Gone for good, Ipanema Cafe closes its doors after almost 30 years

Molly Manning, Contributing Writer

Harshini Kanala, Contributing Writer

Richmond’s vegan and vegetarian cafe Ipanema Café is officially closed as of Feb. 17, according to Richmond BizSense. Signs on the restaurant have been taken down and their page on Google marks the business as “permanently closed.” 

The restaurant and bar, located in a basement space at 917 W. Grace St., had been open since 1998. Throughout the years, Ipanema Café has served as a hub for the Richmond and VCU communities to come together to eat, drink, see new local bands and sing karaoke.

Kendra Feather, the original owner, opened Ipanema Café during a time when Grace Street was a hub for young people headed to bars, restaurants and music venues and later sold it to Seth Cambell in 2020, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. 

In August 2023, VCU purchased the building, but it remained operational, as reported by The Commonwealth Times. VCU planned to make West Grace a main corridor of the campus, according to Richmond Times-Dispatch. During this change in management, multiple concerns were raised about the quality of Ipanema Café and the consistency of their operational hours, as marked by online customer reviews on websites like Google, HappyCow and Yelp. 

Michael Porter, the associate vice president for public relations at VCU, stated the restaurant has an active lease with VCU at 917 W. Grace St. 

“A barber shop and a small recording studio continue to operate at that property. There are no specific plans by VCU for the property,” Porter stated. 

Porter also stated he is not aware of the reason for the closing of Ipanema Café and said that information should be taken from the owner. 

Local bands, especially those made up of VCU students, often got their starts at Ipanema. 

Chloe “Q” Quiambao worked as an “unofficial show booker/coordinator” at Ipanema for about two years. She took charge of promotion, organizing and promoting bands, and all around helping out with the shows. 

Quiambao appreciated Ipanema’s inclusivity, and called Ipanema “the launching pad” because they accepted almost every band who wanted to play there.

“We had genres from all across the board in that basement and everyone really came together. There’s a level of camaraderie that you don’t see in a lot of spaces,” Quiambao said. “We were all very encouraging of each other and it was a beautiful thing watching people have those first experiences in such an intimate space.”

The six-person band Solera, who met during their freshman year at VCU living at Gladding Residence Center, played their second show at Ipanema, according to band member Saji Sharma. 

“It feels very RVA to me, it’s just a very homey place. It’s kind of run down, but that’s the beauty in it, I think. That show that we played, that was the first time we had felt any love from a crowd — and it was just a great show to feel out the Richmond scene,” Sharma said.

The band described Ipanema Café as intimate and personal, in part because of the small space but also because the people working to book and help with set-up were both supportive and personable.

Dani Rodriguez, a fourth-year psychology student and member of Solera, said the Wednesday karaoke nights at Ipanema were also a big draw for VCU students and he loved how Ipanema shows were always “hit or miss” but enjoyable either way. 

Ronnie Olugbemi, a fourth-year psychology and sociology student and member of Solera, said the band would not be in the same place without Ipanema as a space to play music. They also said VCU buying up so much of the infrastructure on Grace Street represents an issue in the entirety of Richmond. 

“Richmond has always been predominantly Black, predominantly queer, and just kind of seeing that change, like before my very eyes, is a really uncomfortable experience. So I feel like they’re almost pushing out the history of what makes Richmond, Richmond,” Olugbemi said.