Signage for Citizen Burger Bar already had been removed as of Wednesday afternoon. (Mike Platania photo)
A Charlottesville-based tavern has flipped its last burger in Carytown, but its building won’t be offline for long.
Citizen Burger Bar’s Richmond location at 2907 W. Cary St. has closed after a seven-year run and its assets have been sold to a local restaurant group led by Bachitar Singh and Naveen Sadana.
Singh and Sadana, who own Jannat Indian Cuisine at 7801 W. Broad St. in Henrico, are now working on another Indian restaurant to take over Citizen’s old space.
Citizen Burger was owned by Charlottesville-based The Virginian Restaurant Co., which also co-owns local spots Jardin in the Fan and Grisette in Church Hill.
The company sold Citizen’s equipment and business assets to Singh and Sadana for an undisclosed sum. Citizen owner Andy McClure held on to the Carytown real estate, which he bought in 2021 for $1.45 million. Nathan Hughes of Sperity Real Estate Ventures represented McClure in the May 31 asset sale. The value of the deal was not disclosed. Richard Holden of Holden Realty represented Singh and Sadana.
McClure is based in Charlottesville and runs the Citizen Burger there that remains operational. He said proximity between the two locations played a major role in the decision to sell the Richmond spot.
Singh said his group’s new Carytown restaurant will have a different menu from Jannat but will be priced similarly, with entrees ranging from $14 to $21.
Bachitar Singh
“It’s going to be totally different,” Singh said. “It’s going to be a little bit on the modern side.”
Singh said the pair are planning some cosmetic renovations for the Carytown building and are hoping to open in two or three months.
The duo plan to name the restaurant something like Carytown Indian Restaurant. Singh said he’s motivated to keep the name simple after he ran into a copyright snag when he originally opened Jannat under the name Junoon Indian Restaurant.
“I had an issue with that,” Singh said. “It cost too much money.”
The new concept will be at least the fifth restaurant to open in the space in Carytown. Along with Citizen, the space has previously been home to Portrait House, BlowToad and Double T’s Barbecue.
As Citizen exits the local burger scene, burger chain Shake Shack is preparing its entrance.
Earlier this week the New York-based restaurant brand announced it’ll be opening its first Richmond-area restaurant on June 9 in a from-scratch building constructed on the site of a former Applebee’s at 5400 W. Broad St., just west of Willow Lawn.
