Bryan Park Bar & Grill sits near Lakeside Avenue’s intersection with Clarke Street. (Mike Platania photo)

A Lakeside restaurant has just gone through its third change of ownership in seven years. 

Bryan Park Bar & Grill has sold to wife-and-husband duo and neighborhood locals Amy and Chris Mawyer. 

Located at 5518 Lakeside Ave., the roughly 6,000-square-foot building has been home to a slew of restaurants over the years, including McCook’s Grill & Bar, LA Grill and Sonny’s Bar & Grill. Bryan Park Bar & Grill has operated there since 2016, when Tamir Sherif bought and rebranded Sonny’s . 

Sherif later sold to Bill Scheil, who in late 2022 began winding down operations when the Mawyers caught wind of it. 

Chris Mawyer has lived in Lakeside his entire life, and Amy said she’s been in the neighborhood for over 20 years. In that time the Mawyers had been customers at the restaurant, and when presented the opportunity to buy it last year, Amy said they moved quickly. 

“Chris had a lifelong dream of owning a bar. He’s been talking about this dream to everyone and anyone that would listen forever,” Amy said, laughing. “(The restaurant’s for-sale listing) was posted on a Monday, we looked at it on Tuesday night, then came to an agreement on Saturday.” 

The sale included all of the restaurant’s business assets including its name and equipment, as well as assuming the lease on the building, Amy said. The deal closed for $38,500 on Jan. 1. 

Chris works for gambling machine operator firm Queen of Virginia Skill & Entertainment, while Amy works for The Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants. Each is planning to keep their day jobs. Amy said they’ve rehired a chef who had previously worked at the restaurant and retained its most recent bar manager to help oversee operations. 

After some light renovations, the new owners reopened in mid-January. New additions to the restaurant include menu items such as a pickle pizza and eight 75-inch televisions on which Amy said they’ll show sports. Other events and aspects of the restaurant remain unchanged. 

“We’re continuing the live music because that’s been something the bar’s been known for,” she said. “And we decided to keep the name because it had already been established.…It is definitely a neighborhood bar vibe, but we’ve also been attracting people from outside the area.”

Another restaurant is en route to Lakeside a bit to the north, as the team behind Julep’s New Southern Cuisine is  preparing to open Revel Market and Bar at 6223 Lakeside Ave. 

Mike Platania joined BizSense in December 2016. He covers commercial real estate, restaurants and breweries. He graduated from Virginia Tech. Reach him at [email protected] or (804) 554-6872.

City takes back Public Safety Building property after development stalls

Former CarLotz, Need Supply CEOs launch new startup in Richmond

Pearl’s Bake Shoppe changes hands again

Brick House on the Boulevard opens today in former Kitchen 64 spot

© 2023 Richmond BizSense - All Rights Reserved

Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now