Christopher Staples did not open Toast New American Gastro Pub to chase trends.
He opened it to build something steady in the city he has always called home.
Staples was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. Nearly fifty years later, he is still there, building restaurants in the same community that shaped him. The first Toast location opened fourteen years ago. A second followed ten years later. Eighteen months ago, he opened the third.
Real Growth
Growth did not come from chasing the newest neighborhood or the loudest concept. It came from patience. “Success is a slow grind,” Staples said. Richmond is a city of neighborhoods. People stay close to home. They rarely cross the bridge for dinner. Staples understood that early. Instead of fighting it, he built Toast to become part of each local community it entered.
Now the concept sits in the middle of one of the city’s biggest developments near Arthur Ashe Boulevard, part of Richmond’s new Diamond District. For Staples, the strategy has always been simple. how up. Stay consistent. Earn loyalty over time. Product matters, of course. But he believes something else comes first. People.
The Foundation
Guests, Staff, and Systems Staples believes every restaurant runs on three relationships. Guests. Staff. Systems. Each one reinforces the others.
Product quality matters, but the experience surrounding it matters just as much. Staples places his team right behind the guest in that hierarchy. The stronger the staff culture becomes, the stronger the guest experience becomes.
Technology plays a role in that equation too. Years ago, Staples became the first operator in Richmond to adopt Toast Point of Sale. At the time, it was still a new platform. But he saw the value immediately.
Toast POS
“The point of sale has a lot to do with how the whole restaurant runs,” he said.
Today, the Toast system powers nearly every part of the operation. Payroll. Inventory. Marketing. Scheduling. Online ordering. Staples also experiments with tools like Toast Marketing at his smaller concept, Corner Rock Cafe.
The stack is not about chasing technology for its own sake. It is about removing friction. When the systems run smoothly, the team can focus on guests instead of screens. That is the real goal.
Building Restaurants That Last
Staples does not talk about rapid expansion. He talks about stability.
After three locations, the plan is still deliberate. Maybe another Richmond unit. Maybe a move toward Fredericksburg or the Tidewater region. But only if the foundation holds.
The restaurant business has taught him that momentum without structure rarely lasts. Inflation rises. Costs shift. Guests become more selective about where they spend their money. For Staples, that reality makes discipline even more important.
Toast operates in a critical price point, around twenty-four dollars per plate. Affordable enough for repeat visits, strong enough to support quality and service. In a market like Richmond, that balance matters.
The goal has never been to become the loudest brand in town. The goal is to become the place people trust. Fourteen years after opening the first location, Staples is still proving a simple truth about restaurants.
The businesses that last are not the ones chasing the spotlight. They are the ones that keep showing up for their community, day after day, one guest at a time.
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