Beauregard's Thai Room, Richmond

A chalkboard sign sits on the red-brick sidewalk outside Beauregard's Thai Room, listing handwritten specials such as Thai-style red curry and grilled-chicken avocado salad. Walk past the restaurant's black wrought-iron fence and you'll find a courtyard lush with greenery that leads up into a historic building adorned with a bright-yellow canopy. When weather permits, guests can enjoy lunch or dinner in the outdoor courtyard; otherwise, it's just as nice to take a seat in the dining room, which is illuminated by chandeliers and, if the windows are open and it's a clear day, the occasional solar flare.