Virginia Hospitality NewsVirginia's trade publication for the hospitality business. Restaurants and bars, wineries, breweries and distilleries, hotels and resorts, and the farms that host visitors. Openings and ownership changes, staffing and wages, taxes and tourism, and the regulators, ordinances and bills that shape all of it.https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/en-usThompson Restaurants takes the helm at L'Auberge Chez Françoishttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/lauberge-chez-francois-thompson-restaurants/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/lauberge-chez-francois-thompson-restaurants/The 50-year-old Great Falls institution comes under Warren Thompson's stewardship this month. Chef Jacques Haeringer stays, the menu stays, and coverage is notably vague about what kind of transaction this actually is.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 14:00:00 GMTrestaurantsL'Auberge Chez FrançoisThompson RestaurantsGreat Fallsownership changelicense transferNorthern Virginiafine diningVHN StaffAltria sued the FDA over the vape and nicotine pouch approval backloghttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/altria-sues-fda-pmta-backlog/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/altria-sues-fda-pmta-backlog/The Henrico-based company filed in federal court in Lubbock, Texas on September 2, arguing the FDA has never met the 180-day statutory deadline for premarket tobacco applications and that some have been pending more than six years.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTtobacco-nicotineAltriaFDAvapenicotinePMTAlitigationVHN StaffWhat your county cannot regulate at a Virginia farm wineryhttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/farm-winery-local-regulation-what-counties-cannot-touch/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/farm-winery-local-regulation-what-counties-cannot-touch/State law protects a specific list of farm winery activities from local ordinance, and sets a high bar before a locality can restrict the rest. Most disputes turn on the phrase 'usual and customary.'Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTagritourismfarm wineryagritourismzoninglocal governmenteventsnoise ordinancereferenceVHN StaffThe federal hemp ban moved to December 11, and it is five times stricter than Virginia'shttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/federal-hemp-thc-ban-december-11/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/federal-hemp-thc-ban-december-11/Congress passed a one-month delay on September 1 and sent it to the President. The federal limit is 0.4mg of total THC per container. Virginia's cap, in force since August 15, is 2mg per package.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTcannabis-hemphempTHCCannabis Control AuthorityfederalcomplianceVDACSVHN StaffState officials told Frederick County farmers what most of them already know: 80% of Virginia farms gross under $50,000https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/frederick-county-agritourism-summit-oates/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/frederick-county-agritourism-summit-oates/Del. Delores Oates convened VDACS Commissioner Charles Green and Virginia Tourism Corporation staff for an agritourism summit on August 28, with regulatory barriers and farmland preservation on the agenda.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTagritourismagritourismVDACSFrederick Countyfarm wineryVirginia Tourism CorporationVHN StaffGreene County wants 30 agritourism events by right and a 150-person cap. Supervisors could not agree on the acreage.https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/greene-county-agritourism-event-ordinance/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/greene-county-agritourism-event-ordinance/A draft farm business ordinance would allow 30 events a year without a permit, cap by-right attendance at 150, and treat weddings as agritourism but not concerts. The board sent it back to staff on August 28.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTagritourismGreene Countyzoningagritourismeventsfarm winerylocal governmentVHN StaffAn ABC suspension pushed Harrisonburg shows into rooms that were not assembly spaces. Fire closed three of them.https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/harrisonburg-venue-closures-fire-marshal/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/harrisonburg-venue-closures-fire-marshal/The Golden Pony drew a 30-day suspension and a $7,500 fine after serving an undercover Virginia ABC agent. Displaced shows moved to a manufacturing space and two houses, and Harrisonburg Fire shut all three.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomplianceFire MarshalVirginia ABCHarrisonburgoccupancyenforcementcompliancepenaltiesVHN StaffKalahari opens in Spotsylvania on November 12 with 13 bars and restaurants and 1,400 people to hirehttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/kalahari-spotsylvania-opening-hospitality-impact/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/kalahari-spotsylvania-opening-hospitality-impact/Virginia's largest single hospitality opening in a generation lands off I-95 in November 2026: 907 rooms, 13 food and beverage outlets, and a hiring target that will pull staff from Richmond to Fredericksburg. Here is what operators in that corridor should be watching.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTopeningsKalahariSpotsylvaniaopeningsstaffingmixed beverageconventionsVHN StaffLoudoun's winery event limits will not be settled until November, and the industry has no seat at the tablehttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/loudoun-winery-brewery-event-caps-ad-hoc/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/loudoun-winery-brewery-event-caps-ad-hoc/Supervisors voted to remove all caps on winery and brewery events in May, reversed themselves 15 days later, then handed the question to a nine-member committee that cannot reopen it. Wineries, breweries and distilleries come up on November 9.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTagritourismLoudoun Countyzoningfarm winerylimited breweryeventsagritourismlocal governmentVHN StaffThe MBAR, explained: what Virginia asks you to prove every yearhttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/mbar-mixed-beverage-annual-review-explained/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/mbar-mixed-beverage-annual-review-explained/The Mixed Beverage Annual Review is due on your license anniversary, not a fixed date, and the records it depends on have to be built months earlier. Here is what it is and where operators get caught.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTalcoholMBARmixed beveragecomplianceVirginia ABCrecordkeepingreferenceVHN StaffFour closings, three openings, and a 40-year grocer behind on its farmershttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/richmond-restaurant-churn-week-september-2026/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/richmond-restaurant-churn-week-september-2026/Richmond lost Assante's, Pig & Brew, Charlotte's and the Carytown Daily inside a week. The quieter story is Ellwood Thompson's falling behind on payments to local suppliers.