A breakfast and lunch spot with roots near the Jersey Shore is the latest out-of-town restaurant chain to target the Richmond market.
Turning Point Restaurant plans to open early next year at 5320 Wyndham Forest Drive, just north of Short Pump in Henrico County. Its space in the Publix-anchored Nuckols Place shopping center will be the chain’s first location in Virginia, and 27th overall.
Turning Point was founded in Little Silver, New Jersey, in the 1990s as a coffee and tea shop that also served lunch and dinner. It changed hands in 1998 when the original owners sold it to Kirk Ruoff, who’d been working at Chili’s but dreamed of owning his own restaurant.
Shortly after taking over Turning Point, Ruoff decided to cut dinner and add breakfast to the menu.
“It was getting killed at night. There was no night business,” Ruoff said. “I went in and bought with very little money down. After six or eight months I got it to break even.”
Ruoff said these days the average bill at Turning Point is around $18 or $19, and that they’re trying to offer a higher touch for breakfast and lunch than a classic diner or IHOP.
“It’s not gourmet, but it’s definitely upscale,” he said of Turning Point’s food.
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