The Forest Hill Avenue Summer, From Someone Who Already Lives Here

If you have lived in Westover Hills for more than a couple of years, you have watched the stretch of Forest Hill Avenue between Nickel Bridge and Stratford Hills stop being a pass-through and start being a destination. Not for people coming over from the Fan on a Saturday night. For you, on a Tuesday morning, in gym clothes, with a dog leash in one hand.

This summer is the first one where the corridor feels finished enough to plan a full day around without ever getting in the car. That is a real change, and it happened faster than most residents realize.

The bakery that reset the morning

The clearest marker is Janet's Café & Bakery at 4701 Forest Hill Ave., which opened on Wednesday, Aug. 13, and specializes in fresh bread and pastries, focaccia sandwiches, salads, and sweet treats. It sits in the ground floor of the Evelyn, the three-story mixed-use building that went up on the site of a former Bank of America branch.

Owners Will Darsie and Janey Gioiosa came out of MarieBette in Charlottesville, and the sourcing shows it. Gioiosa says they focus on using local grains and currently source from Grapewood Farms, Deep Roots Milling and Sub Rosa Bakery. If you have wondered why the sourdough on your counter has been tasting better since last fall, that is likely why.

"Bakeries are where people go to gather," Darsie told Richmond Magazine last summer. Gioiosa put it another way: "Like a morning watering hole."

The practical implication for residents: you now have a walk-to option for weekday breakfast that was not there in 2024. Janet's is open Tuesday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and for brunch Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Parking gets tight after 9 a.m. on weekends, which is the sort of problem this stretch did not have a year ago.

Then 5047 came back to life

The old Westover restaurant space at 5047 Forest Hill Ave. sat quiet for a long stretch. That address is now the second location of Väsen Brewing Company, which opened in Richmond's Forest Hill area after over a year in the making, with Väsen beers alongside wine, draft cocktails with local spirits and non-alcoholic drinks, plus Kobop's Korean fusion menu.

Two things worth flagging if you have not been in yet. First, this is not a copy of the Scott's Addition original. Dogs are welcome at the Scott's Addition location, but dogs are not allowed at the Forest Hill spot at this time. That matters here because a large share of the foot traffic on this block comes off the Buttermilk Trail with a dog on a leash. Plan accordingly, or plan to sit at The Veil next door.

Second, the pairing with Kobop puts a full Korean fusion kitchen on the south side of the river for the first time. That is a category the neighborhood did not have.

A Sunday you can now do on foot

Here is what the avenue looks like laid out in order, west to east, with the addresses residents actually use:

You can start with a croissant at Janet's, take the pastry down to the South of the James market at Forest Hill Park, walk the Buttermilk Trail loop, and end at Väsen or The Veil before the sun drops. That itinerary did not exist in this form eighteen months ago.

What is actually happening in the park this summer

The Sunday concert series at Forest Hill Park is running again, and it is worth paying attention to the dates rather than assuming you know the pattern. In 2025 the series kicked off May 11 at 6 p.m. with Brandon Wayne & His Lonesome Drifters, with a free Sunday performance each month between May and October in Forest Hill Park adjacent to the Stone House.

This year's lineup is already in motion. Singer-songwriter Janet Martin performed during the Music in the Park concert series at Forest Hill Park July 12. If you missed her, the series runs through the fall, and the setup is unchanged: bring a picnic, do not park on the grass, walk if you can.

The Sunday farmers market at the same park continues year-round. If you live within half a mile of the park, the honest calculus is that driving is often slower than walking.

The Stratford Hills end is turning into something else

Here is the piece most residents have not connected yet. While the Westover Hills stretch of Forest Hill Ave. has been adding independent food and drink, the Stratford Hills end has been shedding it and picking up medical and service tenants instead.

Family Dental is preparing to open a new location at 7131 Forest Hill Ave., in the outparcel building at the Shops at Stratford Hills that was formerly occupied by seafood restaurant Hook & Reel. And that is not the only shift at that center. Bon Secours is targeting a late 2026 opening date for an urgent care clinic at the center, in a new building now under construction at the development.

Read the two ends of the avenue together and a pattern shows up. Independent food and drink is clustering east, closer to the Nickel Bridge and the park. Retail, medical, and national chains are consolidating west at Stratford Hills. If you have lived here long enough to remember when the pattern was closer to the reverse, the shift is real.

The practical takeaway: for a dinner reservation you now aim east. For a Publix run or a same-day dental appointment, you aim west. That is a cleaner division of the corridor than existed even two years ago.

Small things worth knowing

• Baltik's Bagels moved into the former Go Bird building on Forest Hill Ave. The owner worked at Michelin-starred restaurants with a culinary background spanning from New York to East Asia. They sell out most days by late morning. Go early or go hungry.
• Blanchard's Coffee Roast Lab is not a café you sit in for two hours. It is a roaster with limited hours and better beans than most people realize live on this side of the river.
• Outpost Richmond doubles as a bike shop, which is a useful thing to know at mile four of a trail ride when you notice a rear tire is soft.
• The Nickel Bridge got its name from its original toll. Local development began after the construction of the Boulevard Bridge, nicknamed the Nickel Bridge for its original toll price, built in 1925 to connect Byrd Park to Westover Hills. When out-of-town guests ask, that is the short version.

Why this matters if you already live here

The version of Westover Hills people bought into ten years ago was quiet, wooded, close to the trail, and a short drive from everything on the north side of the river. That is still true. What has changed is the last part of the sentence. You do not have to drive to the north side of the river anymore for a good bakery, a serious brewery, a Korean fusion menu, a Sunday market, or a free concert.

The corridor is now doing the work the Nickel Bridge used to have to do. That is worth knowing before you plan your next Saturday.

If you have questions about the Westover Hills stretch that go beyond where to get a croissant, or you want a sense of what your block looks like from a market standpoint this summer, Kelly Blanchard is glad to talk. Get a free home valuation when you are ready.