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTrestaurantsRichmondclosingsopeningsCarytownScott's Additionsuppliersrestaurant economicsVHN StaffSix numbers every Virginia mixed beverage licensee should know coldhttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/six-numbers-virginia-mixed-beverage-licensees/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/six-numbers-virginia-mixed-beverage-licensees/Not the interesting numbers. The ones that decide whether you keep your license. Each one is a threshold somebody crosses without noticing.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTalcoholcompliancemixed beverageMBARVirginia ABCHB 975referenceVHN StaffSix Virginia employment laws hit restaurants this year, and one of them makes most of your non-competes unenforceablehttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-employment-laws-july-2026-restaurants/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-employment-laws-july-2026-restaurants/The minimum wage steps to $13.75 in January and $15.00 in 2028. Tips are now statutory wages with treble damages attached. The non-compete ban now covers anyone eligible for overtime. Paid sick leave arrives in 2027.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMToperationsDOLIlaborminimum wagetip creditnon-competepaid sick leavestaffingVHN StaffVirginia's hemp rules just changed twice: a 2mg THC cap, and a new regulatorhttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-hemp-2mg-thc-cap-cca-takeover/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-hemp-2mg-thc-cap-cca-takeover/The 25-to-1 ratio allowance is gone, replaced by a hard two-milligram total THC cap per package as of August 15. Regulation moved from VDACS to the Cannabis Control Authority, which now has cease-and-desist power.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTcannabis-hemphempTHCCannabis Control AuthorityVDACSSB 543HB 30complianceretailVHN StaffFairfax County started charging a meals tax in January. Arlington and Roanoke went up in July.https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-meals-tax-fairfax-arlington-roanoke/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-meals-tax-fairfax-arlington-roanoke/Virginia's local meals tax is climbing, and the referendum that used to stand in a county's way has been gone since 2020. In Roanoke, unpaid meals tax has produced criminal charges against restaurant owners.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTrestaurantsmeals taxVirginia Taxtaxeslocal governmentrestaurant economicscomplianceVHN StaffEvery bar and restaurant selling vapes needs an ABC tobacco permit by October 1https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-retail-tobacco-permit-october-1/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-retail-tobacco-permit-october-1/Virginia's retail tobacco permit takes effect October 1, 2026. It covers restaurants and bars, not just smoke shops, and ABC says applications take 20 to 30 days. The window to be legal on day one is closing now.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTtobacco-nicotineretail tobacco permitVirginia ABCvapenicotineVERTdeadlinecomplianceAttorney GeneralVHN StaffVirginia visitors spent a record $36.2 billion in 2025https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-tourism-record-2025-36-billion/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-tourism-record-2025-36-billion/The statewide figure is out. Locality-level numbers, which is where operators can actually see their own market, are due around Labor Day.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMToperationstourismVirginia Tourism Corporationrestaurant economicsVHN StaffWhat Virginia ABC actually fines you for, and what it costshttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/what-virginia-abc-fines-you-for/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/what-virginia-abc-fines-you-for/The first-offense penalty schedule is public, specific, and almost nobody in the industry has read it. Twenty-six violations, the suspension days and the civil charge attached to each.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTcomplianceenforcementpenaltiesVirginia ABCcompliancehearingsserver trainingreferenceVHN StaffWhich Virginia ABC license do you actually need?https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/which-virginia-abc-license-do-you-need/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/which-virginia-abc-license-do-you-need/Virginia ABC issues more than seventy license and permit types. Most operators only ever need one of about a dozen. Here is how to find yours without reading the whole code.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTalcohollicensingVirginia ABCmixed beveragebanquetreferencenew operatorsVHN StaffFive things in Virginia hospitality this weekhttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/briefing-2026-09-01/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/briefing-2026-09-01/The tiered ratio takes hold, the Ordinary Awards close voting, and the Styrofoam ban widens. Short takes and links to the reporting.Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMTpolicybriefingroundupVHN StaffWhy Virginia needs a hospitality trade publicationhttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/welcome-to-virginia-hospitality-news/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/welcome-to-virginia-hospitality-news/An editor's note on what this site will cover, what it won't, and how it plans to be useful to people who actually run restaurants, bars and hotels in the Commonwealth.Tue, 01 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMToperationseditor's noteaboutKevinSeven restaurants make the first-ever Ordinary Awards New Restaurant of the Year slatehttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/ordinary-awards-2026-new-restaurant-nominees/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/ordinary-awards-2026-new-restaurant-nominees/VRLTA's 2026 Ordinary Awards added a category for newly opened restaurants. The nominees span Hopewell to Tysons, and the list says something about where Virginia's growth is.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTpeopleOrdinary AwardsVRLTAawardsopeningsVHN StaffVirginia's food-to-beverage ratio is now tiered. Here's what your restaurant owes.https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-food-to-beverage-ratio-hb975/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/virginia-food-to-beverage-ratio-hb975/HB 975 replaced the flat 45% food requirement for mixed beverage licensees with three tiers keyed to monthly food sales, and added a new seating rule. The change took effect July 1, 2026.Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTalcoholHB 975mixed beverageMBARVirginia ABClicensingVHN StaffWhat the 2026 General Assembly session actually did to Virginia hospitalityhttps://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/2026-general-assembly-hospitality-recap/https://virginiahospitalitynews.com/news/2026-general-assembly-hospitality-recap/Beyond the food-to-beverage overhaul, the 2026 session turned on what didn't pass: predictive scheduling, whistleblower expansion and per-item sodium labeling all died.Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTpolicyGeneral AssemblylegislationVRLTAlabortourismVHN Staff