“Buz!”
<He looked at me, with that stare of panic we all have when you know someone but can’t instantly place them>
“Don Rockwell!†I said, to minimize that “awkward moment.”
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“What the hell are *you* doing here?”
I was in Henrico, and decided to head to the new Buz’s for a light lunch. I sat at the *wonderful* bar (if you haven’t been here, you’ll love it), fully stocked with beers and liquors that remind me Buz is a one serious connoisseur of cuisine, both high and low.
I broke my “6 PM Rule†and got an 8-ounce draft of Anderson Valley Winter Solstice Ale ($3.50), having asked my bartender for something on the maltier end of the spectrum. Note to self: search this beer out for home use.
Right before I got my bowl of Brunswick Stew ($5.99) is when I glanced up and saw Buz standing right in front of me, not even noticing I was there.Â
“This stew is great!†I told him a few minutes later.
“That’s because I made it,†he said.
Buz, Matt, and I have been to dinner at Edo’s Squid before, and he (knowing that Matt was in town) asked me if he’d like a bowl of chili for the ride home. Sure! I tipped generously.
Later that afternoon, before our long drive home, I picked up Matt and he was starving and wanted some solid food.Â
“Want to go to Buz & Ned’s?”
“Sure!”
So we went to the *other* one, downtown on Broad Street, for dinner. This kid was hungry, so we split a full rack of Pork Baby Back Ribs ($30.95) with baked beans and cole slaw (two sides are included). The ribs at Buz & Ned’s come pre-sauced which irks purists, but these were really great ribs, a cut above anything you can find inside the beltway. And both the beans (made with fatback and maybe some pork belly) and slaw were, refreshingly, more savory than sweet
So I have a beer for lunch, but not for dinner, and I go to two iterations of the same restaurant in one day. Odd!
Odd, and strongly maintained in Italic in the Dining Guide – for both meals. Every single item, lunch and dinner, was excellent.