Aziza's on Main

Aziza's on Main, 2110 East Main Street, Richmond
Sample Brunch Menu

Karisa: Oh my is Aziza's good. Really, really good. I wanted to lick my plate good. Potentially competing with Stella's good. Oh yeah, I just went there. What made it even better is that we went to Aziza's as a last ditch effort. We'd planned for weeks to visit a new little place is Shockoe Bottom - that was closed. Such is the brunching life of Richmond. So not only was Aziza's amazingly tasty, it saved our hungry brunching selves from near fall-back starvation. 

Once we were seated, we ordered our usual drinks: mimosa/bloody mary, coffee, and water. The drinks were a bit expensive, but at least the mimosa was well worth it for the layers of flavor (blood orange in there perhaps?) and icelessness, much to Kathy's delight. For my meal, I ordered an Egyptian dish (I really wish I remember what it was called!) with fire roasted tomatoes, perfectly cooked eggs, toast, and a side salad. Everything about it was perfect. The tomatoes had a smoky but ripe flavor, with herbs that mixed in surprisingly beautifully with the runny eggs. The bread was crispy on the outside and still chewy in the middle. Even the basic salad was good. Get yourself to Aziza's now. It was the perfect spot for a few hungry brunchers. Plus, they happily dealt with our particularly loud and giggling selves!

Michele: While I had  never eaten at Aziza’s before brunch this week, I have only heard great things about it. I was very excited to try it out. I ordered the requisite Bloody Mary and coffee. The Bloody Mary was the perfect amount of spice for me, and I had a refill or two of the coffee.

There were many tasty things on the menu. I ultimately decided on steak and eggs this week. When my plate arrived, I was relieved to see that rather than a huge cut of steak, I had slices of tenderloin, the perfect shade of pink in the middle. The steak was seasoned so well on the outside, and it was tender and so easy to cut. I ordered my eggs over easy, and they were perfect as well. I alternated between using steak and potato to swab up the egg yolk on the plate. The salad was crisp and fresh, a very pleasant contrast to all the warm things on the plate.

The staff was very friendly. They even invited me to walk around and take a look at the brick oven in the back. I feel like we were especially giggly this week, but neither the other patrons nor the staff seemed to mind.

I was more than pleased with Aziza’s. This experience was a well-deserved 5, and I am excited to come back for another meal soon.

Kathy: Aziza's is a few blocks from my home, yet I've only been there once before this brunch. That's a huge mistake I plan to correct with many future visits. The outside of the place is unassuming, but Aziza's food and atmosphere stand out above nearly all of the other Richmond brunch spots. The interior is cute and homey, not crowded, and they play great music. While they did not serve a vast assortment of teas, the incredible mimosa I ordered made up for that small flaw. The mimosa was a mix of different orange juices in a tall glass (no ice!), creating a gorgeous layer of colors. At $8, the mimosa was not cheap, but the large size and beautiful presentation was well worth the cost. While the service was a tad slow, the waitress was incredibly friendly. She didn't mind at all when I sent my eggs back to be cooked more thoroughly. Trust me, sending my eggs back is not a mark against Aziza's. I prefer eggs so dry they resemble space food - the cook had prepared them for normal people consumption. I ordered two eggs over-hard with black beans, salsa, guacamole, & toast. The order came with a side salad and potatoes. I cannot go on enough about how good this food tasted. For one, guacamole is the best food of all the foods anywhere, and the avocado in this dish was a perfect compliment to the whole meal. The beans and salsa, as well as the potatoes on the side, were well spiced. The toast was a perfect delivery mechanism for the guac, beans, and salsa - thick, crusty yet soft, and flavorful. I'm hungry again writing this review, thinking ahead to the next time I'll get to enjoy Aziza's.

Rating: 5

Food - Very Good. Michele thought her steak was amazing, Karisa's food had excellent spice, everyone loved their bread. So good.

Service - Good. She was very friendly, if a little slow. However, when Kathy's eggs didn't come the way she wanted, the server was very quick to get new ones.

Atmosphere - Very Good. A great little unassuming downtown location. We loved the fun coffee cups, table covering (ostrich perhaps?), exposed brick, and pizza oven resting in the back. 

Coffee/Tea - Good. Karisa liked the coffee a lot. Michele said she didn't, but that didn't stop her from having several cups. There wasn't much variety for tea.

Mimosa - Very Good. Served in a tall beer glass, no ice, with perhaps some blood orange juice in the mix.

Bloody Mary - Good. Right level of spice, there was an olive or two in there as well.