GLEN ALLEN, Va. — It was 1990 when Scott Bruce Elias Sr. decided to pack up his family and move them from Atlanta back to Richmond.

His plan was to take a gamble and open a restaurant in Innsbrook, a sprawling community that was still in its infancy at the time.

West Broad Street was a two-lane road in 1990, Short Pump was pastures and much of the area around Innsbrook was considered to be the Richmond sticks – good for hunting, fishing and taking the scenic, albeit slow, route back to Charlottesville.

Elias’ son, Scott Elias Jr., said his father showed no trepidation in taking the risk.

“There was nothing out here, I mean nothing,” Elias Jr. recalled. “But when he saw the plans for Innsbrook he saw the potential of the location and opened the restaurant. He saw what it would become.”

In November 1991, Elias Sr. opened Boychik’s Deli, one of the first restaurants to establish itself at the West Broad Street entrance of the sprawling office park.

Nearly 25 years later, with his deli firmly planted as an Innsbrook mainstay, Scott Elias Sr. died Sept. 30 at the age of 65 after fighting cancer. He is survived by his wife Becky; sons Elias Jr., Johnny Elias, and Sam Elias; and daughters Jessie, Punkie and Joanie Elias; eight grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

Boychik’s is now managed by Johnny and Elias Jr. and they said their father made clear that the restaurant shouldn’t miss a beat.

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