Bobby Kruger: Brambly Park presented by Duke's Mayo Hot Tomato Summer

Bobby Kruger has managed or owned multiple Richmond-area
restaurants and venues, but he got his start as a teenager at the
Applebee's in Chester.


"One of the bartenders that I worked with there, ended up coming
up and getting a job in Richmond at a place called Surfish
Station, which was where Bandito's is now," Kruger said as he
retraced his steps in the Richmond restaurant industry. "When I
was 18, I left Applebee's and got a job there as a server. And
that was my first Richmond restaurant job."


From there Kruger followed mentor Holly Green to Julep's where he
learned about upscaling dining and bartending.


"It was a high-standard environment, but they really took care of
me and taught me a lot of stuff," he said. 


Then came a short-lived stint running the Fan House. 


"I looked at it for a long time as a failure, that my first
restaurant ownership didn't last that long. But I feel like I
learned as much there in less than a year than I learned anywhere
else for as long as I've been, he said.


That newfound knowledge eventually led Kruger to open The Hoff
with Carter Snipes in Scott's Addition.


"That was a huge project. A 10,000-square foot building, three
levels, four bars, four different concepts inside of it," Kruger
said. "Our first year of business, the amount of revenue we did
by the third year of business, we had done a 1,000% increase in
revenue. And so then, you know, in 2019, we decided to take a
swing on Brambly Park."


Kruger and his team secured the Scott's Addition property that
became Brambly Park winery in November 2019.


Then came 2020. 


"We had a plan in place, some of which we held true to, but COVID
really did change a lot of how I was planning on doing that
place," he said.


How did COVID change Brambly Park? Why did he swipe right on
Alchemy Coffee? And what the heck is Bobby Kruger now doing in
Chesterfield County? All that, and much more, on this episode of
Eat It, Virginia!


Eat It, Virginia is presented by Duke's Mayo Hot Tomato Summer
July 24-30, 2023.


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