Best Fine Dining in Richmond
Richmond, Virginia — updated August 22, 2026
Five Richmond restaurants for a long dinner, from a Church Hill steak and seafood room with more than 1,800 reviews to a counter-seat oyster hall still building its record.
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Richmond's upper end runs narrow and specific: a handful of dinner-only kitchens that close two days a week, one hotel dining room that also serves breakfast, and a steak-and-seafood house on East Cary that has been booking tables long enough to have a settled reputation. Reservations matter more than dress codes here, particularly Friday and Saturday, when most of these rooms seat until 10 pm at the latest. The list below is ordered by how convincingly each place answers the question, with review volume treated as evidence of how firm a rating is.
1. L'Opossum
The strongest combination of rating and volume on this list: 4.7 across 1,043 reviews, which is a settled number rather than a promising one. The menu at 626 China St changes frequently, with appetizers listed in the $18 to $30 range and entrees from $47 to $58, and dish names that read like film dialogue, including a vegan plate billed as Viva Las Vegan avec Za'atar. Seatings run Tuesday through Saturday from 5:00 pm to 9:30 pm, so Sunday and Monday are out. Because the menu turns over, ask what arrived that week rather than planning around a dish you read about.
2. Lemaire
Also 4.7, from 1,035 reviews, and the only entry here that is open before dark. Lemaire, at 101 W Franklin St, serves breakfast Monday through Saturday from 7 to 11 am and Sunday from 7 am to noon, lunch Monday through Saturday from 11 am to 2 pm and Sunday from noon to 2 pm, and dinner daily from 5 to 10 pm. That makes it the practical choice when the rest of the category is dark on a Sunday or Monday. The lounge and all-day dining run later, into midnight on Friday and Saturday.
3. Bookbinder's Seafood & Steakhouse
The most heavily reviewed room in the group, with 1,838 reviews behind a 4.6, which makes its rating the most tested of any restaurant here. The East Cary Street kitchen splits between raw bar and steakhouse: jumbo lump crabcake, jumbo crab linguine, broiled stuffed salmon, blackened seasonal fish with crab guacamole and paprika-roasted potatoes, and a half-rack of lamb chops on the entree list. Jumbo shrimp with tartar and cocktail sauce is offered as an entree add-on at 19. Reservations go through the restaurant directly at (804) 643-6900.
4. Shagbark
A 4.6 from 787 reviews, in Libbie Mill rather than downtown, which is the reason to know it exists: parking is easier and the dining room is not competing with theater crowds. Dinner is Tuesday through Thursday from 5 to 9 pm and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 pm, closed Sunday and Monday. The entire dinner menu is available to go starting at 5 pm, ordered by phone at (804) 358-7424, which is unusual at this price level and useful if a table is not available on short notice.
5. Lillian
The newest-feeling entry and the one with the thinnest record: 4.7 is a strong rating, but it rests on 103 reviews, so treat it as promising rather than proven. The format is a relaxed counter-seat restaurant on West Leigh Street with a raw bar and a full dinner menu, including cocktail shrimp and the Lillian Platter of 12 oysters. Hours are Wednesday and Thursday 4 to 9 pm, Friday and Saturday 4 to 10 pm, and Sunday evenings, with the kitchen closed Monday and Tuesday. Counter seats mean it fills earlier than a room with big tables.
What we left off
Perry's Steakhouse & Grille at Short Pump Town Center and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar on Stony Point Parkway are both multi-state chains, so neither belongs in a guide to Richmond restaurants. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, rated 4.8 across more than 9,900 reviews, is a museum with dining inside it rather than a fine dining restaurant, and it was cut on that basis rather than on quality.