Xtra’s Cafe

Try the crab cakes it’s a must! I’m in love. The wings were great too (all flavors). I didn’t like the pomegranate sparkler that a previous Unilocaler posted. The style of the place is what made us wander inside. Small yes, but all the great places are!

Have eaten at Xtra’s many times. The service is always good. A nice selection of beers but more beers and local beers on draft may be a thought for improvement.
Nice flat bread pizzas. The prosciutto and goat is always my favorite. Although they have full entrees the menu does offer more lighter selections if you are not in the mood for a big meal.

Went here because Water Grill was closed for floor remodel. Bar area is great. Restaurant is clean and my husband and I really enjoyed our dinner. Great happy hour prices. We had bruschetta which was delicious. He had the French dip (had a bite) very good and he loved it. I had the turkey burger. Also very good. Will be back and want to try brunch!!! Yay Xtras. Xtra tasty and affordable in a good spot!

We enjoy this place on our Sunday afternoons. Been here several times prior to actually writing this review. Love the balcony atmosphere. Hadn’t been here in several weeks but our waitress remembered us by our order. We love the hummus plate and the seared tuna. Decent wine selection with good prices. We have not had a bad experience here.

Enjoyed the prosciutto goat cheese pizza and ceasar salad. Portions were huge and quite delicious. Conversation starters kept my 15 year old son off his phone, which is worth a return trip. Great value.

This place can be easily overlooked with its upstairs location. But look for it next time you are in Carytown as its a great place to try. Food has been pretty good — I’m only giving it 4 of 5 stars on food. But everything else from atmosphere to service I give 5 stars.
It is not normally overcrowded as some Carytown restaurants can get and a lot of times there is space at the bar.
Reminds me I haven’t been for a while so I need to go back myself!

Really interesting place: décor is a little tacky and there were some weird questions in a little jar on the table-​I had never seen that before, but it sure is a great idea to break the ice. We went after the kitchen was closed for drinks. My uncle enjoyed his dry mojito-​said it was very refreshing-​while the other uncle and I enjoyed our peanut butter porters. I would definitely stop by here again for a drink if I was in the area.

First visit here and we had a good experience. I like the idea of the conversation questions they have on the table. Went for dinner on a Saturday and it was a very calm atmosphere and not very busy. It was just right for the evening. The menu had a good set of options (vegetarian, etc) for dinner. I don’t order steak often so I forget how I like it done (overcooked steak is a shame). I wasn’t sure I made the right choice but when the server brought it out my steak was cooked so perfectly. I enjoyed it very much. Our server was pleasant, polite, and generally timely. Our meal and experience ended up being more «date» quality than expected (we were just looking for a light casual meal somewhere) so it was a very nice surprise.

