A new restaurant called Aya is set to take over the long-vacant former Sam Miller's building in Shockoe Slip, after a planned sports bar for the space fell through earlier this year. Chef Emmanuel “Manny” Baiden, who already runs the private dining and catering company Manny Eats, is leasing the space and renovating it with plans to open in early 2027 or next spring.
The project marks the second attempt to fill the space since Sam Miller's closed its doors in summer 2026, ending a run that, according to Richmond BizSense, had occupied the Shockoe Slip location for over a century. Baiden plans to open Aya in the former Sam Miller's space at 1210 E. Cary St., per that report, though an earlier BizSense article covering the sports bar's collapse identified the vacant restaurant as sitting at 1212 E. Cary St. — a discrepancy that has appeared across the outlet's own coverage of the property. Similarly, while BizSense's November report describes Baiden leasing the 6,100-square-foot former Sam Miller's space, the outlet's June 2025 story on the restaurant's closure pegged the space at 6,000 square feet.
A Sports Bar That Never Materialized
The space had briefly been positioned as the future home of Elevation Sports Bar, but that plan collapsed earlier in 2026. That left the building empty again following Sam Miller's closure, a stretch of turnover in a corner of Shockoe Slip that has otherwise seen new activity, including Cicada's opening a restaurant and bar at 1316 E. Cary St. in 2026.
Accounts of Sam Miller's own history in the neighborhood vary. One BizSense report ties the restaurant's Shockoe Slip run back to 1901, while an earlier BizSense story distinguishes that date — when Sam Miller first opened a restaurant a block east at 1301 E. Cary St. under the name Sam Miller's Exchange Café — from the modern Sam Miller's opening in Shockoe Slip in 1972. The buildings themselves changed hands in 2021, when Alex Griffith paid $3.25 million for the four-building, 26,000-square-foot property at 1208-1212 E. Cary St. that housed Sam Miller's on the ground floor and offices above, according to BizSense's coverage of that sale.
From Private Dinners to a Permanent Dining Room
Baiden's path to Aya runs through Manny Eats, the private dining and catering company he started nearly eight years before November 2026. Style Weekly, in a profile of the chef, describes him as the owner of Manny Eats and executive chef at Penny's Wine. Since moving to Richmond in 2019, the magazine notes, Baiden grew that catering business while navigating the work-permit process after relocating to the city.
Baiden grew up in Ghana and moved to the United States in the 2010s to study hospitality management at James Madison University, later working at Keswick Hall, a luxury resort in Virginia's Blue Ridge. He has continued learning cooking techniques through travel and classes in different countries. Manny Eats grew to offer private dinners and catering for weddings and corporate parties, and Baiden has said the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the business as demand grew for in-home dining experiences.
What Aya Will Look Like
The former Sam Miller's space includes a dining room with a bar and a private dining area, and Baiden plans to convert the bar into a chef's counter with about 12 seats, with the dining room adding 16 more seats around it. He has said Aya will emphasize intimate dining and the guest experience, and he's working with Studio Tarea and Future Cities on the space's design as renovations continue.
The restaurant's name carries personal meaning for Baiden: Aya is a Ghanaian symbol representing resilience. The menu will lean on fare similar to what Manny Eats has long served, rooted in West African cuisine and shaped by the broader African diaspora, including Caribbean influences. “I want to be able to bring these things together on the plate that make sense and are delicious and approachable,” Baiden told Style Weekly of his overall culinary approach. Manny Eats will continue operating normally once Aya opens, giving Baiden two Richmond food ventures running side by side.
