Southern Railway Taphouse (Richmond, Virginia)

At the head of the staircase that leads down to Turning Basin, where you can catch a canal cruise, stands a bit of history, just like every other place in Richmond. A passenger train depot from 1900 was demolished here when the Southern Railway split its passenger services in 1914 and was replaced by a freight depot. A merger in the 1980s ushered in the demolition of the second depot, except for a 166’ section that today is home to Southern Railway Taphouse.

The two-story brick structure features deep awnings and a series of short dormer windows. The interior is vast, with a couple of bars, plenty of open space for socializing, and multiple television screens tuned to half a dozen games—baseball, football, basketball, whatever’s in season. But the day was too nice to eat indoors, so I headed outside to the patio, facing the historic warehouses across the street. There’s a slight drawback here: You’ll be sitting almost directly under the double-tiered highway. But once you start to tune out the constant hum of traffic above you, you can begin to focus on some of Richmond’s best pub grub.

Try This: If you’re not in the mood for one of 40 draft beers or any of the liquor options, a nice alternative is a “Harvest Time” mocktail, with apple cider, sparkling apple cider, and Monin salted caramel. A creative, and very tasty, appetizer is the crispy egg rolls stuffed with macaroni, Tillamook cheese, pepper jack tomatoes, and scallions, served with bacon and ranch sauce. Then try to sink your teeth into the kickback burger—I say try, because it’s so high, topped with apple-cider bacon, kickback sauce, Tillamook cheddar cheese, and beer-battered onion rings. Order up a side of garlic-parmesan fries for you and your friends to share. But keep dessert, especially the lemon berry cake, all to yourself.