South and Central Hits the Spot

When I finally decided to go out for dinner for the first time in over a year the choice was obvious - Will Richey's new South and Central Latin Grill in the Dairy Market building.

When I finally decided to go out for dinner for the first time in over a year the choice was obvious - Will Richey's new South and Central Latin Grill in the Dairy Market building. Why? Well, while Richey has opened 10 restaurants in Charlottesville since he took over Rev Soup in 2005, a venture he actually hadn't planned on (the wine guy at L'etoile on West Main at the time, he and a partner had planned to close on another restaurant that year but the deal fell through), South and Central was the concept he'd always been after.

"Every one [of his restaurants] was a chance to open my steakhouse but for one reason or another, the circumstances weren’t quite right," writes Richey on his website. "That never swayed me from opening other projects and have been happy to see them come to fruition. The Steakhouse has been my white whale for nearly 20 years and now I have finally caught up to it."

What's more, South and Central was conceived in the midst of the pandemic, which hit the restaura…