on our travels across the U.S.

Rosie Connolly’s was the type of place we could have sat in all night, enjoying the Guinness and the craic, but sadly we had a train to catch and we had to leave sooner than we would have liked. Little did we know that our train was delayed and we could have had another 30 minutes there, and as we waited in Main St. Station for our late train, we looked out down onto the rear of Rosie Connolly’s thinking about our memorable visit. If only we could pop back; we know we’d be welcome!“

“The food was delicious and Kitty, our waitress, was absolutely amazing! Perfect family lunch from start to finish!!“

“Old world vibe ,very cool Place“

“I will turn 75 years old on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020. All I want for my birthday is some of the delicious pub grub from The Cask Cafe, and a growler or two of selections from the world’s (and Richmond’s) greatest brews. Unfortunately, this will be via touch-free curbside pickup. I’d much rather sit at the bar and chat about the role of diacetyl in English pub bitters, or the varieties of Bohemian or Moravian hops available in commercial Czech lagers...but not this year. The cask is Richmond’s best bar for real beer afficionados, IMHO. DAN MOUER“

“The new renovations look great!“

“Food and drinks are awesome!!!“