HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — For more than 50 years, there was one rule at Bernie's Sub & Pizza Shop: bring cash.
But in March 2026, the beloved Tuckahoe restaurant, a fixture of Henrico's West End since the 1970s, quietly made a change that left some customers shocked, others sentimental, and, in some cases, a little emotional. Bernie's is now accepting credit and debit cards.
"One guy said it was sacrilegious," said Susan Crone, 79, co-owner of Bernie's. "People have cried."
A place that never changes
Bernie's opened in Bon Air on Buford Road sometime between 1969 and 1970, before moving to its current home at 415 North Ridge Road in August 1972, Crone told me.
She would know. Susan has been part of the fabric of the place since 1978.
She started working in the kitchen alongside Bernie's wife, Marguerite. Today, she's a co-owner and the keeper of the shop's identity.
Walk in, and that identity is unmistakable.
The first thing you see are flags representing dozens of colleges and universities.
"We have never bought a flag except for Notre Dame," Susan said, "Bernie went to Notre Dame, and then all the kids started bringing in a flag when they came home the first time their freshman year in college."
Customers who grew up riding their bikes to Bernie's and moved away decades ago still come back.
"They thank me for not changing anything," Susan said.
That sense of community spans generations.
That includes Myles Fallen, 24, who runs the front of house.
His mother and aunt both worked at Bernie's when they were in high school at Freeman.
"I just grew up coming here," Myles said. "This is home, I guess."
He's been working there for nearly a decade, starting around age 16.
Susan, he said, "is kind of like a third grandmother."
Why they went cash-only — and why they stayed that way
The original decision to accept only cash wasn't a grand philosophical or political statement.
It was just a practical and frugal one.
"I don't think so many people used credit cards back then," Susan said of the early days. "And plus, Bern was very tight, and he wasn't giving up not a penny."
When you have a card reader, she noted, you have to pay the credit card company.
So cash-only it remained through the 1970s, '80s, '90s and well into the 2000s.
It was the way things worked. That is, until Covid changed everything. Bernie's isn't alone in navigating post-Covid challenges.
The shift away from cash has been building for years, says Roben Farzad, a Tuckahoe resident, host of public radio's Full Disclosure and regular contributor to CNN and NPR.
"Cash really used to be king," Farzad said. "But it's also a hassle. Businesses have to worry about theft, counterfeiting, armed guard services and runs to the bank. Aside from haircut time, I don't go to the ATM anymore."
Still, Farzad notes the transition to card payments cuts both ways for small businesses.
"In the wake of the inflation we saw after the pandemic, with food and labor costs spiking and hitting margins, more restaurants are hitting you with a surcharge for plastic," he said. "I most often see 3%."
"I lost all of them after Covid"
Susan remembers when little kids, some as young as six or seven years old, would come into Bernie's by themselves, cash in hand.
When Tuckahoe Elementary had half days, she said children would flock to the shop.
"They would run down here and see who could get here first," she said.
Then the pandemic hit, and habits shifted.
"I lost all of them after Covid," Susan said. "When the kids went to the card on the phone, or whatever that's called... that is why [we're now accepting cards]. Because I lost the children."
Myles noticed the same shift.
"A lot of kids, they have their cards on their phones, or just don't carry cash in general," he said. "A large part of our business used to be the kids."
The solution, for Myles, was clear. Bernie's needed to accept cards or continue losing customers.
"Anything we can do to keep them coming in and usher in a new generation of Bernie's regulars," he said.
He reached out to a Clover distributor, set up the account, and texted his friend Matthew with the news.
"He told me, 'That's gonna make the damn news,'" Myles recalled with a laugh. "And I said, 'There's no way.' And now, here we are."
"My heart didn't want to do it"
For Myles, the decision was straightforward. For Susan, it was anything but.
"Not for me," she said, when asked if the switch was easy.
When asked why, her answer came quickly.
"My heart didn't want to do it," she said. "It makes it different."
Even now, with the new card reader in place and early sales numbers trending up, Susan's feelings haven't fully shifted.
"No, but I know it's for the best," she said. "I do know that, but I'm still sad."
She paused.
"Because this is a place that never changes, so I just wanted it to stay the same."
As for the old register? It hasn't gone far.
"Never fear," Susan said, "it's sitting over in the corner."
She's handed the day-to-day register duties over to Myles.
"That's what I told Myles. [The card reader] is your baby," she said. "I'm just too old to do that."
Mixed reactions — but no one's walking away
Customers have had feelings about the change too.
"It's been a mixed bag," Myles said. "I've seen a lot of good reactions. I've seen a lot of people who are very uneasy about it."
For Henry Fletcher, owner of the 1115 Mobile Kitchen food truck and a Bernie's regular since childhood, the reaction was pure relief.
"This is so wild," Fletcher said. "I can't tell you how many times I walked in there and forgot it was cash only and had to run to 7-Eleven and get cash back."
But despite the initial shock, some tears, and the one customer who called the switch "sacrilegious," no one has actually quit Bernie's.
"No one, so far, has said they won't come back," Myles said.
Early sales numbers have backed up the decision.
"So far things are going really well," Myles said. "We've definitely seen a spike."
Despite the change, the menu and the prices remain characteristically no-frills.
A half sandwich, about six inches, runs $7 to $8.
A whole foot-long goes for $14 to $15.
Mini pizzas, the size of a paper plate, are around $5.
A medium 12-inch pizza is about $15.
"We want to stay in business for another 50 years if we can," Myles said. "We think this is one of the best ways to."
Early signs suggest the new generation is ready to answer the call.
"I went to Bernie's a lot in high school, so it's incredibly nostalgic for me," said West End native and former regular Ava Youngblood. "Anytime I'm on that side of town I crave it. The Italian is quite possibly the best in town. They're not reinventing the wheel, it's just a great sandwich."
As for the card reader? Youngblood didn't hesitate.
"I've become completely reliant on tap to pay," she said. "So getting cash out is a pain. Now that they're accepting cards, I'll definitely be going more."
For first-timers and those just passing through, both Susan and Myles have a simple pitch.
"Come in and get the best sub in town," Susan said.
"It's the best sub in Richmond," Myles echoed. "If that's not enough, then I don't know what is."
And for those wondering, cash is still welcome too. Bernie's now accepts both.
As for the next frontier of modernization? Don't hold your breath.
"As of now, we're only accepting phone orders and walk-ins," Myles said. "We're likely a long way from online ordering... if we ever get there."
Bernie's Sub & Pizza Shop is located at 415 North Ridge Road in Henrico's West End.
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