Eat It, Virginia!

Bobby Kruger has managed or owned multiple Richmond-area restaurants and venues, but he got his start as a teenager at the Appplebee'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 k