Helen’s

BEST BRUNCH IN RICHMOND! The food is unbelievable and the service is great. If you plan on coming, I recommend you get there early because there can be a little wait. It certainly is worth the wait. The chicken biscuit, country scramble, veggie scramble, and any pouched egg meal is delicious. It leaves us always wanting more. Lastly, the curry potatoes hit the spot! This is a must try if you enjoy brunch or RVA!

While the waitress was very nice, she was pretty awful when it comes to actually «waiting» on us. We were literally the only table she had. And after she brought us our food (which was pretty darn good… but really expensive), we didn’t see her for another 25 – 30 minutes. We had been out of water for a while at that point and were really thirsty so the wait for her return was pretty annoying. General waiter/​waitress etiquette is to come by after dropping off the food shortly afterwards to check in and see if they’re happy and if they could use anything else… didn’t get that. Then once we asked for water, it was 5 minutes (we counted) before we got it. Then we asked for our check and she dropped it off… and then waited… and waited. I eventually went up to the bar to have the bartender take care of it for me.
TL;DNR — Good food but overpriced, nice staff but very inattentive and slow

The Richmond food scene has come a long way since I moved here in «78! I enjoy trying new places, but had an awakening tonight at one of the «older» restaurants on Main St., HELEN’S!
Although I’ve enjoyed many delicious brunches, for some reason I have never had dinner there. Well I’m here to let the secret out… Chef Clay Hosteler is fantastic! There were 3 of us, and each of us were not expecting the level of mastery we experienced. We assumed it would be good, but the food was prepared beyond our expectations. The sauces were unique and delicious. My husband’s hanger steak had a Harissa aioli with just enough spice to it to compliment the perfectly done beef, then topped with crispy tobacco leeks. My daughter’s Ramp pesto risotto was clean, crisp and tasted like fresh green just picked from the garden. My rockfish was anything but normal with a romancesco purée and pepper confit with a medley of crisp spring asparagus. There were layers of flavor in our dishes that made our tastebuds dance! Dessert too was just as upscale as were our other courses. Service was great too. Good background music and a cozy atmosphere. Looking forward to more dinners at Helen’s.

I came here for my friend’s birthday dinner. He ordered the duck and I ordered the burger. His dish was great, but my burger which I ordered medium rare came out well done. Our waitress came by once after dropping off our food to drop off another beer my friend had ordered when we got our food, but didn’t not even look at us when she dropped it off or say one word. She walked by on at least 5 other occasions without glancing our way before I finally got up to use the restroom, my food still untouched at least 20 minutes after it was delivered. I came back inside to discover that she had berated my friend when he came back inside from smoking and accused us of trying to walk out on our tab. Oh now she noticed us??? She demanded we pay for the meal immediately and when I asked her to remove the burger she started arguing with me, insisting it hadn’t been that long since she had checked on us. After some back and forth she begrudging offered a 50% discount on my order. My meal was completely untouched, except for the burger which I had cut in half to check the temperature. When I fought back she accused me of «having a bad night» and «taking it out on her». I have never been treated so poorly at a restaurant in my life! My friend was so sick of hearing her make excuses that he paid for his own birthday dinner. We called the next day and spoke with the manager who said the chef assured her the burger had been cooked correctly. When I responded that it might’ve been, but the waitress let it sit in the window forever and over cook she stuck up for the waitress. Eventually she promised that the owner would call us to discuss our experience further, but since then all they’ve done is ignore our numerous attempts to reach out. There are way too many amazing places in Richmond to eat to EVER come back here again!

Love Helen’s for both the food and the atmosphere. It’s like upscale comfort food! Brunch is awesome — especially the crab cake benny. I liked that their home fries are seasoned with curry… it gives them a really unique flavor.
At night, Helen’s becomes a really fun bar with a ton of awesome beer choices. $ 2 rails on Thursdays!

