RICHMOND, Va. — A local bar owner thinks it’s about time Shockoe Bottom got its own brewery.
Ross Renfrow plans to open 7 Hills Brewing Co. on South 15th Street at the beginning of 2015. The business will be a seven-barrel brewhouse with something that none of Richmond’s newer breweries have tried: a full-service restaurant.
“No one seems to want to do that, and for obvious reasons, but I think it’s time to shine for one of these breweries that can be a restaurant and a brewery,” Renfrow said.
Renfrow began working on his business in 2010. That year, he signed a 10-year lease at the Haxall View building on Main Street in hopes of launching Haxall Brewing Co.
But at the time, Renfrow was also working on launching the Fish Bowl bar, and the brewery took a back seat.
“It’s a pretty extremely expensive project, and with the one restaurant I had going on my own, I couldn’t do it,” he said.
Renfrow eventually decided to switch locations when the Major Willy’s restaurant closed at the Canal Crossing earlier this year. Margaret Freund’s Fulton Hill Properties owns both spots, and Renfrow said Freund let him out of his Haxall lease to take over the Major Willy’s space.
That’s when Renfrow rebranded Haxall Brewing to 7 Hills.
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