Beaucoup

Beaucoup runs a raw bar with a French accent, and the accent is real: a tight, loud room that feels closer to a bistro in Lyon than anything typical of the Fan. The oysters are the anchor, sourced from multiple coasts and shucked with real precision, briny enough to justify the format on their own.

The rest of the menu is short and deliberate, and nothing in it wastes a slot. Fried catfish and frites plays like fish and chips rerouted through a bistro kitchen, the fries built for dunking in a sharp remoulade. The panisse, a plank of fried chickpea dough that stays custardy inside, is straight out of the French repertoire and executed like it. The soft-boiled egg dish, fried and paired with a proper Dijon aioli, is the kind of small plate that turns first-timers into regulars.

Nothing here is coasting on the concept's novelty. Richmond Magazine has kept Beaucoup on its lists, and it's landed on national recognition too — but the case was already made at the table, oyster by oyster, before any of that mattered.