The Shockoe Bottom space at 14 N. 18th St. has housed sleek lounges such as Tonic and BPM.  Now, new owner Ty Goins hopes to make the spot a success with Touch ov Soul, a pork-free soul food restaurant.  Goins’ “Food From the Soul” menu features turkey chops, fried cabbage with smoked turkey, fried whitings and banana pudding, among other comfort foods.

If you think you’re capable of pounding down more wings than the next guy (or girl), check out “The Great Wing Eating Contest of 2009” at The Triple (3306 W. Broad St.) on Saturday.  Starting at 7 p.m., customers can participate in games, such as the guess-that-beer challenge and piñata bashing, followed by the wing-eating contest.

The Dining Room at the Berkeley Hotel (1200 E. Cary St.) is rolling back its prices to those of 20 years ago—a true bargain for a AAA Four Diamond restaurant.  Appetizers include a fried green tomato Napoleon ($4) and grilled beef kabobs ($4.25); soups and salads are in the $3-$4 range; entrees include tilapia with jumbo lump crab meat ($14.95), fried chicken ($9.95), Berkeley bistro steak ($14.95) and vegetarian risotto ($9.95); some dessert choices are bourbon bread pudding ($3.75) and fresh peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream ($3.75).

The third location of the family-operated Shackleford’s is now open in Chesterfield County.  The restaurant, at 11500 Busy Street in the Courthouse Place shopping center, will offer the same type of food as its West End and Williamsburg counterparts: American with a European feel, with a raw bar and an emphasis on fresh seafood.

For several years, fans of sports, burgers and one of the greatest pro football coaches of all time could enjoy the presence of all three at Shula’s 2, inside the Sheraton at 6624 W. Broad St.  Now comes word that the high-end version of Don Shula’s eateries, Shula’s Steak House, will open this fall at the still-under-construction Hilton Short Pump Conference Center, adjacent to Short Pump Town Center.

If you have a craving for Mexican food, you don’t have to go far if you’re a Virginia Commonwealth University student or in the vicinity.  A couple of weeks ago, Chipotle opened in the new shopping center at Laurel and Grace streets, and now there is also a Little Mexico outpost a block away at 308 N. Laurel St.

As long as the economy continues to founder, restaurants will seemingly continue to offer various “recession buster” specials.  While most deals apply to happy hours and dinners, at least two area establishments are getting creative with lunch specials (and if your restaurant is doing something, let Table Talk know at the e-mail address below).

If you haven’t made a reservation for Father’s Day yet, you might be out of luck at some places. Mom isn’t the only one who deserves a meal out on her special day, you know.  Some options:  Write a short toast to your dad at http://www.carrabbas.com, and Carrabba’s, the Italian chain restaurant (11450 Midlothian Turnpike), will give you a coupon for a free appetizer. Entrants will also compete to win a case of Coppola wine and a trip to Napa Valley with their father.

To many Richmonders, it’s the go-to place to take visitors, while for others, The Tobacco Company has been a mainstay in their dining lives for decades.  The Shockoe Slip restaurant (1201 E. Cary St.) is celebrating its 32nd anniversary this summer and offering guests a specially priced anniversary meal and monthly wine tastings.

Which chain restaurants satisfy customers the most? Which have the best values?  A just-released Restaurant Satisfaction Survey conducted by Consumer Reports shows that high marks for food have been given to The Original Pancake House, Bonefish Grill and Morton’s The Steakhouse, as well as other chains not located in the Richmond area.

The Jefferson Hotel will get a fresh presence with the new Lemaire restaurant, slated to open this summer.  Chef Walter Bundy, a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, has served as executive chef of the original Lemaire for the past six years. He will continue in the role.

It took about a year, but Alamo BBQ in Church Hill officially opened last Thursday in the former Ribtown U.S.A. spot.  Co-owners Paul Hubbard and Chris Davis bring extensive restaurant experience to their new venture: Hubbard worked as a chef at Chez Max, Franco’s Ristorante and the Fredericksburg Capital Ale House. Davis, a former server at several restaurants, is the hospitality-minded one.

Howlett’s Tavern, which closed three years ago at its Chesterfield County location, is slated to reopen at a new spot in Chester in mid-June.  The restaurant, which will be nonsmoking, is in the Chester Village Green shopping center at 3530 Festival Park Plaza. It will be open for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch.

Still fretting about where to take Mom to celebrate her and say thanks for all those sacrifices she’s made for you?  Some suggestions:  India K’Raja is treating moms to a free lunch or dinner buffet. The restaurant, at 9051 W. Broad St., will serve lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. For more info, call (804) 965-6345 or visit http://www.indiakraja.com.

To celebrate its 33rd anniversary, Strawberry Street Café (421 N. Strawberry St.) is rolling back prices on some items from Monday through May 7.  Each day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., burgers, bean burgers and quiches will be discounted 10 percent; from 1 to 3 p.m., those same items will be slashed 25 percent; and from 3 to 5 p.m., prices will be cut 50 percent.