Love love love the Crab Benny here! And the staff is so nice! Favorite Brunch place! Gets busy quick tho…

I’m not one to give out 5-​star Unilocal ratings on the first visit, but after my brunch experience at Helen’s this past Sunday I have little choice. The meal, the service, and the overall experience were completely outstanding. The restaurant opens at 10:30am on Sunday. We got there at 10:15 to join a quickly forming line. Good sign. We were seated quickly after opening and served in an appropriate amount if time. Our party of five got 3 crab cake Benedicts, one homemade corned beef hash Benedict, and one Irish breakfast. Wow, everything was on point. The four stars of the meal were a) the yellow curry flavored home fries, b) the perfectly poached eggs, c) the best breakfast sausage I’ve had in a long time, and d) the perfectly seasoned slightly briny crabmeat.
Couple the food with good service in a tastefully decorated 1930’s period décor, and you have the recipe for a great experience.

I went here with a friend for brunch around noon. Luckily we were seated right away although others had to wait. The place felt kind of dirty to me, and the copper tables are terrible. The service isn’t fantastic, if you order a soda drink it slow because you may never have a chance to ask for a refill. And when you do ask for a refill the server will act like you’re annoying her. The food was decent. I ordered the French toast and was surprised to see that it’s like baguette French toast– I would have rather regular French toast because it was hard and difficult to cut through. My friend enjoyed her chocolate chip pancakes. The eggs, breakfast potatoes and bacon were solid.

We walked in and immediately saw it was decorated with Christmas décor. It’s well into January so not sure if that’s their thing or they are too lazy to change it. We waited probably 25 minutes for 3 of us to be able to sit and have brunch. The reason I’m giving this place 4 stars is really because their food. I ordered the biscuits and gravy and it was the best I’ve ever had. Their biscuits were crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. It had lots of sausage and gravy on top and it came with some amazing home fries and some eggs. Overall it was a good experience. I do wish our server was a little bit more personable but they were busy so I’m going to let that go.

Went for brunch on a Sunday and the place was slammed, but I would say it was worth the wait. The décor and atmosphere here was pretty awesome, felt very cozy on a snowy day. Once we were finally seated I looked over the menu and it looked very simple compared to how I pictured, but when our meals came out, they were very delicious, tasted very fresh, had some great flavor combinations that I did not expect. I ordered the Chicken biscuit, The chicken was the perfect combo of juicy and crispy and this honey topping that they put on it was mouth watering, only drawback was the biscuits were a little dry. I almost would call this best chicken and biscuit i’ve ever had but the Handsome Biscuit in Norfolk, VA takes the cake on that. Definitely looking forward to trying their homemade hash next time.

Cool bar. On the downside, it was very crowded. On the upside, it was crowded with many pretty girls. Seems like a hipster kind of place, to use the term in a complimentary sense. Good beer on tap. According to the sign, it’s been around since 1935, which is very cool, in my book.

Have you ever experienced heaven on earth? Well it exists in Helen’s chicken biscuit on the brunch menu.

I came here for dinner and overall this is a good spot to find decent Southern comfort fare; though I didn’t really find any of their dishes that compelling or original. The rockfish caveach needed more oomph in my opinion and a couple heavy sprinkles of pepper helped out. My scallops were cooked well and the Serrano ham added a nice saltiness. Their shrimp and grits is pretty hearty with roasted peppers and onions. The grits were too dense for my preference and I would have preferred then to be a little creamier. Their bacon wrapped chicken breast was probably the most unique dish on their menu in my opinion. The chicken itself was still pretty moist and I enjoyed the sausage and pistachio stuffing.

At the bar had some shrimp and grits. As with the every dish I gave had there, excellent. A little different with the bacon and very good twist.
Limited but outside seating has been added, so something for regulars to think about.
Very attentive staff will win you over.

The food is outstanding! Everything I’ve had here has been phenomenal. Great people watching spot too! Love this place.

