At 4336 Pouncey Tract Road, near the Regal Short Pump cinema, the sign changed this year and the owners stayed the same. Chef Mike Lindsey and his wife, Kimberly Love-Lindsey, closed their Frostings bakery in June and reopened the space as Lindsey's Sandwich Shop, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Much of Short Pump's restaurant news in 2026 looks like that. A lot of the "new" places are in storefronts you've already driven past. The bakery is now a sandwich shop. The biscuit chain changed owners and names. A sushi space became a wing counter, and a well-known Szechuan restaurant took a new name. For anyone wondering where to try something new along West Broad Street, the main change this year is concepts turning over in existing spaces. Ground-up construction happened in two places, GreenGate and the Westpark Shopping Center.
Same address, new menu
Here are the storefront turnovers reported in 2026 by Richmond BizSense and the Times-Dispatch:
| Address | What was there | What's there now |
|---|---|---|
| 4336 Pouncey Tract Road | Frostings bakery | Lindsey's Sandwich Shop |
| 11657 W. Broad St. | Maple Street Biscuit Company | Biscuit Belly, scheduled to open Oct. 27 |
| 11645 W. Broad St., Promenade Shops | A sushi restaurant that had closed | Wingstop |
| 11408 W. Broad St. | Peter Chang | Liu's Kitchen |
None of these four needed a new building. Each one is a different way to answer the question "what should we get tonight?", so they're covered one at a time below.
Lindsey's Sandwich Shop: a local chef changes his own concept
Lindsey's is the most personal turnover on the list, because the same operators simply switched concepts. The couple's Lindsey Food Group also owns Lillie Pearl, Buttermilk + Honey, ML Steak and Bolo's Eatery. After they closed Frostings, they reopened the same space with a new menu.
"You know I love sandwiches. I love doing them. It's probably my favorite thing to do. So I'm excited for this," Lindsey told the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The paper describes the sandwiches as generous and balanced, made on bread from The Flour Garden, a bakery near Willow Lawn.
The location is part of the appeal. Since it sits next to the cinema, lunch before a matinee doesn't require moving the car.
Biscuit Belly takes over the Maple Street spot
The biscuit storefront on West Broad changed hands through a corporate deal. Biscuit Belly, a Kentucky-based brunch chain, bought Maple Street Biscuit Company from Cracker Barrel earlier this year, the Times-Dispatch reported, and is converting Maple Street locations to its own name. The Short Pump location at 11657 W. Broad St. was scheduled to open Oct. 27, with a grand opening celebration planned for the Friday after.
Some earlier reports listed a different street number. Biscuit Belly's own Short Pump page gives 11657, the same address as the old Maple Street.
Co-founder Lauren Coulter, whose title is Chief Biscuit Eater, told the Times-Dispatch the restaurants will feature "scratch-made biscuits, creative Southern flavors and custom murals that connect each space to its community." Short Pump is the first Richmond-area location to open. A Chesterfield location at 14122 Hull Street Road is set to follow on Dec. 15, and the brand already has restaurants in Norfolk and Chesapeake.
Wing counters built for carryout
Two national wing brands arrived in Short Pump this year, and both are set up for takeout more than for sitting down.
Richmond BizSense reported in April that Wingstop was building out a former sushi space at 11645 W. Broad St. in the Promenade Shops, with franchisee Sizzling Platter targeting a June opening. Wingstop's store locator now shows the location open from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m., with carryout and delivery.
Buffalo Wild Wings GO opened Sept. 22 at 11446 W. Broad St., according to the Times-Dispatch. This is the brand's to-go format, with digital ordering, pickup counters, 26 sauces and dry rubs, and a menu of wings, chicken dippers, sandwiches, wraps and sides. Franchisee Kevin Donham also runs locations in Richmond, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville and Culpeper. "Ordering ahead and walking out with dinner in hand makes it that much easier," Donham said in the paper's coverage.
Both of these took over existing storefronts and were designed for pickup. The year's major new restaurant building in GreenGate was designed for sitting down to dinner.
Civita Italia: the one built from the ground up
EAT Restaurant Partners, a Richmond restaurant group, could have leased space for its first classic Italian restaurant. Instead it bought a 0.2-acre lot at 3401 Haydenpark Lane in GreenGate and built a 7,000-square-foot restaurant there, Richmond BizSense reported. EAT president Chris Tsui told BizSense that owning the building let the group control the design.
"We made it a little more unique with the butterfly-shaped roof. It looks completely different when you walk inside," Tsui said. A vintage Ferrari frame hangs above the bar. A private dining room has wallpaper drawn by a local artist showing Tuscany, and a glass-walled pasta room near the dining room lets guests watch some of the pasta being made in-house.
Chef Kevin LaCivita leads the restaurant, which is named for him. He built the menu after a summer of travel through Italy. BizSense listed pasta dishes at about $24 to $35, and entrees such as chicken marsala at $27 to $84, along with antipasti like arancini and caprese salad. The grand opening was Aug. 3 with a staff of about 70. Tsui said the restaurant would serve dinner only for its first two weeks before adding lunch.
Civita is EAT's third GreenGate restaurant, after Red Salt Chophouse & Sushi and Wong's Tacos. That gives one local group a cluster of dinner options within a short walk of each other.
The same group's sushi spot at Town Center
EAT also opened Lucky AF in Short Pump Town Center this summer, at 11800 W. Broad St., Suite 1102. Axios Richmond reported a Saturday, June 27 opening. The Asian-fusion sushi concept started in Scott's Addition in 2020.
Axios listed bento boxes, fried rice, poke bowls, and traditional and specialty rolls, including one roll with tempura lobster, filet mignon and four kinds of caviar. The restaurant's Short Pump page lists hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Weekday happy hour runs 2:30 to 6 p.m., which works well for a break during a mall errand.
Taken together, Lucky AF and Civita show the pattern behind this year's openings. Local groups like EAT and Lindsey Food Group have taken on the sit-down meals. The national brands that arrived came in formats built for ordering ahead.
Where the next new buildings are going
If GreenGate had this year's new construction, the Westpark Shopping Center may have next year's. Richmond BizSense reported on Sept. 29 that D.C.-based Thompson Restaurants plans a Milk & Honey Southern Inspired Kitchen in a 3,100-square-foot space at 9645 W. Broad St., in the retail strip under construction there. The projected opening is summer 2027.
Quickway Hibachi has signed for a 2,300-square-foot unit at the other end of the same strip. BizSense didn't report an opening date.
Projected dates can change in either direction. In June, BizSense reported a spring 2027 target for Buffalo Wild Wings GO, and it opened Sept. 22. So far, the reported plans for Westpark are a Southern-inspired kitchen and a hibachi restaurant.
Storefronts along West Broad turn over often, and part of Coldwell Banker Elite's work is helping businesses find the right retail space through Coldwell Banker Commercial Elite. If you're thinking about opening in a Short Pump space, or you just want to talk through what's changing near you, we'd be glad to help. Schedule an Appointment with our team.