This place has a really cool space, and had some good options on the menu. Our table of 5 came in for lunch before 3 of us had to head home after a weekend visit to Richmond. Our local friends have had good experiences here and enjoy the food, so we passed over several other restaurants hoping this would be a hit.
We arrived around 1:20, and were seated… and given 2 menus. We were expecting more to be delivered, but after we waited several minutes when our waitress stopped by to take drink orders, it turns out they didn’t have any more available. We were finally brought 3 more menus several minutes later. I ordered the vegetarian quiche (friends had a salad, shrimp tacos, a turkey burger, and the four-​cheese pita pizza). The waitress took the menus and left, then came back about 10 – 15 minutes later saying they had run out of quiche and asking me to choose something else (Portobello and spinach wrap w/​fries). Another 10 minutes later she came back again to tell us that they were out of fries — and remembered that 1 friend chose fries with her burger, but not that I had changed my order at her request and also ordered fries.
And then… we waited. And waited. We asked after our food, and were told by the waitress that they were just very busy because lots of tables came in at once (did not seem true when we came in — everyone else was well settled with drinks on the table when we came in, except one table next to us), but that she had checked on our order just before we asked and it was being worked on. She came back again a few minutes later to ask if we wanted soup or something to tide us over, but said we’d get our food in just a minute, so we said we’d rather have our food. About a minute later, the manager came over to apologize that 2 employees were out for emergencies, the kitchen had lost our ticket, and offered to bring us appetizers. Now that we knew our ticket was lost, we did accept the offer and ordered the bruschetta. A few minutes later (it’s about 2:30 by this point) our food appears — sans the sweet potato fries that two people had ordered (they’re working on them, we are told). No mention by the waitress of our bruschetta. The sweet potato fries show up 5 minutes later or so. When we’re finishing up our food, the manager comes by again to apologize and tells us that the kitchen burned our bruschetta, and she thought since our food was ready we’d prefer to have that, and offered us dessert on the house. We said we may be interested and asked what desserts they have and she kind of… just walked away. The waitress came back to clear our plates and said she understood we’d like dessert and asked what we want. We ordered the brownie sundae and the caramel apple crème brûlée. The desserts came out somewhat promptly, finally.
The brownie sundae was good (but they’re hard to mess up). The caramel apple crème brûlée came in a teacup, and we were halfway through the custard part before we realized that there was a (i guess) caramel apple layer underneath. It was just OK overall — fair approximation of a crème brûlée, but nothing exceptional. We finished out lunch at about 3:00
Overall the food was fine, but the service was not. It may have just been an off day, but I think the problems we had could have been handled better (and if they were, we wouldn’t have been anywhere near as upset).

Saw $ 15 pitchers of mimosas for brunch & decided to stop in. They aren’t actually pitchers, more like old school, glass milk bottles full of mimosa, but I was pretty toasted before I left.
Roommate & I got there around 11am – place had maybe 3 tables when we arrived. The mimosas came fast. Which was good, considering we wouldn’t see our poutine (they use mozzarella instead of cheese curds. So if you are a Midwesterner like me, it just won’t quite cut it) appetizer for about 30 more minutes.
After about an hour, and with another 3 tables being sat, we still didn’t see our brunch. The pitcher of mimosa we got was less than ¼ full at this point, so we were getting kind of irritated (especially since tables sat much later than us received their food before us).
When the food finally arrived, we were pretty underwhelmed, but hungry enough to eat just about anything. Roomie ordered the fried chicken sandwich with potatoes. Which were pretty soggy and bland. Ketchup to the rescue!
I ordered the yellowfin eggs Benedict and cheese grits. I’m not an expert on grits, so I can’t say anything constructive there. But everything was nice as far as presentation. The English muffin was toasted just enough and the sauce was ok. My poached eggs were way overdone – yolk almost completely solid. And the tuna was really salty.
Very slow service and eh food for $ 60. Probably won’t be back… Well, maybe more mimosas.

Surprising little find in carytown post watermelon festival. Our watermelon margaritas were delish and the fresh fish tacos with rainbow trout were perfect. So rarely do you see flour tortillas grilled so that made me very happy!

Definitely a hidden gem in Carytown! Lots of options in different price ranges and good drink specials.

No idea why this place is rated so high.
Our waitress took forever refiling our drinks. The crab cake sandwich had too many weird spices in it and did not taste right. The fries were good though. Pricey for the nicer stuff.

Had a great evening with my large family, tonight. Our waitress was outstanding — handled many guests expertly and efficiently. And, the chef executed everyone’s dinners, including special orders, flawlessly. Great menu selection, including gluten-​free options

While the food is mediocre, the «sangarita» and service saved the experience! The balcony is also a plus, but I would suggest this place for happy hour vs dinner.

Trying to think of a reason to give less than five stars, but nothing is coming to mind. I was very impressed with this place. Kind of simple/​plain, but that’s what I like. In town to visit my grandmother and take her to brunch, we ended up here after the first two places were completely full… like line out the door full. So this was our third option… my wife has Celiac and can’t eat wheat, so our options are generally limited. Kind of a small place, but cozy and a full bar, which is always a plus. Food, though simple, was very tasty. And the service was great. Great place for our brunch!