This place really just didn’t cut it for me, mostly because the bartender had absolutely no idea what he was doing.
I came here on Friday night with my wife to get some after work drinks. I ordered a Myers (rum) and coke-​very simple-​and the bartender was like «uhhhhh, yeah, I can do that.» Idk how that drink would confuse you at all. It’s a rum and coke! The most common mixed drink ever!
The real problem started when my wife ordered a Mai Tai though. I understand this place is not the Caribbean, and perhaps a Mai Tai is not the right drink to order here, but the dude goes «um, I don’t think we have the stuff to make that.» For those who don’t know, a Mai Tai is rum, orange juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine. Those are not uncommon things to have at a bar at all. The bartender went down to the basement to see if they had «the stuff,»
and he came back and said «yeah, we don’t have the stuff to make that.» I asked him what exactly he was missing, and he just said «the stuff.» My wife ordered a Cosmopolitan instead, and the guy goes «we don’t have the stuff for that either.» Dude! Do you even know what these drinks are?! I don’t think he did, and he chose to just not make them. My wife finally settled with a tequila sunrise, and the dude made it with vodka. It’s called a TEQUILA sunrise! Frustrated, she just quickly drank the tequila sunrise made with vodka, and we left immediately. I know it’s a beer bar, but you can’t make a simple cocktail for someone who doesn’t want beer? C’mon.
If you want to drink PBR and hang out in a run down divey place, Helens will do. Otherwise, I don’t think I will come back here anytime soon.

The atmosphere was perfect for dinner and low-​key. The whole staff was open and willing to suggest the best selection.
The bread was surprisingly tasty and really reminded me of a good European bread.
I ended up getting the Hangar Steak and it was amazing. The chili rub gave just enough spice. The sweet potato fries were delicious and really balanced the steak out well.
It was a great experience and I will come back to try the stuffed chicken.
This is perfect for a date or just to get some delicious food.

Awesome! All around excellent service and food. Super attentive waitress friendly and conversational– easy brunch menu without a million things to choose from– classic brunch items perfected!
I had their strawberry pancakes and I could literally eat them everyday!
Helen’s is definitely a new regular spot for me.
Absolutely recommend!

We had our Tuesday night date night at Helen’s yesterday and it was a very pleasurable experience. I wouldn’t say that it’s going to be my favorite restaurant overall (take that with a grain of salt because I haven’t tried the infamous brunch), but the dish I had will definitely be one of my favorites in Richmond hands down!
So, we walked inside of Helen’s and we immediately loved the atmosphere. The chefs cook in an open area behind the bar, the waitress greeted us promptly, and the lighting was dim– just how I like it. We decided to go with an order of mussels to start because we are in search of the best mussels in RVA! Although we definitely liked them a lot, they didn’t beat our current favorites. I enjoyed the crispy potatoes and lemon aioli that they came with. T’was a very unique take on mussels!
For dinner, I ordered the Orecchiette with Spicy Country Sausage. I absolutely loved it and kept raving about it with my mouth full (oops!). It was spicy, it was creamy, and it was sweet from the fresh tomatoes. The sausage was top-​notch, the pasta was perfectly cooked, the ricotta cheese added just the right amount of creaminess… basically the whole thing was just a very well put together, balanced meal. I’ll keep coming back for that! My boyfriend ordered the Grilled NY Strip and Frites. He was able to sub the carrots with a side salad, which we both loved. He was pleased with his meal which is saying somethin’ because he is a very picky eater!
The only reason why I said that it probably wouldn’t end up being my favorite restaurant is because I don’t know what else I would have ordered off the menu. They do change it by season, so I’m excited to see their Spring offerings soon! Maybe that menu will bring more options that catch my eye.

Note: This review is solely based on Helen’s Sunday Brunch.
My other half and I absolutely love Helen’s for Sunday brunch. The mimosas, the breakfast potatoes, but most of all their amazing strawberry pancakes.
They are the best in Richmond and are only rivaled in my opinion by one other restaurant in Southern North Carolina that actually has the word «pancake» in it’s name.
The pancake itself is soft and fluffy but uniquely flavorful with the warmth of cinnamon. The the strawberries are actually caramelized. I know. Mind-​blowing. They are sticky and with a sugary syrup but not overly sweet.
We used to try to mask our pancake addiction by ordering other things (which are all delicious) now we only order pancakes until we can eat no more.
Get here early or wait for the crowd to subside and enjoy.