The red-brick building at 801 N. 23rd St. has served schnitzel, spaetzle, pâté and Austrian riesling to Union Hill since June 25, 2014. Next door at 803 N. 23rd St., an 18-seat cocktail lounge called Pink Room is painted entirely pink. Both are set to close for good on Saturday, Dec. 19.
Over twelve years, Metzger's kitchen trained a long list of Richmond cooks, bartenders and beverage directors who went on to open or run places of their own. One of them has a restaurant announced for Venable Street, a short walk from Metzger's front door.
The Last Month on North 23rd Street
Chef-owner Brittanny Anderson announced the closing in October. She told Richmond Magazine that "the time has come for me" and that "it's really tough to own restaurants right now." Axios Richmond reported that on Instagram she pointed to post-pandemic challenges and a particularly hard 2026.
Pink Room had been on hiatus over the summer and reopened in late October for a final seven-week run. Here are the details for anyone who wants one more visit before it closes, as reported by Axios:
- Address: 803 N. 23rd St., next door to Metzger
- Hours: Thursday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight, through Dec. 19
- Seating: walk-in only, with parties limited to four
- Menu: small plates based on classic dinner parties, plus creative cocktails
With 18 seats and no reservations, a group of four takes up more than a fifth of the room. On a Thursday-through-Saturday schedule, the weekend of Dec. 17 through 19 is the last chance.
The bar has always run on short stretches. It opened in May 2024 and was shut down two months later over a zoning issue. It reopened that fall, then closed again for the summer of 2026. Its beverage director, Steve Yang, also worked at Metzger.
What Metzger Added to Union Hill's Calendar
The Washington Post called Metzger "the future of German restaurants" in 2018, and Esquire put it on a 2021 list of 100 restaurants America couldn't afford to lose. Anderson was a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic in 2017 and 2018.
Richmond Magazine also lists the regular events that made the dining room a neighborhood gathering place: wine tastings, family-style Lamb and Ham Sunday Suppers, schnitzel and date nights, and Oktoberfest. A weekly Drinks for a Cause night raised money for local groups, including the Blue Sky Fund. It was led by James Kohler, who now owns Stanley's.
Guest chefs came through too. Fire, Flour & Fork brought in North Carolina's Katie Button and the chef-owners of D.C.'s Maydan. Ferrell Alvarez of Tampa's Rooster & The Till cooked a summer dinner, and New Orleans' Turkey and the Wolf and Molly's Rise and Shine took over the kitchen for a brunch. For more than a decade, a corner of North 23rd Street brought national kitchens to Union Hill.
The Kitchen That Trained a City's Worth of Restaurants
Richmond Magazine argues that Metzger's most important legacy is "perhaps the people who worked there." Its list of former staff reads like a map of where Richmond eats now:
| Metzger alum | Where they are now, per Richmond Magazine |
|---|---|
| James Kohler | Owner of Stanley's, the hoagie shop |
| Mike Ashley | Stanley's |
| Olivia Wilson | Chef and baker at Two Sum |
| Laine Myers | Chef and pasta maker behind Oro |
| Katy Best | Runs Lucky's at Kinsale; a key part of Alewife's early success |
| Karen Negvesky | Alewife |
| Max Sayer | Co-owner of Pizzeria Delores |
| Bobby Daglio | Mi Scuzi pop-up, formerly of Jardin |
| Tyler Yates | Oyster sommelier at Slack Tide Fish Co. |
| Katrina Johnson | Helen's |
| Emma Taylor | Former executive chef; now runs the kitchen at Michelin-starred Albi in Washington, D.C. |
This changes what the closing means for the neighborhood. Much of what Metzger taught, including butchery, careful cooking with meat, a serious wine and beer list, and the habit of building a room around regular events, is already being practiced at other Richmond restaurants. Some of them are close by. Alewife, where two Metzger alumni have worked, is at 3120 E. Marshall St.
Anderson isn't leaving either. She still runs Bar Buoy, the seafood restaurant that replaced her Alpine spot Brenner Pass in Scott's Addition, and the Black Lodge cocktail lounge next to it. She told Richmond Magazine she is moving into consulting, has projects in the works with announcements expected in the coming months, and hopes to bring her current employees along. Her quote to the magazine was "This is what I do."
Oro and the Venable Street Connection
The closest link between Metzger's kitchen and Union Hill's next chapter is Oro. Laine Myers led kitchens at Metzger before starting Oro as a pop-up in 2019. Oro then grew into fresh-pasta sales at farmers markets and pop-ups at places like The Jasper and Celladora Wines.
The restaurant version is announced for 2000 Venable St. in Union Hill. Style Weekly describes it as Italian-inspired, built around handmade pasta and seasonal vegetables, with a rotating signature protein. The Venable Street address is a few blocks from the kitchen where Myers once worked.
The Jefferson Avenue Blocks That Stay
Metzger also anchored a small cluster of places along Jefferson Avenue and North 23rd Street that serves the neighborhood every day. The 2026 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch's RTD 100 includes several of them:
- Union Market, 2306 Jefferson Ave., a neighborhood restaurant and market that lists daily service.
- Pizza Bones, 2314 Jefferson Ave., a sourdough pizza shop, with the Friend Bar wine bar right next door.
- Spotty Dog Ice Cream Co., 2416 Jefferson Ave., Unit C4.
- Proper Pie, 2505 E. Broad St., for New Zealand-style savory pies and desserts.
The Beet Box, a juice and smoothie café, took over North End Juice Co.'s old space at 2400 Jefferson Ave. in March 2025. Its website lists daily hours from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
That gives the blocks around Metzger a mix of morning juice, pizza, wine, ice cream and a market. What leaves on Dec. 19 is the sit-down dinner with a German menu and a long drinks list, and the 18-seat pink room next door.
Hank and Patti work with plenty of homeowners who think about a neighborhood corner the way Union Hill thinks about North 23rd Street. If a block like this one is part of why your house is worth what it is, Hank Cosby can show you what nearby sales say about it today. Get your instant home valuation, and grab a Pink Room seat while there are still a few weekends left.