Couldn’t wait to try this place for brunch after reading so many great reviews. It seems best to park in Carytown and try to find things on foot, otherwise we may never have spotted it. Headed up the staircase and found the place was much larger than I would have thought.
There were only 2 other small parties when we were seated so we ordered right away and the wait was on. After 15 minutes, here comes the waitress with 2 Bloody Mary’s. 2 out of 4 drinks isn’t bad right? While half of the table sat thirsty we had some fun with the cute cup of «conversation starters» on the table. Small strips of paper with interesting questions made the wait seem much shorter, but after another 20 minutes the waitress comes to tell us our food is almost ready, they are just waiting on potatoes. She seemed confused when we asked about the 2 missing drinks and after another 10 minutes a different person showed up with a coffee and a water.
It was hard to judge the food since by the time it arrived we had been there for over an hour and we inhaled everything. Sadly, nothing stood out in presentation or taste. At no point did the waitress come back to check on us or apologize for the wait. Regrettably, we called off the search for the missing mimosa we ordered when we arrived.
The menu had vegetarian friendly options and the place was clean, so there are positives to report. Lucky for us we were in the company of great friends so the waiting didn’t seem nearly as long as it could have.
Based on other reviews, it’s very possible my experience wasn’t the norm, but the quote holds true, «You never get a second chance to make a first impression».

On my birthday there was a lull between dinner with my parents and a movie at the Byrd with friends so of course a friend and I went to get a drink. I had heard a lot about Xtra’s so that’s where we ended up. I loved the atmosphere and it happened to be trivia night so that was entertaining. We both had the sangria and left a little wavy. That’s what I call a good drink. They also gave me a free slice of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake for my birthday. I’m going back to try the Peaches N Cream cocktail and some of the food. Everything sounds and looks delish!

I stopped by here for lunch while I was exploring the Watermelon Festival. The restaurant is located entirely on the second floor, so you take a flight of stairs up after going through the entrance. The restaurant itself is very open, and has a nice balcony with some outdoor seating. There are a bunch of large paintings on the wall, and a bar in the back.
Our waitress was very friendly and attentive. We ordered the Watermelon Salad, Watermelon + Prosciutto Sandwich, and a cup of Cream of Mushroom soup. All of the food was great and very refreshing! The salad included two chunks of grilled watermelon that had been brushed with some sort of spicy, barbecue-​like sauce. It was very different trying warm watermelon! The sandwich was a fascinating combination of prosciutto, goat cheese, and watermelon (which worked surprisingly well; the watermelon looked like it could have very well been tomatoes).
Overall, a solid Carytown café.

It’s right above Beads and Bangles. Take the stairs and you’ll see the balcony that has a great view of Carytown. The rest of the restaurant is decorated nicely with some eclectic artwork. Take note of the specials on the chalkboard!
the food.
–crispin cider (pictured): I’ve never had cider served with ice in it before. It comes in it’s own special glass and boy is it a big tall glass! Still prefer my fave, bold rock, over this but definitely try it if you’re into ciders!
–build your own pasta (pictured): I made a combination of rotini, wine butter garlic sauce, zucchini, mushrooms, and grilled chicken. Came in a huge portion and was cooked to perfection.
–build your own pizza: My friend ordered this and we all commented on how small the pizza was. It almost looks like the lean cuisine pizzas
–Crab Cake Sandwich: Another friend ordered this and she loved the flavors, but the crab cake tends to fall apart — be prepared to eat messy!
the service.
My friend, Ruby (*shout out!), got to the place first to get a table for the rest of us running late thanks to Richmond traffic. As soon as she asked for a table, the guy who greeted her said to pick wherever and immediately walked away. Our waitress who kept refilling our drinks had a way better interaction with us. She actually looked happy to see us and serve us — much appreciated!
Overall, a great place to catch up with friends!