Best Nightlife in Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, has anything and everything you need for nightlife action, no matter what your particular style happens to be. You can start with casual or fine dining and then make your way to any number of trendy bars, upscale cocktail lounges, live music venues, or casual pubs located throughout the city or in the famed party district of Shockoe Bottom.

One of my favorite places (actually it probably is my favorite place) to go is the Penny Lane Pub, a British-style club located on Franklin since late 2003 (the Pub has been around been 1976, but moved to a better location just a few years ago). You can just hang out at the downstairs bar or play pool and darts upstairs. And, if you're in the mood for eating, you can grab a bite in the dining room from a wide selection of appetite pleasing items on the traditional British menu.

Penny Lane Pub is an authentic pub bar with a great variety of English ales on tap. Served in 20 ounce Imperial pints or in half-pints, selections at the downstairs bar include Fullers London Pride, Fullers Porter, Guinness Stout, Bass Pale Ale, Newcastle Brown, Woodchuck Cider and Harp Lager. A smaller selection of beers on tap is available upstairs as well. Or, if you prefer, you can order a combination beer such as Snakebite (half Cider, half Harp), Black and Tan (half Guinness, half Bass), or Brown and Bitter (half Newcastle, half Fullers). Any of these choices is sure to please the palate.

Penny Lane Pub also has bottled beer to offer, whether you prefer any one of the English varieties, American standard fare, or imports from other countries, including Holland and Mexico. Great whiskeys include The Glenlivet, GlenFiddich, The MacAllen, and Glenmorangie. Blended whiskeys are offered by Dewars, Johnnie Walker, Chivas and others. There's also a wine list and a pretty good selection of cigars to choose from. For a genuine English pub, the Penny Lane Pub is hard to beat. You can just hang around with friends, drink great beers and whiskeys, sample fine cigars, and just take advantage of a relaxed nightlife atmosphere.

When I'm out and about in Richmond, I also like to stop by the Legend Brewing Company. Located on West 7^th Street, the Legend Brewing Company is central Virginia's oldest and largest microbrewery. Legend brews its own beer and provides its lagers and ales to many of the restaurants and pubs in the Richmond area. In addition, Legend Brewing Company has its own bar where visitors and patrons can enjoy all of the Legend selections, including their Lager, Brown Ale, Porter, Golden IPA, Pilsner, Pale Ale, and my favorite, the Legend Chocolate Porter 2006. The Chocolate Porter is a rich, dark, sweet ale with generous amounts of caramel and chocolate malts. Natural cocoa extract is added at the filtering stage to produce a black beer with the taste of dark chocolate, coffee, and caramel.

Legend is also a great place to start the evening by enjoying some pretty good food. The menu has a standard assortment of appetizers, soups, salads, and sandwiches, as well as an entrée menu with a good flat iron steak (with terrific Brown Ale caramelized onions). After dinner you can enjoy the nightlife in the 150-seat pub or on the 200-seat deck that overlooks the James River and the Richmond skyline.